The orphanage closed down about 35 years ago, after which David and Martin were taken to Denmark by George, who used to run the home, in 1979.

Chennai :

Tracing his roots, a 40-year-old Danish man, David alias Shanthakumar has reached the city. He was given for adoption three decades ago. Born in 1978 to Dhanalakhsmi and Kaliamoorthy, David and his brother Martin alias Rajan were handed over to an orphanage in Pallavaram.

The orphanage closed down about 35 years ago, after which David and Martin were taken to Denmark by George, who used to run the home, in 1979.David was adopted immediately by a Danish couple, the next year Martin was also adopted by another Danish family. George then returned back to Chennai.David first came to Chennai in 2013. He wanted to begin the search for his roots from George. But he learnt that had died almost a decade ago. He had hit a roadblock.

“After continuous searching, David found out that his birth name was Santhakumar and that he had a brother whose birth name was Rajan, later rechristened as Martin. He found out that Martin also lived in Denmark,” said Anjali Pawar, a lawyer who is helping David find his parents.Thanks to social media, David found Martin on Facebook and connected with him. In 2014, David got in touch with Arun Dohle, the co-founder of  ‘Against Child Trafficking’, an NGO helping people reunite with their birth parents.
The NGO workers helped David check the Chennai Corporation’s birth registry, and David found his brother’s birth certificate.

The document had an address of a residence in Tondiarpet — perhaps where his parents lived at that point in time. Through subsequent investigations, David found out that his parents had shifted to Tiruvottriyur. Now, David has a photo of him with his mother and his brother Martin. His search will continue.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 10th, 2019