Hope that they would be rescued soon kept workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India strong through their 17-day ordeal, some of the men said after their rescue.
All 41 men, low-wage workers from some of India's poorest states, were rescued. They were taken to a specialist hospital in Rishikesh city after spending the night at a makeshift medical facility in the small Himalayan town.
Doctors said they were all doing well but would need long-term support, including monitoring for post-traumatic stress.
"They are quite normal, I won't even call them patients," said Meenu Singh, head of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh.
Doctors have done some basic medical tests and will soon decide if they can be sent home.
"We will do a basic psychological assessment also so that we can follow up later on whether this incident is having any effect on them on a long-term basis," she said.
The men had lights in their confinement area and service pipes were used to push in oxygen, water, food, medicines and also to talk to them, and allow them to speak to their families.
They went for daily walks and did yoga in the 2km stretch of the highway tunnel in which they were trapped.
However many said knowing they were not forgotten, and would be soon pulled out, was what really kept them hopeful and strong.
"For the first day or so, everyone inside was very hopeless and sad," worker Birendra Kishku said. "We didn't know if anyone outside knew we were trapped."
"But when they reached us through the pipe, we got to know what the government was doing to bring us out," he added. "Me, my family and our entire village are very happy now."
Worker Subodh Kumar Verma also said that knowing that a major rescue operation was under way gave him solace and hope.
"I am fine now. It is because of your prayers, and the hard work of the government that I was able to come out," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the men by phone late yesterday and a video clip of the conversation showed the men sharing their experience with him.
"We lived like brothers," Saba Ahmed, a worker of the private firm contracted to build the tunnel, told Mr Modi.
"I would tell the workers that we are eating, drinking but have no work so let us do some yoga, go for morning walks to stay fit," he said.
The tunnel is part of the $1.5bn Char Dham highway, one of Mr Modi's most ambitious projects aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through an 890km network of roads.
Authorities have not said what caused the cave-in but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
Sukanti Nayak, the mother of worker Raju, said her son was the one telling her not to worry.
"When I first talked to him when he was inside I cried," she said. "My son was consoling me, telling me not to worry and assuring me that they would soon come out."
"We are eagerly waiting for him to return home."
"We were really scared, every moment felt that death was standing nearby," rescued worker Deepak Kumar said.
"We were not sure whether our lives would be saved or not."
The 41 men were welcomed as heroes after being hauled through 57 metres of steel pipe on stretchers specially fitted with wheels late yesterday, the culmination of a marathon engineering operation.
Draped in garlands of orange marigolds, they were greeted with wild cheers.
"The world is again beautiful for us," rescued worker Sabah Ahmad said, describing the heartache of hearing his wife's "worried and hopeless" voice while he was trapped.
"I know it was a difficult moment for those inside and more difficult for families outside," said Ahmad, who comes from Bihar, one of India's poorest states.
"But at last we have come out, and it is the only thing that matters."
His wife Musarrat Jahan said that "no words" could explain how happy she felt.
"Not only my husband got a new life, we also got a new life," she said. "We will never forget it."
