Sporting a white T-shirt, with two photos embossed on it, the short, frail Boustani is travelling throughout India. Her son, 26-year-old Ardavan Taherzadeh or Ard, and Ian Mogford of England, her friend's son, have been missing from Kulu valley in Himachal Pradesh since May and August 1997 respectively.

Boustani visited Bangalore on Friday, where she met city police top brass and submitted two pamphlets. One pamphlet contained details of Ard and the other contained details of Mogford. She hopes that the two may be found somewhere in India.

Speaking to The Indian Express Boustani said that Ard, who was in Korea on contract since June 1996 to teach English, broke the contract to visit South East Asian countries like India, China, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia,Vietnam and Hong Kong. On March 12, 1997, he reached Chennai and travelled throughout India. "He was so fascinated with India's diverse culture, he decided to stay here for longer and cancelled his plans to visit China," Boustani said.

Ard used to call his mother once in two weeks. The last telephone call Boustani received was on May 21, 1997 from a village called Kasol in the Kulu valley. During the conversation, Ard said that he would return to Canada by June 25 or July 11, 1997. He did not.

Since then this is Boustani's second visit to India. In August/September 1997, she spent seven weeks looking for Ard in Chandigarh, Rishikesh, Ambala, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kulu, Kasol, Manali, Pulga, Manikeren, Mcleodganj and Kirunganga. She also visited ashrams, monasteries, hospitals, police stations, hotels and dharmashalas. This time she plans to look for the two men throughout India.

"In my last visit, I learnt that Ian, a youth from England, was also missing from the same place since August1997. I contacted his parents in England, who had earlier visited India three times looking for their son. I decided to look for Ian also while searching for Ard," Boustani said.

"On reaching India on April 8 this year, I went to Haridwar where the `Kumbha Mela' was to begin. In the crowd, I held a big placard, exhibiting the photos of Ard and Ian, hoping that some people may recognise the photos and help me in searching for them. Many people spoke to me and listened to my story. Some television crew also interviewed me," she said.

She spent her time in Kulu valley, especially near Kasol from where Ard had made his last telephone call to her. "I met a lot of people there who had seen Ard and they told me how healthy he was looking. But there is no trace of where he went or what happened to him. I was told that he used to spend his time at a tea shop. Whenever I spoke to someone there, I felt that some people know what happened to Ard, but no one wants to open their mouth,"Boustani said.

Next onBoustani's itinerary is Goa. After visiting all state capitals, she plans to go back to Kulu, where an Israeli team has launched a massive search operation for a missing Israeli youth, who went missing after Ard and Ian did.

In the film, Adele after a hectic search does find her lover. But he does not recognise her and moves on. Hopefully Boustani will be luckier.

Foreigners missing from Kulu valley

The story of Boustani highlights the case of foreign tourists who disappear mysteriously from Kulu region in HP. During her visit to India, Boustani learnt that it was not just her son who was missing, others too vanished without leaving behind any trace or any address.

Ian's father visited India thrice looking for his son, but in vain. Another youth from Israel has been missing from the area since September 1997. A team of Israeli volunteers conducted a massive search operation for him. They were able to find his backpack in a small hotel, but could not find him in the hilly areas due to heavysnowfall. Boustani has heard rumours that a number of natural drugs like marijuana etc are grown in the valley and are freely available here. Consumption in moderate doses of some of these drugs could cause amnesia. Boustani fears that Ard and Ian and others like him may have met with the same fate and may be wandering somewhere, without knowing their name and whereabouts.