Date:30/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/30/stories/2008063054180200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Living for the joy of comforting others

M. Raghuram

He has been helping people find lost items for 15 years
Police chief gives him commendation letter

Recognition: Rajkiran seen with Additional Commissioner of Police Bipin Gopalkrishna

BANGALORE: Detached yet simple. That is how S. Rajkiran of Yeshwanthpur may be described.

Working as an insurance motivator in a private company, Mr. Rajkiran (popularly known as Raju) is a regular visitor to the Yeshwanthpur Police Station, although for an unusual reason. Every time he walks in, he helps people who have lost something, mobile phone, bag or wallet, get it back. At times, he even helps missing children re-unite with their parents.

In a recent incident, Mr. Rajkiran found a high-end laptop abandoned in a lift of a private bank. He found that nobody in the bank knew about the laptop, and after he could not find the owner’s address in the laptop bag, he approached the Police Commissioner.

It was the first time that Mr. Rajkiran met senior police officials who commended his work.

Commissioner of Police Achuta Rao and Additional Commissioner of Police Bipin Gopalkrishna arranged a small get-together and honoured him with a commendation letter in the presence of his family, friends and a select group of policemen on Saturday.

Recounting his 15 years record of returning lost items to their owners, Mr. Rajkiran told The Hindu that he had returned several cell phones to their owners. However, it was not the personal reward that drove him.

“It is the sheer joy and satisfaction of being able to comfort another human who must have undergone anxious moments.”

In one case when a child was re-united with its family, the scene of the mother hugging her child with tears in her eyes was heart warming, he said. Mr. Rajkiran also donates blood thrice a year.