"The rat-hole miners, Uttarakhand" ; 9 December, 2023

                                            “THE RAT-HOLE MINERS, UTTARAKHAND”

This poem is dedicated to the “rat-hole miners” of Uttarrakshi, Uttarakhand, India, who rescued about 41 miners trapped in a tunnel in December 2023. They struggled in a pipe of about 2.5 feet in diameter, (about 78 cms diameter). They dug out rocks, soil and debris, mostly by hand, to reach the trapped miners. They succeeded where other means had failed. The mechanical drill that was moving towards the trapped miners broke down a few feet from where they were. The rat-hole miners completed the rescue. 

Internet links :

(a)

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/india/india-uttarakhand-rat-miners-rescue-intl-hnk/index.html

(b)

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/uttarkashi-tunnel-rescue-indian-jugaad-wins-over-machines-netizens-hail-rat-hole-miners-in-silkyara-tunnel-11701225602143.html

(c)

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/uttarkashi-tunnel-what-is-rat-hole-mining-how-this-traditional-manual-method-came-to-the-rescue/articleshow/105564822.cms 

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                                “THE RAT-HOLE MINERS, UTTARAKHAND”

Brothers, friends, you be the underdogs :

Daily do you toil away,

Unseen, unappreciat’d.

Your very lives do you risk

To save others,

To give others a living,

To return them to life,

And bring them back to their families.

How to thank you,

Brothers,

Heroes,

Unsung heroes :

You be now sung in verse…

Where an army of workers fail’d,

You succeed’d.

Where machines fail’d,

You triumph’d.

The drill broke :

You resist’d :

You plodd’d on :

You came out victorious :

You were the saviours.

Who will sing your praise,

Who will sing your stories :

Only poets will do so,

And we do it in poetry…

Along a narrow, harrowing pipe

You crawl’d,

You nudg’d,

You crept,

You struggl’d,

You sweat’d,

You labour’d…

The world held its breath :

Everything in your hands rest’d.

You could bring victory,

Life,

Succour.

Had you fail’d,

‘Twould have been disaster,

Disaster for the country,

For the families…

You be the greatest heroes :

Your lives you live in silence,

In squalor,

In poverty,

In shadows,

Unreward’d…

As the river workers in Haryana (*),

You will return to anonymity.

Your days of glory will be short-liv’d,

For others :

Not for poets.

For,  poetry hath immortalis’d you,

Brothers,

Heroes…

At your feet these words be laid,

This chant that says

That India, humanity,

Thank you profusely,

Venerate you,

Glorify you.

May you be blest

For the rest of your lives,

Brothers,

Heroes…

Long live India !...

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 (*) Haryana : see my poem “Drowning the gift.”

https://mypoeticside.com/show-poem-171414 

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Soman Ragavan

Mauritius, Indian Ocean.

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