15 children to receive bravery awards

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 19. One need not fight the Kargil war or police the streets to be brave. Small deeds by little children, too, can speak volumes for valour, judging by the feats of this year's National Bravery Award winners.

It was nothing less than sheer heroism that prompted 16-year-old Rupesh Kumar and his sister Divya to fight the robbers who broke into their house in Mumbai in the early hours of August 1, 1998. The armed robbers tried to snatch away the gold earrings and chain from Divya which made Rupesh fight them and made the supreme sacrifice of his life.

Rashmi (13) and her brother Harsh Srivastava (9), were talking near their school at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on February 17, 1999, when they noticed two bulls engaged in a fierce fight. As traffic came to a halt, the policeman on duty and some passers-by hit them with sticks to shoo the bulls away.

While one bull fled, the other started chasing a 10- year-old boy, Narendra. Sensing that Narendra was in danger, Harsh rushed towards him and managed to pull him away to safety. Infuriated at this, the bull charged towards the two boys. Showing alertness of mind, Rashmi moved ahead at lightning speed, grabbed a stick from someone in the crowd and hit the bull until it retreated but only for some time.

Picking up Narendra, Harsh and Rashmi ran inside their school compound closing the gate behind them even as the crowd hurled stones and sticks on the animal and drove it away. But for the duo's presence of mind, the children could have been killed by the bull.

These are some of the exemplary and inspiring actions by children. It is to honour the children who distinguish themselves by performing outstanding deeds of bravery that the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) recommends them for the Bravery Awards which are given away by the Prime Minister on the Republic Day every year.

Master Rupesh Mansukhlal Punjani will be presented the Sanjay Chopra Award posthumously, Rashmi Srivastava the Geeta Chopra Award, and her brother the Bapu Gayadhani Award. The three are among 15 brave children who are being honoured with the Bravery Awards next week.

Among the other recipients are Jitendra Kumar Sharma (Bapu Gayadhani Award) of Tonk in Rajasthan, Pisli Suting (Babu Gayadhani Award) of Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya, S.Kavitha of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, Nem Chand Nirmalkar of Durg in Madhya Pradesh, Aswarya S.R. and Sreejesh S.R. of Thiruvananthapuram, Kartikeya S.Jain of Bhopal, Yumnam Jayadev Singh of Manipur, Sunil Singh Thakur of Jabalpur, and Gisha John of Kollam district in Kerala.

Introduced to mediapersons here today, the children did show an element of excitement and hope for a brighter future. However, defying the emotional turmoil inside was Divya whose brother was killed in an attack by the robbers. ``I wish Rupesh was here to receive the award himself,'' she said.

On the other hand, Rashmi and Harsh were had dreams of an adventurous future in their eyes. Rashmi, a national-level judo champion, wants to become a doctor and Harsh a fighter- pilot. But for all these brave hearts, it is not the scholarship, shield or the cash component which matters, rather the recognition of it. ``We could not believe it when we heard it in the news in November,'' Rashmi said. Ever since, there have been a series of felicitations and more are in awaiting once they go back.

The SOS Children's Village of India today organised a special ceremony at Faridabad to felicitate these children. The chief guest, Lt.-General (Retd) J.S.Aurora, honoured them by presenting a gift cheque and memento.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Infiltration issue back in focus
Next     : ULFA men blast train