Baby abandoned by mom at Udupi hospital in 1970 is now Swiss Parliamentarian!

coastaldigest.com news network
December 14, 2017

Udupi: Around 47 years ago, a newborn baby was abandoned by his mother at Basel Mission Hospital in South Indian temple town of Udupi. Today, he is the first Indian born parliamentarian in Switzerland!

Unfortunately, neither Nik Gugger nor his foster parents know who is his biological mother and why did she abandon.

As the Basel Mission Hospital could not trace the mother who left the hospital after giving birth to the male child, the newborn was sent to what is now the Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) campus at Illikkunnu in Kerala’s Thalassery.

Nik was sworn in as member of Nationalrat (Swiss Parliament) in Bern in November this year. He has been elected to Swiss Parliament as a candidate of the Evangelical Party. He is one of the youngest members in Swiss Parliament.

The father of three children still cherishes his association with people and institutions at Thalassery where had grown up as an orphan till a Swiss couple – Fritz Gugger and Elizabeth Gugger – formally adopted him and took him to Europe.

However, he is hesitant to find out his biological mother. “No mother will abandon her child without a strong reason. If I meet my mother now it will be shock to her,” says Nik, who believes in destiny.

“I am proud to be in between the two cultures, the Swiss and Indian culture,” says Nik, who is likely to visit India next year when the 70th anniversary of Indo-Swiss friendship would be celebrated.

Nik started his political career as a councillor in the town parliament of Winterthur, the sixth biggest town in Switzerland, and as a member in the Cantonal Council.

He recalls that his foster father was an experienced social worker who had played an important role in shaping him as a social worker. His social work had given him an opportunity to work in Colombia as a youth worker. He studied at the Center for Agogics in Basel, the University of Amsterdam and also at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Comments

Neeha
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Congratulatioons,  happy to see this

shaji
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Thanks God for blessing you with such a nice foster parents.  Wish you all the best and hope you will meet your real some day somewhere.  

Zakir Husain
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Congratulations!

Charan Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

He would have become president of Switzerland if he had grown up with her real biological mother.

Naren Kotian
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Congrats Nik. God bless u. Now Bunder ka bakras who are busy in gujri business might be thinking why their mothers did not abandon them after giving them birth.

Manjay Sheela …
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Great story. But what I think is Mr Nik Gugger should trace her mom so that I can make a film on his life with additional masala casting ranveer Singh. Ramya krishna will play his mother’s role!

Sandeep
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Great improvement.. Congrats and All the best Nik Gugger

George
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

God's grace. God planned something. Congrats brother

WellWisher
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

May gods blessings always be with you and good luck.  Now you may want to know your mother / parents. But in temple city Udupi you don't try .  Specialized group may forcefully drag you to accept certain religion hence

be careful on these activist.

Don't forget your mother land culture.

Danish
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

We cant say, if the mother had not abandoned him, he would now be living here as a govt employee or IT engineer. See his luck

Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Now we may see as a follow ups such as motherhood claims, compensation etc

Rahul
 - 
Thursday, 14 Dec 2017

Proud moment. Great to see this. Congrats

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 28,2020

Bengaluru, May 28: As many as 115 new coronavirus cases were reported in Karnataka on Thursday taking the infection count to 2,533, Karnataka Minister S Suresh said.

The total coronavirus cases include 834 discharges, 1,650 active cases, 47 deaths so far due to the disease and two deaths due non-COVID causes, Suresh Kumar, who is minister for primary and secondary education, said during the daily COVID-19 briefing.

According to him, 29 cases were reported in Udupi on Thursday, followed by 24 in Dakshina Kannada district, 13 in Hassan, 12 in Bidar, nine in Bengaluru Urban, seven in Yadagiri, six in Chitradurga, five in Kalaburagi, four in Haveri, three in Chikkamagaluru, two in Vijayapura and one in Raichur.

The minister said among the new cases, 95 are inter-state passengers and two international passengers.

According to the health department, 84 infected people have returned from Maharashtra and eight from Tamil Nadu.

Among those discharged today, 13 are in Davangere, 12 in Dakshina Kannada, nine each in Yadagiri and Vijayapura, five in Gadag, three in Belagavi, one each in Mysuru and Bagalkote.

Two are severe acute respiratory infection cases.

There were, however, no coronavirus related deaths in the state today, the minister said.

Kumar said the government has issued another circular making changes in the quarantine rules.

"A person who has completed seven days of institutional quarantine and is asymptomatic can be permitted for home quarantine without a COVID test, subject to undergoing medical check-up," the minister said.

According to the circular, all elderly people of above 60 years of age and those with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart ailment and renal diseases, are required to be clinically evaluated diligently prior to shifting them to home quarantine.

Such people will be under mandatory home quarantine for seven days, the circular read.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 26,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 26: Paying tributes to the martyrs of Kargil war on its 21st anniversary, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said his government always stood by the soldiers and families of those who laid down their lives to protect the borders of the country.

"The government is always committed to the welfare of the soldiers. Karnataka has formed a separate department for the welfare of the soldiers and their families. We always stand with the families of the martyred soldiers," he said. He was addressing soldiers after paying tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil war at an official function organised on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas at the National Military Memorial Park in the city by the Sainik Welfare and Resettlement Department under the state Home Department. 

Yediyurappa described as a symbol of India's valour and sacrifices the Kargil Vijay Diwas, observed to commemorate its victory over Pakistan in the war that ended on July 26, 1999 with recapture of the territory in Kargil. He said the state government has given due compensation to the families of the Kargil martyrs and the soldiers who were injured.

Recalling the conflict, Yediyurappa said Pakistan had set its eyes on grabbing the vast terrains of Kargil and Drass sector in Jammu and Kashmir but the Indian soldiers successfully fought a deadly battle at a height of 17,000 feet where the temperature goes up to minus 30 degrees celsius.

"The sacrifices of our soldiers will remain etched in our memories forever. The tale of the 527 soldiers, who sacrificed their lives to save our country, is a constant source of inspiration for our youth," the Chief Minister said. He also noted Karnataka's contributions to the Indian army and said the state had given two Generals, one Field Marshall, many army officers and innumerable soldiers to protect the country's borders. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 12,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 12: Swift and strict action by the District Administration has resulted in the district achieving ‘Clean’ week with no new cases of COVID-19 reported for the seventh day in a row.

Meanwhile, in a happy coincidence, the district’s only infant allegedly affected – a ten month old child – was totally cured and discharged from the hospital along with infant’s mother and grandmother who were considered to the primary contacts. They are never tested positive for the virus, it is reported. Health experts attributed this to their natural immunity.

The child is said to have contracted the infection during a family visit to Kasargod, which has turned in to a Covid-19 hot spot. The family which hails from Sajipanadu in Bantwal-taluk had been kept in isolation ever since the child had tested positive on March 25. The quarantine was extended to the entire village as a preventive measure and the District Administration undertook the responsibility to providing essential supplies.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.