Outlook – July 28, 2019

R

ARELY has the entire country watched an

individual’s battle for life with greater interest.

Especially when the person is not a beloved

leader or a swoon-inducing film star, but a

nondescript five-year-old. After Prince Kumar

of Haldaheri village in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district

tumbled into a 60-foot-deep borewell, scores of news

channels trooped into the village and embarked on a

marathon reportage. People across the nation came

together to pray as the rescue mission was underway.

In July 2006, Prince had gone to a shop in the neigh-

bourhood where he saw a mouse scurry into a sack.

Intent upon stomping the vermin, he jumped on the

sack twice. The third time, he found himself spinning

into the depths of darkness. The army, which was car-

rying out the rescue operation, lowered a bulb into the

borewell and threw in Parle-G biscuits. They dug paral-

lel to the shaft and after excavating to the same level

as Prince, cut horizontally to reach him. Trapped for

over 48 hours, the child was scared to see uniformed

stran gers. He refused to come with them, so his uncle

was called. Seeing the familiar face, Prince leapt into

his arms. Millions glued to the television broke into

gasps of delight. He was exceedingly lucky—in subse-

quent years, many children could not be rescued in

time after falling into borewells.

Today, Prince is a portly 17-year-old with a hint of

fuzz above his upper lip. The borewell he fell into was

hardly 50 metres from his house; it is a tubewell now.

His school is shut for summer vacations and Prince

now spends mornings in the fields, helping his father,

and tending to the two buffalos and a cow his family

owns. Later in the day, he plays PUBG on his phone,

makes videos on TikTok and watches YouTube. Gully

cricket and pumping iron at a gym in the neighbouring

village occupy the evening slots in his schedule. Makke

ki roti with sarson ka saag is his ideal meal and

Gandhi’s biopic his favourite movie.

Prince took the Class 10 exams a few weeks ago, but

couldn’t clear two papers, English and maths. He plans

to consult his seniors to chalk out his future academic

course. Joining the army is on top of his profes-

sions-to-pursue list. “The salary is good, the perks are

excellent and you get to fight for the country,” says

the teenager. However, others in the village have been

unable to find jobs despite completing courses in

industrial training or getting a bachelor’s degree, he

adds with concern. Thirteen years after a second life,

Prince is awaiting another stroke of luck. O

Salik Ahmad in Kurukshetra

Prince loves

gymming,

PUBG, gully

cricket and

shooting

videos on

TikTok. He

wants to join

the army.

All’s Well That Bore Well

Prince Kumar

Whose rescue from 60 feet under riveted a nation

29 July 2019 OUTLOOK 37

SURESH K. PANDEY

AP