Sometimes, tragedies lay down the foundation for unforgettable stories. One such tale found its origin in the devastating 2013 flood of Kedarnath Dham that killed over 5,700 people, and over 3,00,000 people were affected. The Kedarnath Dham has been rebuilt, and it looks mesmerizing. However, the stories of that flood still haunt countless families. But amidst those stories, one story can melt your heart. The hero of this story is Vijendra Singh Rathore and his wife, Leela of Alwar, Rajasthan.
On June 17, 2013, Leela urged Vijendra to take the Char Dham Yatra. Vijendra, who worked at a travel agency, booked the tickets for Kedarnath. The couple stayed at a lodge near the temple. On the day of the flood, Vijendra went out of the lodge for a few minutes. The floods came without any warning and took away the lives of thousands. Before Vijendra could understand anything, everything around him was changed. He barely managed to save himself.
After the flood passed, he looked around and could see dead bodies and people screaming for help. Without any hesitation or concern for his own life, he ran towards the lodge to check on his wife. When he reached there, the scenes were devastating. Everything was destroyed, and there was no sign of his wife, Leela. He helplessly looked around while thinking she should be alive. “She is alive. I know she is alive,” constantly played in his head. The person whom he loved for years could not leave him like that. He could not imagine that his wife could have died in the floods.
Vijendra had a habit of keeping his wife’s photograph in his wallet. For the next few days, he kept trying to find his wife around Kedarnath but failed. While everyone in his family started to believe Leela was no more, Vijendra did not agree with them.
After two weeks from the incident, the relief work was in full swing. He met several army officials in search of his wife but could not find any information about her. They concluded that she was swept away in flood. Vijendra again disagreed with them.
When Vajindra came back home, his daughters were devastated to know what had happened to their mother. He again told them that she was alive. Months passed, but he never stopped looking for her. During the conquest to find his wife, he covered almost 1,000 villages.
Meanwhile, he received a call from the government department. The government had declared Leela dead, and the official on the other end told him that he could claim compensation announced by the government for those who lost their next of kin in the incident. Vijendra refused to claim the compensation.
While relatives kept trying to convince him that his wife was dead and there was no reason to keep looking for her, Vijendra did not believe she was killed in the floods. One day, on January 27, 2015, he was looking for his wife Gangotri village, Uttarakhand. He showed the photograph to a passerby who recognized Leela. He told him that he had seen her. “I saw this woman many times roaming near Hina Bazar. I think she was mentally unstable.”
Vijendra could not hold his emotions and fell to his feet. He rushed to the village the passerby told and saw his wife sitting on the side of the road. He called her, “Leela!” But she did not recognize him. He found her but in a broken state. The flood had a devastating effect on Leela’s mental state, and she was unable to recognize anyone.
He hugged and cried like a child for several minutes. Vijendra then picked her up and brought her home. His children could not believe that their mother was alive.
There were reports that a film was underway on the story of Vijendra and Leela in 2017. However, no further progress was reported by the makers.
