Heroes : 25 Real Stories of the Real Bravehearts - National bravery award winners 2016

Last year I came up with the real stories of the bravehearts who won the National Bravery awards in 2015 because media doesn’t show you / tell you about all their real stories of bravery. Not all children get equal attention in the media, but we`ll make sure that they get the respect they deserve.

The previous year post:

http://www.shwetabhmathur.in/2015/01/heroes-24-bravehearts-of-india.html

Going by the unprecedented and overwhelming response last year I am back this year too as I bring you their stories of courage and valor . This year , 25 brave kids have been awarded for their selfless acts and unmatched valour. Sadly, two of them have been bestowed with the honour posthumously.

Although effort has been made to tell each and every story, more details on one brave story could not found. A general description has been provided in that case.

1. Late Gaurav Kawduji Sahastrabuddhe ( Bharat Award ) - He sacrificed his life while saving his four friends. He was playing with his friends near Saryu river , one of them slipped and fell into the water. The boys jumped in , trying to save their friend and failed. Realising that they would not be able to save the boy, he jumped in and saved them one by one. He, however, lost his life during the attempt and drowned. “ I am happy that my son`s bravery has been recognized. I will miss him a lot today” – his father said.

2. Kumari Shivampet Ruchitha (Geeta chopra Award also the youngest awardee)- She displayed exemplary valour in saving two lives. A class 5th student, she was in her school bus when it got stuck on a railway line. She saw an incoming train and pushed 2 children out of the window. "The driver stopped the bus on a railway track at a crossing. On noticing the approaching train, I alerted him but the vehicle did not start. As the train sped towards us, I pushed two of my friends out of the window. I called out to my younger sister who was sitting in the first row but I could not save her and others as the train had hit the bus by then,". Her younger brother, who was also on the bus had suffered injuries in the accident. "I jumped off the bus onto the road. When the ambulance arrived, I gave my father's contact number to the medical staff. My brother and other children were in a critical condition then. It feels good to get an award from the Prime Minister. But I am sad and wish that I was able to save my sister, too, as we all miss her," she said.

3. Arjun Singh ( Sanjay Chopra Award) - He displayed outstanding bravery in fighting off a tiger to save his mother. He heard his mother’s screams and as he ran to her he saw a tiger. Arjun hit the tiger with a sickle and tried to scare the animal away with a stick. As a crowd gathered, the tiger fled their house.

4. Master Ramdinthara (Bapu gaidhani award) – He rescued two boys, who were playing near a transformer in Saiha district, from getting burnt to death. "Children play regularly near the transformer. I was passing by when I noticed that these boys had accidentally fallen on the transformer fencing. They were struggling to free themselves and I didn't know what to do," he said. Overcoming his fear and acting on his gut instinct, he pulled them out of harm's way with his bare hands by grabbing their hair and flinging them to safety. "I took the boys who had burn injuries to hospital. They are healing now," Ramdinthara, the said. Asked if he was regarded as a hero in his town, he said, "I am no hero."

5. Master Aromal S.M. (Bapu gaidhani awards)- He saved two women from drowning in a 14-feet pond.

6. Rakesh Patel ( Bapu gaidhani award)- He did not think twice before plunging into one well infested with stinking vegetation and poisonous insects when he got to know that a 6 year-old boy had fallen inside. "I rushed there along with two other friends. Dinesh's (boy`s) hand and head were visible in the well that was brimming with water. I jumped into it and caught hold of his hair and pulled him out of the well holding on to vegetation inside," said Rakesh. Had Rakesh not taken a call within a second, Dinesh would have drowned. "I did not think of any other consequences.The only thing that came to my mind was to save the boy ," He told.

7. Mohit Mahendra Dalvi - Saved his 10-year-old neighbour from drowning in Banganga lake One day, Krishna Pashtye was playing near the steps of Banganga lake , when she accidently slipped inside the lake. Krishna was said to have stuck in a ditch 25 feet under the lake. Out of the crowd of hundreds of onlookers, Dalvi was the only one who jumped into the lake dived in and managed to save the girl. He lives with his paternal aunt. When asked about the incident, Dalvi said, “I knew how to swim and so jumped in confidently. I saw the girl’s leg had stuck in mud in a ditch. I tried to get her leg out and managed to pull her out. When we came out, others rushed and helped us.”

8. Kashish Dhanani - He fought off a neighbour's German Shepherd dog for almost 10 minutes to save his little sister Kanchi. Kanchi was only 15 months old then. The two were playing at the garden of their housing society. An elderly woman was sitting in the garden with her German Shepherd dog. He went near the toddler and pawing her playfully. But when it began pulling her by the legs and dragged her a few feet, the boy rushed in to save his sister. Kashish lifted the child up in his arms and tried to evade the dog, which kept jumping up to reach the girl. Finally it managed to snatch her away. But Kashish didn't give up. The tussle with the dog went on for almost 10 minutes, till a few grown-ups could rush to his aid.

9. Kumari Angelica Tynsong - Angelica risked her life to save her brother Carmel Tynsong from an inferno that had engulfed their home . At the time of the incident, her little brother was sleeping inside the house while she was washing clothes outside. Their parents – Ritnenglang Shangpliang and Litidian Tynsong – were not present in the house at the time of the incident. Although she cant speak either English or Hindi and had a tough time narrating the incident, the citation beneath her name and the medal spoke itself for her courage.

10. Master Nilesh Revaram Bhil- He rescued 11-year-old Bhagwat Ugale from Buldhana when the latter fell into water near temple pond while washing his feet before entering the temple. Nilesh jumped into the 15 feet deep water and saved the boy.

11. Master Vaibhav Ramesh Ghangare – He was playing with his friends in Nandi river when the flow of water suddenly increased. He saw his friend Suhas Borkar being washed away in the current. He was fortunate that he could hold on to a cement pipe under a bridge nearby. As local people watched in horror, young Vaibhav braved the river currents to rescue his friend to safety.

12. Master Bhimsen – When a boat capsized in the Saryu river in which 34 people drowned and 6 people lost their lives, Bhimsen saved the lives of 14 people by rescuing them by his boat.

13. Kumari Joena Chakraborty – She was going to the market to have a pizza with her parents when 2-3 people walked past them and one of them snatched her father`s phone. She ran after the miscreant, stopping all the vehicles to cross the busy road in Delhi`s Paharganj. When she caught up to him, she held to his feet till he dropped the phone.

14. Late Shivansh Singh- Awarded posthumously for sacrificing his life to save his friend from drowning in Saryu river. Unfortunately, he could not save his friend and lost his life too.

15. Master Maurice Yengkhom – Showed exemplary courage in saving the life of his cousin. "I saved my cousin brother from electrocution We were playing on a terrace and High Tension power line was close. We were playing with water balloons on Holi and all of a sudden my cousin was standing very close to wires. We were playing on the terrace when he called out to me. I started hitting him with a cane chair, hoping to free him from the current. I went on hitting him till he was free. He was unconscious when I finally pulled him off and his face was burnt but he was alive. I was so happy," Maurice said.

16. Chongtham Kuber Meitei – He concedes that he was scared to jump into a 10-foot well when he heard a girl cry out for help from within its depths. But jump he did and saved the 12-year-old who would have drowned if not for Kuber. "I won't lie, I was really scared. But I had to jump into the well to get to her. She would have drowned," said Kuber, who was barely 13 when the incident happened. He had ventured towards the well in his hometown to retrieve the football he was playing with, has since become a local hero.

17. Master Dishant Mehndiratta- He summoned up the courage to knock the knife out of the hands of the intruder who was holding it to his mother`s neck as he demanded the valuables in the house. One second Dishant was begging the intruder to spare his mother, the next second, the knife was on the floor, and the mother and son had managed to overpower the man.

18. Abinash Mishra - He rescued a boy from Kushabhadra river. He noticed the boy slipping further into the deep water. He jumped into the river and with much courage and skill dragged him out of the deep water and swam to the shore.

19. Sarwanand Saha- He saved a man from drowning.

20. Nithin Philip Mathe - He braved fire to save his neighbour’s family after their house caught fire in a fire. He was playing when he noticed smoke coming from the window of his neighbour’s kitchen. He broke open the door and extinguished the fire by throwing away a gas cylinder up in flames. “When I saw that my neighbour’s family was stuck inside their house because of a fire, I broke open the door and entered with the help of others to save their family” , he said.

21. Beedhovan - He and his friends were plucking coconuts with an iron rod when the rod touched a 11 KV electricity power line. His friend was caught in the grip of the current. Beedhovan kicked the rod with his rubber slippers and saved his friend.

22. Anandu Dileep - He and his friend were on their way to tuition, when while crossing a bridge, his friend slipped and fell into the 10-feet-deep canal. Anandu jumped into the water and managed to rescue his drowning friend.

23. Abhijith KV - He rescued his friend from a temple pond.

24. Muhammad Shamnad - He rescued 1.5 year old Riya Fathima who fell into a pond.

25. Sai Krishna Akhil Kilambi - He displayed exemplary courage and presence of mind, managed to save his mother from getting electrocuted inside their house. She came in contact with a live electric wire while washing the floor of the house.

Courage comes in all ages and this post is a salute to that and also a platform to provide all medal winners with equal respect and honour as mainstream media never showcases the stories of all except for a chosen few.