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The brave children of India

She sat there lost in thought, tears rolling down her face. The function was bringing back painful memories -- memories of her 13-year-old son Meghraj who died saving his friend from death near the Elephant falls in Shillong.

''What should I say?'' Thapa responds sadly after receiving the bravery award on her son's behalf from President K R Narayanan, "All of us in the family remember him throughout the day... when we eat, when it's time for school, when we go to bed...''

On the morning of May 12, 1997, Meghraj and six of his friends had gone to play near the Elephant falls. While trying to pluck flowers from the stream, 11-year-old Kishan Singh accidentally fell in. Meghraj, knowing that Kishan could not swim, immediately jumped in. Though he managed to save Kishan, his leg got trapped between rocks and he drowned.

Meghraj is among the 21 children who on Wednesday recieved the bravery awards for 1997 from the President. Four of the awards were given posthumously -- to Vijay Kumar (the Bharat award), Pinki (the Geeta Chopra award) and Sher Singh.

Vijay Sharma, the Sanjay Chopra award recipient, remembered the night when he saved the life of his friend's 10-year-old brother, a spastic child, from fire.

The 11 year old was at his friend's place. Around midnight on December 21, 1996, the house caught fire. When he woke up he saw the door burning. He tore through the flames to rush up to the first floor where Manglemjao was fast asleep.

As Manglemjao refused to leave the bed, Vijay trussed him up with a cloth. He tied the other end to a wooden post and lowered him safely to the ground through the window as the fire had already destroyed the staircase. Once Manglemjao was safe on the ground, Vijay, too, jumped out, suffering only minor injuries.

"I want to become a doctor," Vijay said, "I want to serve ailing people."

Geeta Chopra award winner Pinki saved five of her colleagues, but burnt to death when their school van caught fire. The courageous 14-year-old had managed to push the children out before flames engulfed her.

The Bharat award winner Vijay Kumar saved his employer's four-year-old son from assailants who had killed the child's mother. Vijay, who worked as a domestic help in Delhi, however, died in the effort.

"He was my only son," said Vijay's father Shukan Mahato, "I sent him to work because of the poverty in our village (in Bihar)."

Gouranga Sardar and Namai Mondal shared the Bapu Gayadhani award for averting a major train accident. The two were playing near the Taldi railway station on April 7 when they noticed that the rail was broken a little distance away. Gouranga took off the red shorts he was wearing, and the two boys ran towards the approaching train waving it frantically.

Six-year-old Sangita from Varanasi saved her friend from snake-bite. On December 11, 1997, students of the Navneeta Kanwar Public School had gathered for the morning assembly when Sangita noticed a snake coiled around Puneet Rai's leg. Exhibiting courage and maturity beyond her tender age, she boldly caught the snake by the hood and threw it.

The others who received the awards are Pragati Seth (Delhi), Sher Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Amrita Minhas (Delhi), Ajay Kumar (Bihar), Sunil Kumar (Haryana), Kashika Bhatia (Delhi), K Raju (Andhra Pradesh), Harsh Aggarwal (Delhi), Sangeetha K K (Kerala), Amit Kumar Tiwari (Madhya Pradesh), Shubhangi Diwaker (Madhya Pradesh), Peeyush Dubey (UP), Nandan Kumar Jha (UP) and Govind Ram (Arunachal Pradesh).

UNI

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