Mumbai: 6 young Brave-hearts from across India bestowed G Binani Children’s Award

By Rons Bantwal
Bellevision Media Network

Mumbai, 17 May 2015: Six young brave-hearts from across India, including two teenagers who sacrificed their lives, earned the prestigious 14th Ghanshyam Binani Children’s Bravery Award for 2014. The recipients were honored for their heroics by the Braj Binani Group at an awards ceremony at the Grand Hotel, here.
 
The award has been instituted in memory of the late Ghanshyam Binani, founder-chairman of Binani Industries Ltd and acknowledges an act of bravery and selflessness of boys and girls across India up to the age of 16 who risked their lives to save others who were in danger of losing their own.
 
The awards include the bravery and social cause categories, and the posthumous category that was introduced this year. The awardees were give cash prize of Rs 51,000 (for their education), a silver medal of courage, a certificate of recognition and a citation, each.
 
The members of the jury were Grace Pinto, managing director of Ryan International Group of Institutions, Kalpana Binani, Joey Ghose, managing director of Binani Cement and Bina Verma, CEO of MediaMagix, the servicing company of the Braj Binani Group.
 
‘The response to the awards was overwhelming,’ said Binani. ‘The determination and courage shown by the children is truly inspiring.’
 
Overcome with emotion, Pinto said: ‘I was deeply moved when I read the stories of the nominated children. The new generation of children should follow traditional values practiced by their parents, feel proud of India’s culture and always be brave in saving the lives of those in danger.’
 
‘It was a difficult task to choose the winners,’ added Joey Ghose. ‘I believe such awards instill confidence in young children who have learnt things the tough way.’

 

 
From among the 74 nominations received this year from all over India, the recipients in the bravery category were, Akshay Anand Tambe (15) of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra; Victor Lalbeiseia (7) from Mizoram; Ashwini Bandu Ughade (13) of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra; and Mhonbeni Ezung (6) of Nagaland, the youngest awardee.
 
Shaurya Veer Singh (12) of Madhya Pradesh and Riya Chaudhary (15) of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh were awarded posthumously.
 
Shourya Veer Singh (Posthumous): The night of January 25, 2014 was unusually dark and seemed dangerous. There was an ominous sign. Young Shourya Veer Singh, of Dandapura, Vidisha, MP, was at home with his mother. It was peaceful at home when suddenly a group of three young miscreants – Sharad Yadav, Kapil Yadav and Narayan Reekwar – entered their house. The three men had come to loot and murder.
 
When Shourya saw the trio, he realized the purpose of their visit and pounced on them. He faced them alone and put up a hard struggle to save his mother and valuable family possessions in the house.
 
In retaliation the strong culprits attacked Shourya. But Shourya, too, used all his strength to resist them. He fought with the criminals continuously for about 15 minutes, weakening them. However, according to their secret plan, the three delivered a fatal blow. Shourya fought till his last breath when finally they pushed him down on the floor and strangulated him – killing him on the spot.
 
Although Shourya lost the battle which cost him his life, he saved his mother and the family’s dear possessions. Shourya was just 12 years and 5 months old when he succumbed to his serious injuries.
 
Riya Chaudhary (Posthumous): A village girl, 15-year-old Riya Chaudhary was quietly preparing for her examinations, totally focussed on her studies. Her younger brother had gone to school, and her parents went about performing their daily household chores. But in the quietness of their home and surroundings, she unexpectedly heard a loud commotion outside.
 
Restless and disturbed, she quickly rushed to the entrance door to find out what was going on. Once there she saw her parents and uncle surrounded by a group of dreaded men. Riya was stunned to her senses when she saw dangerous weapons in their hands. All of a sudden, they started firing in all directions.
 
When Riya saw the miscreants targeting her father, she rushed ahead and stood in front of him – shielding him from the attackers. The bullet which was aimed at her father pierced her chest and blood began to ooze. But undeterred, Riya continued to shield her father from their ruthless enemies.
 
They also took aim at her mother and shot her twice. After witnessing her mother also being attacked, she gave up courage and collapsed on the spot. Riya lost her life in the fight to save her father. A tragic end to a brave girl’s life.
 
Akshay Anand Tambe: The day was March 13, 2014 and the time was around 3.30 in the afternoon. The sun was burning hot, not the ideal time to be out in Jamsande, a coastal village of taluka Devgad in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra.
 
But, 50-year-old Prakash Jagannath Kadam did not care, because he liked fishing any time of the day. So he made himself ready, and walked towards a creek in the heat to collect shelled oysters. Upon reaching the spot he surveyed the creek and dived to the bottom to start collecting the oysters and fish. Before he could realize it, he was suddenly dragged into a whirlpool. As scared as he was, he tried his utmost to get out of it, but his efforts proved futile.
 
A woman standing on the banks of the creek saw what was happening and started shouting. 15-year-old schoolboy Akshay Tambe, a Std. IX student of Gogate Madhyamik Vidyamandir, heard the woman screaming as he stood on the opposite side of the creek. As he looked in her direction, he saw the man caught in the whirlpool. Realizing the dangerous situation, he immediately jumped into the creek and speedily swam towards the drowning man. Then Akshay, using his feet, pushed the man hard and out of the whirlpool. Exhausted and feeble by the struggle he put up to save the life of a heavy, middle-aged man, Akshay still managed to finally bring Kadam safely to shore – thanks to a never-give-up spirit.
 
Victor Lalbeiseia: After attending school at Field Veng Rengdil in Mamit District of Mizoram, seven-year-old Victor Lalbeiseia and his two young friends went to a swimming pool to have some fun and frolic. A group of children were already there – some swimming and some standing on the edge of the pool.
 
One of them, six-year-old Lalruatpuia all of a sudden fell into the pool and began to drown. While other boys stood watching helplessly and scared stiff, Victor, without waiting for a second, jumped into the swimming pool and swam towards Lalruatpuia. Since Lalruatpuia’s body was twisting and turning and engulfed by water, Victor found it difficult to grab him firmly with his hands. But with great strength, he gripped Lalruatpuia and pulled him out of the water. Using his presence of mind, Victor was quick enough to arrange first aid for Lalruatpuia.
 
Ashwini Bandu Ughade: Thirteen-year-old school girl Ashwini, who resides with her younger sister Rohini at Mehenduri post Rumbhodi of Akoletaluka, Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra, went to a neighbourhood farm in search of some food on the morning of June 9, 2014. They were glad to see some ripe, juicy yellow mangoes hanging from a mango tree.
 
The two girls plucked a few and began to return home. Rohini was walking behind Ashwini at a distance of two meters when a tiger came out of nowhere and pounced on her. Hearing her little sister’s screams, Ashwini turned around and saw the animal mauling her. She ran to rescue Rohini from the jaws of the wild creature.
 
The tiger had caught Rohini’s head in his jaws and her legs in his paws. Ashwini acted instantly and hit the tiger’s head with the mangoes. Surprisingly, the tiger got scared. Ashwini quickly pulled Rohini out from the tiger’s powerful jaws and freed her legs from the animal’s sharp, strong paws.
 
The tiger fled towards the nearby sugarcane field and disappeared before Ashwini could call her parents. Both the injured girls were taken home and treated with the first aid.
 
Mhonbeni Ezung: It was school holidays for six-year-old Mhonbeni Ezung from Okha in Nagaland. She always looked forward to spending her winter vacation at her grandmother’s village. It was a wonderful time to remember. But as the vacations were soon coming to an end, the grandmother decided to take her pet granddaughter for an outing on Anunga River.
 
Once there, they caught some fish from the river and prepared a delicious meal from the fresh catch. As was customary, the old lady went to the river to wash her hands before having lunch. But as she bent down, her blood pressure shot up and collapsed in the waters.
 
Seeing this, Mhonbeni gave out a loud shriek and ran towards the river bank to rescue her. She tried to pull out the old lady but since her weight was heavy, the girl could not grab her, and she herself fell into the river.