Five days ago, when 30 members of his family were trapped at home as the floodwater rose, Latif Khan from Gujarat made frantic calls to elder brother Shaukat to put in place arrangements to rescue them. But Shaukat, a maulvi in a local madarsa, would not listen to him. The shy, introverted teacher was busy saving 70 students who were on the verge of drowning as water began to fill the madarsa.

By the time Shaukat returned to save his family, his house was submerged under 15 feet of water; the level still rising. Shaukat managed to save all his students but he lost his entire family, swept away one by one.

Witnesses said Shaukat was at home when he heard that nearly 150 people had been trapped in the madarsa where he taught. He put his students first and rushed to the madarsa. The water, he thought, was still manageable and his family could wait.

First, he led the older students to safety to a nearby sand dune. Then, even as the water kept rising, he helped the younger boys to the dune, one after the other. His family, by then, had been hemmed in by the water. Sensing the danger, they began calling Latif, who was in Gujarat’s Anand district, who in turn tried to contact Shaukat.

The maulvi rushed home on hearing the SOS but it was too late by then. Villagers pulled him back when they saw that the house had been completely submerged.

Two days ago, when the army recovered 35 bodies from this village, which is completely under water, 30 of them were from his family.

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