German traces her mother in Mangalore
Publication: The Times Of India Mangalore; Date: Oct 15, 2005; Section: Front Page; Page: 1
German traces her mother in Mangalore
By Stanley G Pinto/TNN
Mangalore: At the age of 14 she pined to find her roots. Her dream came true after a wait of 15 years. This is the extraordinary story of Eva Dohle, a Mangalorean adopted by a German couple, Miachel and Gertrude Dohle, who came all the way from Cologne, Germany, to find her mother. And, she was reunited with her biological mother here on Tuesday.
Eva’s foster parents never hid the fact that she was adopted and that she was from Mangalore. Her brother Arun Dohle, 32, also adopted by the Dohle couple, is from Pune. While Arun started his search for his parents when he was 19 by coming to India, Eva started late, but finished first.
“To begin with, I was never strong. Arun goes forward with pain, but I go backwards. May be that’s what prevented me from going for the search earlier,” she points out.
Eva came to India along with Arun on October 1. Ten days later at 6 pm on October 11, her mother finally accepted that the blood which runs through Eva’s veins is the same as hers.
The unwed mother then was only 16. Even before meeting her mother, Eva had told this correspondent that one big question kept haunting her always:
TOI
“Why was I abandoned?”
Perhaps, Eva knew the answer and expected a different reply. On Tuesday, she never asked that question. The atmosphere was surcharged with emotion and tears welled up in eyes: a clear indication of the pain both have undergone these 29 years. Ex-mayor helped German girl trace her mother TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mangalore: It was an emotional reunion for 29-yearold German woman, Eva Dohle, with her mother here on Tuesday — 15 years after she was adopted by a German couple Miachel and Gertrude Dohle from Mangalore.
Says Eva, “I don’t know how it’ll go in the future. But for the moment I am happy that I know my mother is alive. She knows that I am alive and doing well. We both are happy,” said a beaming Eva.
After the meeting, a written contract was made that Eva’s mother will contact her and no move will be made from Eva’s side. Eva has taken the hair strands of her mother for DNA testing. The results will affirm what occurred on Tuesday.
How the dramatic reunion happened is a story in itself. The person who made it possible is former mayor and corporator K Divakar.
“He’s a hero,” declared Eva, Arun and Gita Ramaswamy, an author from Hyderabad, who assisted Eva in her search and gave emotional support. When Eva and Arun landed in Mangalore their contact point was was Divaker who had already met Arun in another similar case.
Eva’s birth records matched with the records of her parents and the village too. But making the first move was tricky. First the father was traced and then the mother.
Divakar assisted them and also contacted the father first. Later through help, he traced her mother also. The tracing of the mother was done in the last four days. Gita says that without Divaker, though the search may have been successful, the re-union would not have happened.
Says Divaker “There are thousands of children adopted from Mangalore. If the word goes out, they’ll know whom to approach. And I may be able to reunite them with their families.”