By Jaideep Sarin, IANS
Haldaheri (Haryana) : It took a 65-foot fall for little Prince to rise in life and become a prince in more ways than just name. Exactly a year ago, the seven-year-old fell into a shaft and had the nation holding its collective breath as it monitored his rescue on live television over more than two days.
But life has come a long way since. Prince and his siblings now go to the DAV public school, still a distant dream for most of the other children in the village. Their books, fees, clothes and school bus are all paid for, the family has some money, and they even live in a 'pucca' house.
It was on July 21 last year that the daily wage labourer's son slipped while playing and fell into the 65-foot-deep pit of an abandoned tubewell. Within a few hours, rescuers moved in to help the boy and he became a household name as a camera lowered into the dark pit beamed his every movement live into millions of homes.
Prayers and elaborate rituals were held all over the country for his safe rescue. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda camped in this village for nearly eight hours to personally supervise rescue operations and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was moved to seek prayers for his safety.
It took a massive effort from the Indian Army and several individual volunteers to get the boy rescued.
About 50 hours later, when the boy was finally lifted out of the pit in a bucket and carried by an army major general, applause broke out – not just in this village but all over the country as well.
A year later, Prince avoids remembering those dark hours.
"Mujhe yaad nahin hai (I don't remember anything)," he says as he tries to cope with the burden of studying in the upscale public school, about eight kilometres from his home.
But the widespread publicity changed the fortunes of his family.
Financial help and other promises were made from far and near. The result was that daily wager Ram Chander and his wife Karamjit found themselves flush with funds, including Rs.700,000 in cash.
The family quickly converted its house in the village into a 'pucca' one. Prince was even taken to Mumbai on an all-cost paid trip and feted with Bollywood stars. He was loaded with children's gifts and clothes.
The village was promised a lot – from water lines to tarred roads – but things have not changed drastically. However, the district administration, after the incident, quickly ensured that all tubewell pits in this village and its vicinity were filled up with earth.
"The family earned good money from the incident. Their life has changed but the promises made for the village are yet to come true," says one of their neighbours.
Would it need another child to fall into a death trap before the authorities wake up to the plight of this village — and the many others like it?
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at [email protected])