Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31 (IANS): It was a home coming that not many would have witnessed as Sajad Thangal returned on Saturday evening after 45 years and waiting there to greet him was his 92-year-old mother.

"What more happiness is there for me than this. This is God's will and this has happened and God has a plan for everything," said Thangal right after his aged mother hugged him and kissed him as he reached his home near Kollam.

"I have always prayed for this day and finally my prayers have been answered as you are back with me. I had a deep desire that before I die, I wanted to see you and it has happened," said the mother, who waited half her life-time longing to see her son once more, hold him in her arms.

Thangal was 19, when he left his home, in 1972 for the UAE on a ship and joined work as a store keeper in a cultural organisation.

He last visited his home in 1976 when he accompanied a cultural troupe that included then glamourous actress Rani Chandra.

But things turned sour for Thangal as many thought he also died along with the actress when the ill-fated Indian Airline flight which left from Mumbai to Chennai crashed soon after takeoff killing all on board.

Many thought that Thangal also on the flight, but it was not so. Deeply disturbed by the accident Thangal decided to stay away from everything.

It was only last week through a TV programme that his relatives got to know he was alive and in an old age home in Mumbai's Panvel. Soon a group of his relatives landed in Mumbai and brought him back.

Present on the occasion to receive their lost son was over 100 people including his relatives from a 2-year-old to his 92-year-old mother.

His village hosted a civic 'reception' at his home and a cake was cut to mark the happy occasion and also present was the local legislator Kovoor Kunjumon.