Avtar Singh, a 66-year-old retired chartered accountant living in British Columbia, has spent much of his life searching for his mother, Savinder Kaur, who gave him up as a child before he moved from India to Canada in 1968. Raised by his paternal grandparents in Amritsar, India, Singh was unaware of the full circumstances surrounding his early childhood until adulthood. His mother, Savinder, left him with his grandparents before moving abroad, but details about her whereabouts and life remained a mystery for decades.

Singh’s father emigrated to Canada in the 1960s, leaving Avtar in India, and later arranged for him to join the family. Although he learned English and adapted to life in Canada, Singh felt estranged from his mother and family, who treated him as an outsider. Over time, he learned his mother’s first name was Savinder but received little further information, with his father declining to discuss the separation.

Efforts to locate her involved extensive searches through online resources, archives in London, and even appeals through media outlets in the UK, all without success. Singh avoided using commercial DNA testing services due to concerns about privacy and data control. However, in May 2026, while recuperating from cancer treatment during a trip to southern France, Singh used AI-powered ChatGPT to search based on limited known details: a woman named Savinder Kaur, born between 87 and 97 years earlier, with ties to India, Africa, and possibly the UK. The AI matched him to Savinder Kaur Nagi, born in 1936 in Kisumu, Kenya, to Indian Sikh parents, and linked to the Jammu and Kashmir region.

Meanwhile, Nicci Dhamu, a jewellery designer in London and daughter of Savinder Kaur Nagi, had been unaware of Singh’s existence or the full extent of her mother’s early history. Savinder had suffered dementia in her final years and passed away in December 2024. Nicci had learned through family members only in adulthood that her mother was previously married to a man named Mohan Singh in India and had a son before these early events led to the child being given up. The family had long been reticent about discussing the past.

Nicci had sought to find her mother’s son for several years, reaching out to relatives in India and Kenya, consulting school staff where Mohan Singh taught in Amritsar, and submitting DNA samples under her mother’s name. None of these searches yielded identifying information beyond a childhood nickname, “Titu,” but no formal records or confirmed identities.

After Singh’s AI-driven discovery presented an article written by Nicci celebrating Savinder’s legacy, he recognized details consistent with his own history, specifically a dressmaking certificate obtained in Dhariwal near Amritsar in 1962, within a few years of his birth there. This prompted him to reach out to Nicci by email on what would have been Savinder’s 90th birthday, expressing interest in a possible family connection without seeking any financial or formal benefit.

Nicci responded with cautious openness, and within hours Singh initiated contact via WhatsApp. The sudden connection prompted a conversation bridging decades of separation, cultural complexity, and familial silence. Singh and Dhamu began exchanging information about Savinder’s time in India and the circumstances surrounding the family’s past.

The interaction highlights how advances in artificial intelligence and digital resources are opening new possibilities for reconnecting separated families and uncovering stories long hidden. Both Singh and Dhamu emphasize their shared desire to understand their mother’s story and reconcile the fragmented history that shaped their lives.