Prince now a Celebrity!
Daily News & Analysis
Mumbai, July 28: Having emerged as an instant celebrity after his recent fall into a 60-foot-deep borewell, the six-yearold Prince paid a visit to Mumbai on Thursday.
His appointment included hobnobbing with bollywood stars, and others.
Charming Prince with Malaika Arora-Khan and Arbaaz Khan during a visit to Mumbai after being rescued from a borewell in Kurukshetra.
Prince bahar aaya, toh paani lekar aaya’
Mumbai Mirror
Intense media coverage of Prince’s 50-hour ordeal drew attention to problems in his village, prompting authorities to solve some of them
Prince bahar aaya toh, paani lekar aaya,” says an elated Ajay Sharma, a resident of Haldera village in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district.
He is referring to the benefits the village is reaping due to the 6-year-old boy’s 50-hour ordeal in a 60 feet deep pit, which had the nation riveted to the TV set.
To begin with, it can look forward to a supply of clean drinking water. Residents say the village, which is home to 150-odd families, has been grappling with a severe water crisis for several years. In fact, the pit in which Prince fell had been dug to draw drinking water.
The adjacent well, which was used to rescue Prince, had dried up years ago and only highlighted the water problem.
“Whatever little water we managed to draw out from handpumps turned brown within minutes. This is because the iron content is very high. Besides, the water is characterised by high acid content as well,” says Ajay Sharma.
Prince’s ordeal put the problems of the village in the national limelight.
District commissioner T K Sharma promised immediate relief from the water problem. Two days later, the district administration swung into action.
“The work on laying of pipes has already begun. On August 4, we will finally get safe drinking water,” says an overwhelmed Ram Chander, Prince’s father. In future, the village may not have to rely on ground water.
As a precautionary measure, authorities have now covered the well and the pit in which Prince fell. But this posed a problem to the village.
“For years now, we had been offering the first drop of milk of a cow that has just delivered a calf to the well,” says Sharma. The solution — build a temple dedicated to Jal Devta (water god) and make the offering there. It will also commemorate Prince’s ordeal.
Meanwhile, Prince was in Mumbai on Thursday, unaware of the gift he has bestowed on his village. He refuses to sit still in one place, checking out every new object that his eyes fell upon. “His life has just about been saved. But he is as naughty as ever, as if nothing ever happened,” says Ram Chander. (This interview with Prince was conducted at the Star News studio in Mumbai)
‘Kitni der laga rahe ho. Jaldi bahar nikalo’
While people around the country were missing heartbeats thinking about his fate, Prince was fighting his own battle 60 feet below the ground.
Initially, the toddler was scared and was heard crying, but calmed down when he became aware that people were trying really hard to rescue him.
Ram Chander, Prince’s father, says, “When we tried to comfort him by saying that he will be out soon, I heard an angry voice replying — Kitni der laga rahe ho? Jaldi bahar nikalo (Why are you taking so long? Get me out soon).”
“When I heard him, I knew that he would survive. He is a brave boy.”
Ajay Sharma, another villager who played a vital role in rescuing Prince, said, “Through the CCTV, we could see what Prince was doing. While he was down in the pit, he saw a cockroach crawling near him.
“Instead of getting scared, he simply took some mud in his hands and buried the cockroach there itself. We didn’t even hear a sound from him.”
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