A Boy Who Saved 850 Train Passengers. A Girl Who Saved Her Brother from Electrocution.

33 children from Karnataka were awarded for their acts of bravery by the Governor, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, on the occasion of Children’s Day this year. The award ceremony was held at the Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park, Bengaluru. These children showed exemplary courage and did not think twice before putting their lives in danger to save other people.

Two of the 33 award recipients are Siddesh Manjunath and Siya Vamanasa Khode. This is how they displayed immense courage and presence of mind in dangerous situations:

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Siddesh Manjunath

This 10-year-old boy was conferred the Hoysala bravery award for stopping a passenger train that was about to cross a nearly two-inch wide crack on the rail track. His action saved about 850 passengers.

Siddesh is a student of class 5 at Avaregere government school in Davanagere city of Karnataka. He has a habit of watching trains pass by his father’s tea stall in their village. On March 14, 2015, he was at the tea stall and felt that something sounded wrong when two trains passed by. While his father told him that it was just the sound of stones on the track, Siddesh wanted to confirm. He went near the tracks to find a very risky gap there. On hearing about it, his father Manjunath rushed to the tracks and tried alerting other people. By that time, the Harihara-Chitradurga train was approaching and Siddesh knew that they had to do something to stop it. It was then that an idea struck the child. He took off his red t-shirt, and started waving it while running towards the train. His father and some villagers also ran behind him, thereby alerting the loco pilot from a distance. The train stopped and many lives were thus saved. Siddesh explained that he got t-shirt the idea from a movie that he had seen earlier.

Siya Vamanasa Khode

This 11-year-old girl from Hubballi saved her younger brother from electrocution. She was felicitated with the Keladi Chennamma award for bravery. She was playing with her 7-year-old brother, Yellappa, when he accidentally came in contact with a live wire.

“While we were playing, I saw my younger brother holding the iron railing, but standing still with his eyes wide open. When I tried to pull him away, I received an electric shock. That’s when I realised Yellappa was electrocuted. I tried to hold his hand, but received yet another electric shock. So I pulled him away from the railing by holding on to his shirt,” she told The Hindu.

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