Thirty-two-year-old Nimmagadda Raamu, popularly known as ABN Ramu, a former video journalist in Hyderabad, was at the peak of his career when he began suffering from memory loss. He lost his job and soon went into depression. Seeing his health deteriorate, his wife abandoned Ramu, walking out of their home.
With no family to take care of him, Ramu’s condition worsened. For two years, the former video journalist spent his life on the streets, searching for food. He would eat free meals at temples or wedding halls.
In April, his childhood friends Srinivas and Madhu found Ramu outside a wedding hall at Amberpet in Hyderabad. He was no longer the Ramu, they knew, a shadow of his former self, looking weak and frail. “We made several attempts to get him treated but each time we approached him, he threw stones at us. He couldn’t recognize Madhu and I,” said Srinivas. Then one day, he saw Ramu sitting beside a garbage bin eating trash. “I felt very bad seeing my childhood friend in such a condition. After a point, Madhu and I decided to spend as much as we can to treat him,” he said.
They decided to check him into private hospital in Banjara Hills. Paying Rs. 3000 per day, the two friends took care of his treatment for 40 days. When they started running out of money, they decided to sell their bikes to fund his treatment. On hearing about Ramu, Sridharan, a reporter at another news channel contributed Rs. 10,000 from his salary. He also took to social media to seek help from friends. “After seeing the post, many of my friends and friends of friends have come forward to donate money. Kurnoon cameramen gave a fund of Rs. 15,000. A single post on my wall helped us raise Rs. 50, 000. We are using this money for Ramu’s tablets which the doctor prescribed for three months,” said Sridharan.
Recalling his friend’s kindness, Sridharan said, “When Ramu was an employee of ABN Andhrajyothi news channel, he got information about a boy named Allahuddhin who went missing in Hyderabad when his parents had visited the city to shop for Ramzan. 18 years later when Ramu learnt about Allahuddhin, he organized a live program on television for six hours straight in an effort to find the parents. AK Khan the then Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, voluntarily joined the program and called for a search operation. Within 24hrs after the program, Allahuddhin reunited with his parents.”
It has been a slow recovery for Ramu at the private hospital. Doctors have advised him to take medication for the next three months and to shift from the hospital for a speedy recovery. He was discharged from the hospital on July 18 and is living along with Srinivas in Amberpet.
Ramu is responding positively to the treatment and he recently voiced his concerns over not having a house to live.