Jo darr gaya, samjho marr gaya: Why Gabbar Singh wanted to be the last to be rescued from Uttarakhand tunnel

Among the 41 workers rescued on Tuesday evening from the collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel, a lone man stands out for his resilience and strength. Gabbar Singh Negi – who was born 260 km away in Pauri Garhwal district of the state volunteered to be the last to leave the tunnel. He told rescue workers that he was the eldest among the group and hence should be the last to leave.

For over 400+ hours the men were nearly buried – nearly 200 feet deep inside the ground. Negi taught his colleagues yoga and meditation, ensured they stayed physically and mentally active, and helped them keep their chin up by telling them that he would volunteer to be the last person to step out from the tunnel—when the time came.

“’I am senior-most… I will be the last to come out…’, this is what he told me,” a smiling and visibly relieved Jaymal Singh Negi, his brother, told the media on Wednesday morning, hours after all 41 men were rescued and given extensive medical check-ups to ensure they had suffered no injuries.

The fact that all 41 survived the disaster with very few injuries, and emerged with dazzling smiles, is due, in no small part, to the effort of Gabbar Negi in keeping a potentially catastrophic situation under control.

“I am very happy… the family is very happy. Not just the family but the whole country… the whole country prayed for them. When they came out and we saw they were safe, we distributed sweets and garlands,” Jaymal Negi, who has been at the tunnel collapse site for two weeks said.

Smiling and visibly elated Jaymal Negi praised his brother’s tenacity and spirit throughout the ordeal. “He is very brave. When I asked him if there will be a stampede when the rescue starts, he told me, ‘I am senior, I will be last’.”

Negi’s bravery was also praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke to the rescued workers via telephone last night and told them, “It is a matter of happiness for me… I cannot express it in words. If something bad had happened… (I) can’t say how we would have taken that.”

All 41 workers were rescued on Tuesday night after “rat hole” miners — practitioners of a mining process banned by the government in 2014 because it is unsafe — did what high-tech drilling machines could not — break through the final 10-12 metres of rock and debris to finally save the workers after a mammoth rescue operation spanning more than 2 weeks.