The Hindu : Those young bravehearts and their tales

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2004

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National

Those young bravehearts and their tales

By Anjali Malhotra

The Bravery Award winners in New Delhi on Monday. — Photo: S. Subramanium

NEW DELHI, JAN. 19. Generation X is often labelled as being selfish, but here are some of its ambassadors whose selfless courage stand out through tales of horror.

"I didn't think. Just acted," recalled 12-year-old Ramsadharan as he related how he saved Arjun from a leopard. When it pounced on his friend, Ramsadharan started throwing stones at the leopard and raised an alarm. He did not stop even when the animal turned on him. "All I knew was that I should not stop or both of us would be killed," he added.

For this and other acts of exemplary courage, 26 youngsters — nine young women and 17 young men — will receive the National Bravery Awards on January 24 from the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Each will get a medal, a certificate and a cash award, and ride caparisoned elephants as a part of the Republic Day parade. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, will host a dinner for them too.

The Sanjay Chopra Award goes to nine-year-old Riyaz Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh who lost both his hands and a foot while trying to save a child from a train accident. The Geeta Chopra Award goes to nine-year-old Ramseena R.M. from Kerala. She saved a three-year-old child from being crushed by a speeding car but lost her leg in the process.

"That is my daughter. She saved her classmate from drowning even though she is not an expert swimmer herself," said 11-year-old Suramya's mother.

As she and other proud parents, and members of the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), milled around, with the beaming children all over the place, at a press conference here on Monday, C. Vanlalhruaia's mother, sat quietly in a corner, shedding a silent tear as she showed an album picture of her son. The boy fought an armed robber who faced the members of his family, but was killed. "My son saved all of us. But the robber managed to stab him and he died. Why hasn't the Mizoram Government been able to find the robber yet? I want to ask the robber why he entered my house and stabbed my son," said this mother. She will receive the Bharat Award on behalf of her son.

Three of the awards are being given posthumously.

The Bapu Gayadhani Award goes to 14-year-old Vivek Purkayastha from Assam, the late Lalramdinthara from Mizoram and the late Asit Ranjan Samal from Orissa. Vivek had fought dacoits, while Lalramdinthara and Asit lost their lives saving other children from drowning.

The other recipients are Chuneshwari Kothalia (from Chhattisgarh), Nitin Uttamrao Kakde, Dyaneshwar Manikrao Kakde, Rajesh Namdev Kakde, Satyam Mahendra Khandekar (Maharashtra) Skiewtidaris Lyngkhoi (Meghalaya), Pratap Vikubhai Khachar (Gujarat), Neelam Rani, Sarita Tyagi, Sunita Devi Singhdoya, Swati Tyagi, Shushma Rani (Haryana), G. Kranthi Kumar, Thotakura Mahesh (Andhra Pradesh), Ram Nayan Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), Harish Rana (Uttaranchal), Ajith Kumar and Saneesh K.S. (Kerala).

Instituted in 1957 by the ICCW, 650 children have been honoured with the National Bravery Awards until now. "We have to be sure that each claim is true and that it happened over the past year. There is a lot of documentation involved and we have to be sure about everything," said the ICCW president, Andal Damodaran.

Chuneshwari's story

NEW DELHI JAN. 19. This spunky six-year-old may have run into a burning house to rescue her brother, but all she could offer today was a shy smile as she slid deeper into her chair when the crowd pressed on her.

"I was not scared. My only thought was for my brother who was sleeping in the house. I ran in to rescue him. After all, my parents had left him in my care," said the youngest recipient of this year's National Bravery Awards, Chuneshwari Kothalia from Chhattisgarh. When a fire broke out, Chuneshwari rushed in to save her two-and-a-half-year-old brother (sitting, centre, in picture), Deepak. While the neighbours watched helplessly, she brought her brother outside.

A soft "ho" — which her father translated as "yes" — was all that Chuneshwari said when asked if she would like to study. "She is a very good girl. I have put her in school and she is in Class I,'' said Moolchand Kothalia, Chuneshwari's father.

Though confused at the moment, Chuneshwari is very clear about one thing — when she grows up, she would either join the police force or lead the country and become a mantri.

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