When footballer turned saviour

MUMBAI: Everybody in the Old Air India Colony knows Neil Gaikwad. Children are more than willing to go and find him. Elders cannot stop talking about him. But Neil, an unassuming 19-year-old footballer, continues to be himself, practising his game and helping people.
On July 26, when Mumbai was severely hit by unprecedented rains, the Air India Colony in Kalina was flooded with water rising above 14 feet. A bus with at least 60 people was stranded in front of the gate. As the water level started rising, people in the bus began to scream for help. Neil and his friends were already on the road helping people and had been doing this from 2 p.m. on Tuesday until 3 a.m. Wednesday.
"First I was directing vehicles and people to avoid the ditch. But as the level started rising, everyone panicked. I took a fibre thermocol board, which is used by goalkeepers for practice. I made two people from the top of the bus sit on that and pushed them to the first floor of building No 10. My friends helped them to climb up," Neil recounts.
Neil was one of the few people who could swim and the only one who could swim and pull people alongside. "I was in Goa where I learnt swimming. So I was not scared of the water or the current. But I was very worried, as none of the people knew swimming. If the thermocol had tilted, people would have been washed away," he said.
He was not the only one who was worried about falling. The people he was helping were very afraid and needed a lot of coaxing. Not only was Neil strong enough to hold them but he was also constantly assuring them. "I told them I would not let go. Whatever happens I will pull them out. The girls were worried and crying. But fortunately nobody fell off the board. I was constantly making sure that the board does not tilt," says the first year commerce student.
His friends, Ravi Kurate, Shekhar Achrekar and R. D. Medar held people as they reached the balcony and pulled them up. Nandkumar Banglekar, a resident said, "Neil must have gone up and down 40 to 50 times. To tie the rope, to speak to people, to take them out. Whatever we did came only after he had rescued those people."
While Neil was at the gate, his family was in the same colony wondering about his whereabouts. "My sister was delivered of a baby boy. As the water rose, my parents and my sister went to the second floor. They were wondering where I was. But I could not have gone home in such a situation," Neil says matter-of-factly.
While he was making the trips up and down, the only thing he asked the neighbours to arrange for was tea. "I was feeling cold. I kept drinking tea. Next day also there was so much to do. I saw some Indian Airlines people standing on the fence here needing help. I helped them reach their colony as it was flooded more than ours."
After a strenuous Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Neil was up and ready for the match between Air India and Western Railway on Friday. An Arsenal fan, he thinks playing football is not tiring. "I was tired but I like playing football. If I have to be a good player, I will to have make sacrifices," he says. "No politician came here. We did as much as we could. But still there is no light, water. Unless that happens things will not be normal here." he adds.