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Honouring varied colours of courage
The winners of the 12th Red & White Bravery Awards 2003 in New Delhi on Tuesday.
What is so extraordinary about being an ordinary human being who dares to do the right thing at all costs? This seemed to be the biggest question on the lips of this year's winners of the 12th Red & White Bravery Awards. And while star power and glamour was absent, what made the occasion special were the varied "colours of courage'' that were gathered under one platform.
While Ram Chander has received the Social Lifetime Achievement Award for his "Jaipur Foot'', the gold medal has been conferred posthumously on Arun Singhal in the category of physical bravery. The silver medal has been awarded posthumously to Parminder Singh and the bronze has gone to Subhasis Samadder. And the gold medal for social acts of courage was bagged by Josephine Sharoha while the Family of Disabled bagged the silver medal under the same category. The bronze medal went to Prince Singhal for his `drink safe-drive safe' campaign.
Gathered in the hall were the families of each of these proud individuals who had a tale to tell about their loved ones. While Arun's mother sat quietly wiping her tears throughout the presentation, Parminder's relatives sat staring at the door.
"I believe Natu (Arun) managed to live a full life before his death. Sometimes I do think about what life would be if Arun was still around, but then I know that my son was a very good person who even the gods wanted back. I am proud of him as he was a dutiful son who wanted to take care of the family, was very methodical and was a very responsible citizen,'' said Arun's mother about her son.
The oldest recipient of the award this year was 82-year-old Ram Chandra. Speaking at the function, he recalled, "Never for a single moment did I feel that I was doing something futile. Making the Jaipur foot was what I believe to be my calling and I have learned never to say no and never to give up. Awards don't mean much to me at my age, but I hope people learn to be grateful for the simple joys of life.''
Also present on the occasion was Preeti Johar, who represented the organisation Family of Disabled, which has also won an award this year. Speaking about the organisation, she observed: "We are a voluntary organisation to serve people with different disabilities. Our objective is to enable the disabled to become self-reliant, productive and independent individuals, to support, motivate and encourage them to face challenges and create awareness and sensitise the masses about various aspects of different disabilities. We hope that through the award more people get to know about us and make use of our services.''
Committed as he is to carrying forward his `drink safe-drive safe' campaign for Delhi, Prince Singhal is not ready to rest on his laurels. He claims he would be launching yet another project on April 5 in Delhi on the same theme.
By Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Photo: Anu Pushkarna
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Life
Bangalore
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Thiruvananthapuram
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