3 min learnMumbaiUp to date: Aug 30, 2026 03:55 AM IST
Manmath Kulkarni, a 60-year-old IT entrepreneur primarily based in Mumbai’s Goregaon East is anxiously awaiting information of his spouse, who has been lacking since Thursday morning after a gaggle of trekkers — together with a number of former colleagues from Oracle’s early days in India — went incommunicado close to the Nepal-China border. The group of techie households have been a part of the bigger group led by Dr Milind P Chitley, veteran mountaineer who can be reported lacking in Nepal’s flash floods.
Kulkarni’s spouse, Veena (58), left Mumbai on the morning of August 23 on the 11 am flight to Kathmandu, travelling with fellow former iFlex Options workers Venkat Subramanyam and L Shankar, together with their spouses. Their group joined as a part of the annual trek led by Chitley, included round 10 to 12 folks, largely husband-wife pairs who had labored collectively many years in the past. Others included NRK Raman and his spouse, V Shankar and spouse and Padma Mahadevan.
In line with Kulkarni, the group reached Kathmandu on August 25 and set out early the following morning for Timure, arriving there by night and checking into their resort. Every little thing appeared regular via the next morning.
“At 6 am they have been nonetheless within the resort. 8 am they’d reached the Nepal-China border,” Kulkarni recounted. He had spoken to his spouse round that point, when she talked about the group was ready for one member’s passport that he had forgotten in Kathmandu to be delivered earlier than they may cross. “In one other half an hour or 45 minutes, we must be crossing over,” she advised him.
“The dialog ended there. After that, I attempted calling her at 9:45 am however I couldn’t get via,” Kulkarni stated. It wasn’t till 3:30 within the afternoon, when his brother known as asking if he had seen the information, that the household realised one thing was improper. “In any other case, we by no means had this thought that something occurred,” he stated. “We don’t have any concrete info to date.”
Kulkarni, who didn’t be part of the 14-day trek because of work commitments at his not too long ago based tech agency, stated all the 10-12 member group of former Oracle workers, together with Chitley and the remainder of the 50 odd folks stays unaccounted for. “From no matter we all know to date, no one has been situated,” he stated. The household filed a report with the Indian Embassy in Nepal on the primary day and has been monitoring official web sites for updates, however stated dependable info stays scarce. “I don’t suppose anyone remains to be capable of give any thought,” he stated.
Kulkarni, presently in Mumbai, stated travelling to Kathmandu himself would probably not assist given restricted entry to the affected area. His 29-year-old daughter, Nidhi Kulkarni, who works at a regulation agency, is coping higher than he’s. His spouse Veena, beforehand labored in software program at an organization initially known as Kale Tech, later acquired by one other firm.
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As search efforts proceed, Kulkarni stated he stays hopeful that his spouse and the remainder of the lacking group can be situated. “ Lot of persons are attempting to get us info – cousins and friends- however since info is coming via solely from very few sources, it’s troublesome. I simply hope there’s a breakthrough, they usually’re all there, protected and sound.”
