By Haima Deshpande
haima.deshpande@hindustantimes.com

MUMBAI: There is a quiet tragedy in walking past someone who has been forgotten — a man talking to voices no one can hear, or a woman clutching a bag that holds her entire world. They can be seen on sidewalks, under bridges or near garbage dumps.

Behind every face is a story that began somewhere safe — at a kitchen table, in a childhood bedroom, inside a family that once knew their laugh.

Witness to a sight 37 years ago where an unkempt, thin man was drinking water from a roadside gutter, psychiatrist and Maaysayay awardee (2008) Dr Bharat Vatwani and his wife Smitha (also a psychiatrist) chose to reach out to that man on the street and listen to his story. “It was not an easy interaction but we took the time to talk to him, a mentally ill afflicted graduate,” said Vatwani. “We asked him if he wanted to come with us. After a while, on getting his consent, we took him to our clinic to be washed and treated. This was our first case of rescuing and treating a homeless mentally ill person,” he said.

Reuniting homeless people, who live with mental illness, with their families is not just an act of kindness — it is an act of remembering. The Vatwanis started their rescue work in a two-room tenement in 1988, which has now spread to a bigger 120-patient facility in Karjat.

Their three-phase therapeutic programme, consisting of the rescue and treatment of mentally ill street people, reuniting patients with their families and promoting awareness of mental health in communities is elaborately encapsulated in a just published book ‘Unsaid’.

“There were many struggles to have this book published. The publishers I approached (over eight years) wanted something massaledar. I refused to be coerced by them; it was finally published last month,” said Vatwani.

The book highlights how mental illness can quietly take a person away. “It doesn’t always arrive dramatically; sometimes it begins with fear, confusion or a growing sense of not belonging. Relationships strain. Support systems break under pressure. One day, a person who is deeply loved can become lost — not because they were unwanted, but because no one knew how to help them anymore,” says the author.

The malady becomes loudest and cruellest. Without treatment, stability or safety, symptoms become intense. Trust fades. Memories blur. The 62-year-old Vatwani — who founded Shraddha Rehabilitation Centre along with his wife Smitha — has rescued, treated and integrated over 7000 of India’s mentally ill roadside destitutes into their families. “We have a remarkable reunion rate of 95%,” said Vatwani.

A wall in his modest, patient-friendly office in suburban Borivali has framed pictures of those who have inspired him and his mission — Dr Baba Amte, Rabindranath Tagore and Mother Teresa — while an altar in a corner has deities of all faiths. “I was not a successful medical practitioner. I did not like studying medicine, but with two of my brothers being doctors I was naturally pushed to study medicine,” said Vatwani. However, a casual introduction to psychiatry fired his passion. “I knew this was my calling.”

He is a member of the Maharashtra State Mental Health Review Board (Thane district) and works closely with the state-run mental asylums across the state. “As mental health is trivialized and romanticized a lot, its core issues such as rehabilitation and reintegration gets pushed to the sidelines,” he said.

The narratives in ‘Unsaid’ include heart-breaking tales. One of them is of a mentally ill patient who had left home with two children and had no recall of them. “We have social workers who understand and speak different languages. One of them heard this woman utter a word that she recognized which helped start conversation in that language. It took us time but eventually we reunited this woman with her family and also found her children in two different places,” said Vatwani.

Families often carry their own grief. Parents lie awake wondering about the whereabouts of their children. Siblings scroll through old photos searching the moment when everything changed. In July 2022, when a recovered mentally ill man — who had crossed the Bangladesh border into India — was reunited with his family in Bangladesh, the man’s father sobbed uncontrollably. “He kept touching his son’s hand in disbelief.”

Vatwani writes that reuniting someone with their family can be the first step to healing. “Not because families are perfect, but because they are familiar. A familiar place can make the world feel less frightening. When done with care, consent and support, reunification can restore dignity to a life that has been reduced to survival,” said Vatwani.

The process requires patience and compassion. It means seeing the person first, not their illness, and then providing mental health care, social support and time. Reunification is not about forcing someone back into the past that hurt them — it is about offering a door, and letting them choose whether to walk through it, he said.

“We are not just changing individual lives. We are choosing to be a society that remembers, cares and believes that no one is beyond reaching,” he said.

Magsaysay awardee Dr Bharat Vatwani has shared his experiences of working with the mentally ill in a book titled ‘Unsaid’.

Photo captions:

• Magsaysay awardee Dr Bharat Vatwani.
• Dr Bharat Vatwani with his wife Smitha and daughter.
• Parents of a patient at the Shraddha Rehabilitation Centre thank the couple for reuniting them with their son.

(Article published in Hindustan Times, Sunday, December 21, 2025)

Book Details: Unsaid by Dr. Bharat Vatwani

Title: Unsaid
Author: Dr. Bharat Vatwani (2018 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, psychiatrist, and co-founder of Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation)
Publisher: Zorba Books
Publication Date: November 2025 (recently released, as mentioned in the Hindustan Times article from December 21, 2025, where Dr. Vatwani noted it was published “last month” after eight years of efforts with publishers)
Genre: Biography / Memoir / Non-fiction (focuses on mental health and humanitarian work)
Format: Available as paperback and ebook (e.g., on platforms like Everand for digital reading)

Summary and Content

Unsaid chronicles Dr. Bharat Vatwani’s lifelong dedication to rescuing, treating, and reuniting homeless individuals suffering from mental illness with their families in India. Co-founded with his wife, Dr. Smitha Vatwani, the Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation (established in 1988) forms the core of the narrative.

Key highlights from the book:

• The origin story: Inspired by sighting a thin, unkempt man drinking from a roadside gutter, the Vatwanis began their work by rescuing and treating mentally ill roadside destitutes.
• Their holistic three-phase program: Rescue, psychiatric treatment (free shelter, food, and care), and family reunification with community awareness on mental health.
• Achievements: Over 7,000+ individuals rescued and reintegrated, with a remarkable 95% reunion success rate.
• Heartbreaking patient stories: Tales of loss, separation, and restoration, emphasizing how mental illness can quietly erode family bonds, leading to homelessness.
• Challenges: Stigma, societal indifference, funding struggles, and Dr. Vatwani’s personal reflections on doubt, spirituality, and perseverance.
• Broader context: Addresses India’s mental health crisis (an estimated 400,000 mentally ill homeless), the need for compassion, and reintegration as a path to dignity.

The book draws heavily from the Ramon Magsaysay Award citation, highlighting Dr. Vatwani’s “tremendous courage and healing compassion” in restoring human dignity to the ostracized.

Why It Was Written

Dr. Vatwani resisted pressure from publishers to make it more “sensational” (massaledar), insisting on an authentic portrayal. It serves as both a personal memoir and a call to action for better mental health support in society.

Availability

• Purchase from the publisher: Zorba Books
• Ebook on platforms like Everand (free trial reading available).

This book provides an in-depth, empathetic look at a often-ignored humanitarian crisis, blending personal evolution, patient narratives, and insights into mental health in India. It’s inspiring for those interested in psychiatry, social work, or stories of resilience.

A Highlighted Patient Story from Unsaid by Dr. Bharat Vatwani

One of the heart-breaking narratives featured in the book Unsaid (as referenced in the Hindustan Times article) involves a mentally ill woman who had left home with her two children and, due to her condition, had no recall of them afterward.

Details of the Story:

• The woman was rescued as a homeless roadside destitute suffering from severe mental illness (likely schizophrenia, common in such cases handled by Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation).
• Upon admission to the foundation’s facility, she showed no memory of her family or children.
• The foundation’s multilingual social workers played a key role: One worker overheard her utter a single word in a specific regional language. This clue helped initiate a conversation in that language, gradually building trust and extracting more details.
• Through persistent efforts (often involving detective-like tracing across states), the team located her original family.
• In a remarkable outcome, they not only reunited her with her immediate family but also found her two children, who had ended up in two different places (possibly separated due to the circumstances of her wandering).
• The reunion restored her connection to her loved ones, emphasizing themes in the book about how mental illness can silently fracture families, leading to loss and homelessness.

Dr. Vatwani describes this as illustrative of the quiet tragedy of mental illness—how it erodes bonds without drama—and the power of patient, compassionate reintegration. The foundation’s 95% reunion success rate shines in such complex cases, often involving cross-state or even cross-border tracing.

This story underscores the book’s core message: Reuniting someone isn’t about perfection but offering familiarity, dignity, and a chance to heal. Many similar tales in Unsaid highlight the emotional grief families endure (e.g., searching old photos or wondering about lost loved ones) and the joy of restoration.

If you’re reading the book, this is one of the standout examples of the foundation’s impactful work over 7,000+ reunions. For more stories, the publisher’s site (Zorba Books) or reviews may have additional insights, though the book itself delves deeply into these personal journeys.

Another Highlighted Patient Story from Dr. Bharat Vatwani’s Work (Featured in Contexts Related to Unsaid)

One poignant cross-border reunion story often shared in connection with Dr. Vatwani’s mission—and likely reflected in Unsaid as an example of perseverance and emotional restoration—involves a man known as “Moti” (real name: Md Rahman), a Bangladeshi citizen suffering from chronic schizophrenia.

Details of the Story:

• Md Rahman disappeared from his home in Thakurgaon District, Bangladesh, in 2002, at around age 15–16. His family filed a police complaint but eventually lost hope.
• He wandered across the border into India, ending up homeless and destitute on the streets, exhibiting symptoms like catatonic silence, self-talking, and grimacing.
• He was rescued and brought to the Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation in Karjat, where he received long-term treatment. Despite medication, he never fully recovered to 100% and would relapse periodically.
• The breakthrough came in 2021 during a cycle rally event organized by an NGO (Snehalaya) celebrating Bangladesh’s independence. Bangladeshi student volunteers interviewed Moti, recognized clues about his origins, and gathered details.
• This led to contact with his family via video calls, confirming his identity. His father revealed a prior history of untreated mental illness.
• After bureaucratic hurdles (including police clearances and border permit issues), Moti was reunited with his family in July 2023—21 years after going missing—just around Eid.
• The reunion was deeply emotional, with his family overjoyed to have him back after presuming him lost forever.

Dr. Vatwani described this as a “pioneering and heartwarming effort” involving multiple authorities, highlighting the challenges of cross-border cases but also the profound impact of restoring a “lost” person to their loved ones. Such stories underscore the book’s themes of quiet tragedies, patient tracing (often detective-like work across regions or countries), and the dignity restored through reunion.

The foundation’s overall success (over 7,000+ reunions, many cross-state or international) relies on social workers building trust to uncover clues from recovered patients. This case exemplifies why Dr. Vatwani emphasizes that “no one is beyond reaching.”

Challenges in Cross-Border Reunions for Mentally Ill Homeless Individuals

Cross-border reunions, like the notable 2023 case of Md Rahman (known as “Moti”)—a Bangladeshi man with chronic schizophrenia reunited with his family after 21 years via the Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation—are rare and exceptionally complex compared to domestic ones. While the foundation (led by Dr. Bharat Vatwani) has achieved over 9,000 reunions (mostly within India) with a 95% success rate, international cases involve amplified hurdles due to geopolitical, legal, and logistical factors.

Key Challenges:

1. Bureaucratic and Diplomatic Hurdles
   These reunions require coordination between multiple governments, embassies, or high commissions. For Md Rahman’s case:

• Verification of identity needed official documents from Bangladesh (e.g., via the Deputy High Commission in Mumbai).
• Border permits, police clearances, and travel authorizations caused delays—one planned handover failed due to missing paperwork.
• Cross-border movement (e.g., from India to Bangladesh via Phulbari border) involves immigration protocols not typically needed domestically.

1. Identification and Tracing Difficulties
   Patients often wander across porous borders (e.g., India-Bangladesh) during acute episodes, with no ID or coherent recall.

• Language/dialect barriers: Md Rahman spoke a border-region Bengali dialect, requiring specialized social workers to build rapport over months.
• Clues emerge slowly during treatment; cross-border searches rely on chance events (e.g., a 2021 cycle rally with Bangladeshi volunteers provided the breakthrough for Rahman).

1. Medical and Relapse Risks
   Chronic conditions like schizophrenia mean patients may relapse (catatonia, silence, grimacing), complicating travel and handover.

• Untreated history in the home country (as in Rahman’s case, where family hadn’t sought prior treatment) raises concerns about post-reunion care.

1. Geopolitical Sensitivities
   India shares borders with countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, where relations can influence cooperation. Such cases are described as “pioneering” due to involving “multiple authorities” across nations.
2. Logistical and Safety Issues
   Escorting patients across borders requires safe travel arrangements, often by train or road, with foundation staff accompaniment.

• Delays can exacerbate patient distress or health issues.

Despite these, successes like Rahman’s (facilitated by NGOs, volunteers, and diplomatic channels) highlight perseverance. Dr. Vatwani’s work, detailed in his book Unsaid, emphasizes that while domestic reunions focus on family tracing and stigma, cross-border ones demand extraordinary inter-country collaboration. These remain exceptional, with most efforts focused within India or “nearby countries” generally.