According to me hero of the most amazing story of recent times is aptly called, ‘Prince’. All of 6 years, Prince created a very high octane drama by his 50 hours, 53 feet underground ordeal. One can not be more insignificant than being the son of a migrant Bihari labor in Aldehri, an insignificant village of Kurukshetra.
The story starts with small kids playing around a well, with setting sun as a background. There were some harmless looking gunny bags lying on the ground. Suddenly a boy steps on the gunny bag and gets swallowed by it…it show cases ever careless and callous attitude of authorities, who dug a 53 ft deep bore-well and in instead of closing it properly, they just covered it with gunny bags. Anyone would imagine that this kind of arrangement looks more like an animal trap used by hunters to capture wild animals. Well the authorities have proved that the trap still works. Well, if it was the son of a local politician falling and breaking his leg, the ‘well-digging-authorities’ would surely have got an instant justice.
But it happened to be an insignificant six years old, who reached the full depth of the unforgiving trap. He must have bounced off the sides many times before hitting the ground and finding himself in total darkness with no space around him…This is a moment of utter fright. If anyone even tries to imagine his feelings during those few moments, one can get choked with fear. I cry very easily when I think of those few minutes, when Prince’s unending fall into the abyss ends with a thud. It is dark. There is pin-hole of light if he looks up. Some tiny faces are seen far away in a tiny circular frame. There is a total loss of senses. That is where Prince proved to be different and steady in mind. Never mind his crying for his mother. He is only six and he always cuddles up with his mother.
On ground level his friends immediately judged seriousness of the situation. They ran off with their white faces and told Prince’s parents about what had happened. Mind you they were also the same height as Prince. Shocked and confused parents came running and cried Prince’s name with quivering voices into the 16 inch wide hole. The bad news got confirmed when they heard Prince’s voice from Patal. Anyone can imagine their scare, helplessness and hopelessness. I mean what could anyone do in such situation? Can I drop a rope and pull a child up 53 feet who would not know what to do with the end of a rope in total darkness? He may become out of control thinking that rope was a snake. And that would have been the end of everything.
Well, since we already know the end, let me analyze what might have happened. Aldehri is a small village. So, the trap-news reached the ‘well-digging-authorities’ real fast. They knew instantly that it was the end of their careers – everyone’s! Some will rot in jail in a few minutes. And in this scare lays beginning of the action sequence. The message went from smaller chairs to bigger ones like a wild fire. By this time the night had fallen and Prince and his parents were facing the biggest tests of their life. Prince had not eaten and so did the rest of the village. Prince had not slept and so did the rest of the village. Prince was encaged in a small dark hole and so was the heart of every villager. To the good luck of the villagers and elders they had an unused dried up well near the deadly hole. They knew that, that was their only way to get to Prince. As par the data, Prince was 53ft underground and the well was only 15ft deep. But there was no time to think. They started digging the well and had reached a depth of 35 ft, when engineers and Jawans of Indian Army took over and turned it into the most humane and technical rescue operation.
In the mean while a camera for CCTV had been lowered into the abyss for doctors and parents to get vitally important visuals of the brave boy. Life supporting Oxygen was being supplied to him along with water, chocolates, milk and biscuits. He was being constantly talked to, to keep him awake and alert. His visuals of catching the container and drinking water made one feel that he was in control. Due to inexperience perhaps he may not have realized the uncertainty that his life was facing and also lack of any fear of failure of the rescue operation. His good looking wide eyes, soft face and fragile naked frame made such a picture that filled me with so much emotion. But I could not name those emotions. I have not encountered such a situation…
Cameras showed Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs… and school kids all over kneeling with bowed heads and praying together for a single cause. Mr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minster of India announced ‘all the medical expenses to be born by the state’ and so did Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Mr. Hooda perhaps dumped his appointment diary and sat at the site of action. There were numerous cameras of all conceivable news channels, telecasting ‘live’ to entire world, inter-cutting action between above and underground visuals of Prince. That got everyone’s attention to the amazing fete being performed. This act was being performed live and there was no scope of anything being left to any chance. It had to be just perfect. And finally it turned out to be just that, ‘perfect’. I was glued to the TV for 2 hours. I had decided I will not switch off the TV, when Prince is still alone in that deep hole. It’s not done.
The crane was pulling up various articles and people, it was getting more curious. It took real long when a soldier came up with a small bundle wrapped in white sheet. But as the sheet opened a bit the camera showed Prince’s face. With the sight of that face, there must have been a great sense of relief for entire nation. Finally we can celebrate his sixth birthday – or is it BirthdayX2?
I don’t know what to learn from this story; but it is a story worth every word. We all need to learn to keep our calm, especially when times are bad. Only real life situations can give you practical lessons, meditation centers can not.
Final credit roll has glowing names of engineers and Jawans of Indian Army, Prince’s parents Ram Chander and Karamjit who kept their sanity, concerned villagers, politicians who helped mobilize massive infrastructure to the village, prayers of everyone who watched the story on TV, specially small children and finally guts and cool head of Prince himself.
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