I am not afraid of anything’, SAYS BRAVEHEART KID

When the kuccha house of Nilam Kalu Bote suddenly caught fire, the 12-year-old from Manikozar village in Ahmed Nagar district of Maharashtra rescued her two younger sisters and her brother to safety. She also rescues her pet goat which were tethered inside.

“I am not afraid of anything,” she said, when asked if she was not afraid at the time. Nilam wants to join the police force after growing up. She was one of the eight children under 16 who were given the Ghanshyam Binani Children’s Bravery Award 2016.

The youngest among the children was Kamlesh Pradhan from Chattisgarh, all of 7 years. His father was beaming with pride at the ceremony. Kamlesh was only 6 when he saved his friend who accidentally fell on a mound of hot ash. His friend suffered 50% burns but was saved by little Kamlesh who stepped into the mound to pull his friend out. Kamlesh burnt his feet in the incident. While Kamlesh was too shy to speak, his father said Kamlesh wanted to become a policeman too.

Gulnaaz Bano and Muskaan from a village called Mavai in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh lost their lives when they jumped into a lake to save their friend Mukhtar who was drowning. They were among the three children who were awarded posthumously.

The Binani Group has been holding these awards from the past 14 years. “Previous years we gave awards to two to three children. This year we have eight recipients,” said Moni Jha of Binani group. To choose the recipients of the award the group requests information from police stations, NGOs and state councils all over the country.

The children were given a cash prize of Rs. 51,000, a medal of courage, a certificate of recognition and a citation each. Young school children from a few city schools had come with their teachers to witness the awards ceremony.