Won't leave till I find my real parents, says US woman tracing roots in Lucknow

It's never easy for adopted children to find their biological parents decades later, especially when they have little information about them. The challenge, though, has not deterred Mahogany from the United States. The 23-year-old girl is in India with friend Christopher to track down her biological parents. For the past two weeks, the two have been covering Lucknow street by street and meetings officials in the hope of some success.

Mahogany spoke to INDIA TODAY about her past as well as her mission. It was in 2000 that she was found abandoned by the Government Railway Police (GRP) near Charbagh railway station in Lucknow. The police searched hard for the parents, but in vain. Ultimately, the girl was sent to an orphanage from where, two years on, she was adopted by an American woman, Carol, and taken to Minnesota.

Mahogany said her foster mother, before her death in 2018, told her about her adoption. Therein began Mahogany's search. Mahogany, whose Indian name is Rakhi, told her story to Christopher, an artist, and a plan was drawn up to visit India. It took time to arrange for the funds and visa and finally, the two reached Delhi in the second week of September and proceeded to Lucknow.

Mahogany, who works in a cafe in Minnesota, said one of the first things she did in Lucknow was to enquire with the GRP at Charbagh station and also visit her orphanage. But credible leads to her biological parents eluded. Her documents at the orphanage have no details of her parents. Some photographs of her adoption have three women, but their whereabouts are not known.

The hurdles have not discouraged Mahogany. "I will not leave India till I have found my biological parents," she says.

As Mahogany and Christopher venture about Lucknow, they have become the talk of the town. Accompanying them is a cab driver, who helps communicate with the locals. Hope and prayers are what they have. A miracle is what they need.