When courage and bravery…go bigger than age!
This is the story of courageous young souls who saved the life of a young boy in the village Bhutiya where I work as a primary education coordinator with K. R. Shroff Foundation. Time and again we have seen that children are the biggest torch-bearers of humanity and valor in the darkest times and this story is a glorious example of the same. Before we move on to this brave saga, I would like to narrate the background briefly. Like other villages, in Bhutiya Village also the main source of livelihood is farming. The water for the same comes from the dam built in the Lilavata Village and flows in the canal, which is just behind our school. Inside the canals, there are small wells at a regular distance that farmers use for irrigation. During ‘no-water’ days in the canal, it becomes a playground for the kids.
On the day of this scary incident, two 4th standard students Dinesh and Ravi descended into the canal to play. Unaware of what is coming both were busy in playing and suddenly water with a full force started to flow in the canal. Ravi very swiftly came up but Dinesh with sudden force couldn’t muster the courage to come up and got stuck inside the well. Holding one rode, he was fighting this battle of life and death. Ravi, not losing his senses and with courage kept holding his one hand and kept trying to lift him. But it was all in vain. Both the kids kept shouting for help but it was also not working as school was going on and everybody was in class. For more than an hour, both the kids sustained their willpower and didn’t give up. By god’s grace, there came three boys – Vishal, Abhay and Dilip. Suddenly they heard the plights of the boys. Realizing it is coming from the canal side they ran and here they witnessed a dreadful scene. Their arrival breathed a fresh hope in Dinesh who was almost on the verge of giving up. Without losing a second, all the four boys got into the action. But it was a daunting task. This struggle and fruitlessness was making Dinesh restless and verbally abusive. In fact, this made Vishal upset and but it was his friend Abhay who remembered his teacher’s wise words…that life is full of choices, it is up to us to choose the right. And now is not the time to be upset or finding fault with Dinesh but to make the right choice of saving his life. Understanding what Abhay is saying, all the four again filled their heart with courage and started putting in more effort and as a result, Dinesh was finally saved. Their timely help saved one life!
We all can understand the trauma of Dinesh’s parents when they came to know about the accident. For them, these boys were angels to save their only son’s life. Ravi, Vishal, Abhay & Dilip were felicitated in the school for their heroic act. Salute to these icons of bravery and fearlessness!