Nagpur’s Abandoned Infant, Now Dutch Mayor, Returns For Biological Mom: ‘Need To Tell Her I Grew Up Loved’
- trushali Kotecha
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Curated By : Buzz Staff Trending Desk
Last Updated:January 16, 2026, 12:49 IST
Abandoned in Nagpur as a newborn, Dutch mayor Falgun Binnendijk returns again to trace his mother and his roots.
Falgun Binnendijk was only three days old when his mother walked into Matru Sewa Sangh on Ambazari Road and left him there. It was February 1985. Records show his mother was 21, unmarried and had no support. The shelter kept him for about a month. A nurse gave him a name taken from the month of his birth – Falgun. Forty years later, Falgun Binnendijk stands in Nagpur again, looking for the woman who made that choice and disappeared.
He has done this before. This is his third return to the city where his life began and then broke apart.
Adopted, But Never Kept In The Dark
Weeks after he was surrendered, adoption papers were cleared. Falgun Binnendijk was taken to Mumbai, then flown to the Netherlands by a Dutch couple. He grew up in comfort. India stayed abstract, a place on a school map. His adoption was never hidden from him. “It was like an open book," he told TOI during his visit last month.
His first trip back came in 2006, when he was 18. He travelled as a tourist, moved through cities, headed south. Something felt familiar. “People would walk up to me and start speaking in Hindi. They assumed I was Indian," he explained.
Years later, reading the Mahabharata pushed him further. Karna’s story stayed with him. “Every Karna deserves and must have the right to meet his Kunti," he said.
The Search That Won’t End
In 2017, Falgun Binnendijk returned with purpose. He went to Matru Sewa Sangh. Files were pulled, dates were matched and his biological mother’s name appeared but the addresses didn’t. Time had erased the trail. “We tried, but we couldn’t reach her. At that point, I felt maybe this is it," he said.
Life moved on. He married. He became a father of four. He entered politics and was elected Mayor of Heemstede, near Amsterdam. “Everything in my life was complete, but there was something unfinished," he said. His wife pushed him to try again.
He came back in August 2024, this time with official backing. Municipal and district officers opened old registers. The search stalled again.
In December 2025, persistence paid off in an unexpected way. Officials traced a retired nurse from Matru Sewa Sangh. When Falgun Binnendijk met her, recognition hit both sides. She was the one who had named him. He realised he was sitting with one of the first people from his life. They cried.
When he speaks of his mother now, there is no anger. “I believe she may be living in guilt, thinking she had done something unpardonable. I just want to meet her once and tell her that I am okay, I have a beautiful life and that her child grew up loved," Binnendijk says.
Falgun Binnendijk has named his children with Indian and Dutch names. One daughter carries his biological mother’s name. He plans to return next year and his search continues.
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