On November 21 last year, Venkata Narasimhulu made a TikTok video, lip-syncing to an audio track that says, “Once upon a time, when I couldn’t earn money, dad was in front of me. Now that I am able to learn, dad is not with me,” trailing off with the signature tune of the 2016 film Nannaku Prematho (“To father, with love”). The audio track is fairly popular on TikTok, with more than 4,500 videos uploaded to the sound.
While some of the other videos might have more likes and views, Narasimhulu’s video had a much bigger impact. It ended up reuniting him with his father after 6 years.
Narasimhulu, who is 28 years old, is a municipality worker in Nandyal town of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. Six years back, his father, Pullaiah, had left home because of a few family disputes. “He didn’t have a phone so we couldn’t contact him. We tried hard to search for him. I went to Vijayawada, Guntur and Hyderabad looking for him. The police couldn’t help us. Some people told us that he might be dead. But I always wanted to believe that he was safe and we would meet him again,” Narasimhulu, Pullaiah’s eldest son, told TNM.
In his video from November 21, which also happens to be his birthday, Narasimhulu holds up his father’s photo while mentioning him.
Colleagues of his father, who had ended up working at a textile company in Gandhidham, in Gujarat’s Kutch district, saw the video and showed it to his father, says Narasimhulu. “Many of his coworkers were from East Godavari and other parts of Andhra Pradesh. One of them came across the video and showed it to him,” he says.
On seeing his son, Pullaiah began to miss his family and grew depressed. His coworkers, who wanted to get in touch with his family in Andhra, looked for his family name, Anupuri, on Facebook. “They found some of my relatives and me, and sent us messages on Facebook Messenger with my father’s photo and their contact numbers, since my father still doesn’t have a phone. We saw the messages a few weeks later, and called them immediately. I recognised his voice, and teared up when he asked me how I was doing. I went home and we talked to him over a video call. When he said he was fine and safe, it was a big relief for us,” says Narasimhulu.
Narasimhulu and his younger brother Uday Shankar then took a train to Gandhidham to meet their father, returning home to Nandyal with their father on Tuesday night.
@anupurinarasimhul టిక్ టాక్ ఫ్యామిలీ మెంబర్స్ మీ అందరి ఆశీస్సులు మేరకు మా నాన్న గారిని గుజరాత్ లో కలుసుకోవడం జరిగింది మేము మా సొంతూరు నంద్యాల ల కి బయలుదేరి వచ్చేస్తున్
♬ Mine - Bazzi
It is not uncommon to look for old acquaintances, long lost friends, or even separated family members over the internet. But Narasimhulu calls the reunion a ‘miracle’. “I still can’t believe this happened. I cannot contain my happiness,” he says, thanking TikTok and the people on the app for the happy coincidence of the video reaching Gujarat from Kurnool.