A great-grandmother has been reunited with her long-lost brother after being split up 60 years ago – to find out he is one of the richest men in the world.
Ida Wilde, 83, never thought she would see her adopted brother Asgar Patel after he was forced to leave her Glasgow home and return to India.
Mrs Wilde’s aunt looked after him during India’s turbulent Partition period in 1947 and young pair grew very close.
After leaving the adopted family in Scotland, Mr Patel, now 78, returned to his homeland and built up one of the largest logistic companies in India.
Ida Wilde (circled left) was separated from her long-lost adopted brother Asgar Patel (circled right) 60 years ago when he was forced to return to India from their home in Glasgow
His successful career catapulted him into a six-figure salary and he is now a multi-millionaire and number 45 on Forbes’ list of top 100 Indian business owners 2017.
His company Patel Roadways operates across the Middle East, India and beyond.
Mrs Wilde, of Irvine on Scotland’s west coast, told the Daily Record: ‘We were heartbroken when he left.
‘For five years we had been brought up as brother and sister and it was sad to lose him.
‘We kept in touch for a while but we moved around and so did his family. I often wondered where he ended up.
After he found her in a family wedding photo online, Mr Patel, 78, (pictured) sent his long-lost adopted sister a message on Facebook and the pair were reunited in August. Mrs Wilde, 83, was shocked to find is one of the world’s richest men and a multi-millionaire businessman
Mrs Wilde (pictured) could not believe it when she got a message from her long-lost adopted brother out of the blue on Facebook
‘It turns out he’d spent years searching for his adopted Scottish family but we moved out of Glasgow and he couldn’t find us.’
Mrs Wilde’s great aunt took Mr Asgar in after he turned up on her boarding school’s doorstep completely terrified with three other children who had fled India during its mass migration to Britain.
But after a while the elderly woman could not cope with all four youngsters and Mrs Wilde’s mother stepped in to save the day.
Six-year-old Asgar became a part of Mrs Wilde’s family along with his older sister Kuslom, 12.
The adopted siblings are pictured during their emotional reunion after 60 years in August
Mr Patel and Mrs Wilde were inseparable for the five years they spent together, until the heart-breaking news came that he had to go home.
Sixty years later Mr Patel decided to message Mrs Wilde on Facebook on the chance it was actually her and she might even reply.
To his delight, it was his long-lost adopted sister and the pair were reunited in August.
When it was time for him to return home he didn’t want go.
Mr Patel had managed to track her down after he recognised her in a family wedding photo online.
Mrs Wilde has branded the whole thing a ‘miracle’ and says it was ‘surreal’ to find out how successful he had become.
The siblings ‘chatted like two old pals’ when he travelled to her home in Irvine in August.
After the emotional reunion Mr Patel wants to fly his long-lost sister out to Dubai to meet his family in the new year.
On his company’s website, Patel Roadways is describes as follows: ‘Nearly half a century after his father Shakoor Hasham Patel left Gujarat to start a successful cap manufacturing business in Mumbai, his son Asgar Shakoor Patel with the same thirst for success and passion for hard work made a pivotal journey of his own.
‘He returned from the United Kingdom with the certainty that he wasn’t going to join his father’s business, instead make his own roads.
‘From a Salesman to a Stenographer to a Secretary, he went on to transporting his first consignment for Glaxo in 1959. This was the dawn of Patel Roadways Limited.
‘A zest for success and a clear-cut vision drove Asgar Patel to transform Patel Roadways into one of the largest logistics companies in Asia with 1000 delivery outlets and complimented by a workforce of over 7,500 people.’
Mr Patel (pictured) turned up in Glasgow 60 years ago during the mass migration from the sub-continent to Britain as a result of Partition. He was terrified when he knocked on Mrs Wilde’s great aunt’s door. She took him in but later gave him to her mother to look after. Mrs Wilde and Mr Patel were thick as thieves for five years, until he was told he had to go home
After leaving India Mr Patel (pictured) started up one of the country’s biggest logistics companies and made millions, he is now on Forbes’ top 100 Indian businessmen of 2017