SNEHA, a Spanish citizen, has returned to India in search of her biological mother, who had abandoned her and her brother 20 years ago. However, 21-year-old Sneha is running out of time as she has to return to Spain on Monday for her educational commitments. The researcher in children’s education wanted to trace her roots and reached India with scant information about her past. Her Spanish parents Gema Vidal and Juan Josh supported her in her quest and Gema accompanied Sneha to her home state Odisha. They had adopted Sneha and her brother Somu in 2010 from an orphanage in Bhubaneswar, where they were sheltered after their mother Banalata Das abandoned them in 2005. “The purpose of my journey from Spain to Bhubaneswar is to find my biological parents, especially my mother. I want to find her and meet her. I am fully prepared for the journey even if it is difficult,” Sneha told PTI. Asked if she would chide her biological mother for abandoning her, Sneha remained mum.

 

She was only over a year old, and her brother was just a few months old at that time. Sneha said her Spanish parents have given the siblings everything in life and never made them feel like they were adopted, ensuring the best education and freedom to make their own choices. “They have given us unconditional love,” she said. Accompanied by Gema, a yoga teacher in Zaragoza city of Spain, Sneha arrived in Bhubaneswar on December 19 last year and they have been staying in a hotel. Somu, however, could not come as he was busy with some work in Spain. If they do not find Sneha’s biological mother by Monday, they will come back in March for a longer stay.

 

“We have to return to Spain as Sneha has joined a training programme which should not be discontinued. If we do not get Banalata in the next 24 hours, we will come back to Bhubaneswar in March,” Gema said. Banalata had abandoned Sneha and Somu at their rented house in Nayapally area in Bhubaneswar in 2005. Banalata’s husband Santosh, who worked as a cook in a private firm, had earlier abandoned his family, which comprised his wife, and four children, including Sneha and Somu.