Bravehearts of the real kind

(##include msid=43376741,type=11##) Fighting a wild fox is the last thing one would expectof this little 11-year-old. She comes from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, butnarrates her story with great confidence. She says that the honour is yet tosink in, but is proud to set an example at such an early age. "I waswalking towards the village with a plate of sweets in my hands, which I wantedto distribute among the village children," she says."Then I heard mysister shouting. As I turned back I saw a fox chasing my sister. My sister rantowards me and the fox came charging towards us. He pounced on me first, but Iescaped with minor injuries.""Then the fox dug his teeth in to mysister''s chest and started dragging her towards the fields. I thought I wasgoing to lose my sister. It was then that I realised that I had to risk my lifeto save my sister.""I hit the animal with the plate several times.Eventually he left my sister and ran towards the fields," says Mahima, with atwinkle in her eyes.(##include msid=43376741,type=11##) She''s the youngest of the lot. Priyanka had to becoaxed to tell her story. With a shy smile, staring at the ground, she told usher story."I was sitting in the verandah of my house which overlooksa river. I saw two students coming back from school. I turned away from them andcontinued playing, when suddenly I heard them shout," says the nine-year-oldfrom Haryana. "I turned around and saw both of them in the river,struggling to save themselves from drowning. They were walking on the banks andmust have slipped and fallen into the river."Seeing the two indanger, Priyanka jumped into the river. "I knew how to swim and managed to savedboth of them within 15 to 20 minutes," she says.Asked whether shewas fearful of losing her life, Priyanka simply says: "It was my duty to savetheir lives and that''s all that I had on mind."(##includemsid=43376741,type=11 ##) "Are you here to interview me?" asks Rahul with aknowing smile. We didn''t have to prompt him anymore, as he told us his talewithout a pause.Keeping up with the 10-year-old was tough, butinterrupting only got us dark looks from the visibly annoyedRahul."My cousin Sanjeev and I were the only ones at home as ourmothers had gone out to the village for some work," he begins. "WhenI returned from the bathroom I saw that the house had caught fire. I shoutedfrantically for my neighbours but nobody came to our rescue. To make thingsworse, my cousin had had fractured his leg recently.""It was whenthe flames started rising I decided to carry my cousin on my back and ran out ofthe house," says Rahul.So what does the brave little fire-fighterwant to be when he grows up? Pat comes the reply: "A space scientist."Why, we ask? "Because it sounds good." But he wants tobe the Prime Minister of India, too. "That way I could make my own rules andregulations," says Rahul with an impishgrin.It is an interesting coincidence that Sai Kaushal''svalour on Independence Day will get him the honours on RepublicDay."My mother and I were returning from an old age home along withthree elderly ladies when a wild boar attacked them," the nine-year-old beginshis story."It came from the bushes and started attacking one of theold ladies. My mother told me to run, but I wanted to help the old lady andstayed back.""I started throwing stones at the wild boar. It soongave up and disappeared into the wild bushes," says Sai Kushal.SaiKushal dreams of becoming an Army officer to serve hisMotherland.(##includemsid=43376741,type=11 ##) She comes from the temple town at the foothills ofGarhwal region, where life is easy and slow, even sedate at times. However, lastyear summer, this simple village in Haridwar was abuzz as a near tragedy wasaverted.All thanks to a shy, 15-year-old girl, Majda, known to allin the village as Babli.On June 30, Babli was making (a bamboo frame with earthenpots carried over the shoulder by Hindu pilgrims) for her relatives, when sheheard children crying."I looked up and saw a vegetable cart carryingseven children rolling towards the river," she says. "I ran to stop the cart,but by the time I reached them, the cart had fallen into theriver.""It was difficult to swim that day as the current wasstrong," recalls Babli. Babli jumped into the water, but realisedsoon that she would have to haul two kids at a time if she were to save themall. "Thankfully, I saved all of them," she says. Babli says shedrew inspiration from her brothers, who had also saved people from drowning."When they could do it, so could I," is her simplelogic.(##includemsid=43376741,type=11 ##) Vinod, 19, is studying commerce and has immensefaith in God, to whom he credits his heroic act last year that saved the livesof his family members.Vinod usually came back from college at 2 pm,but on that fateful day he returned an hour earlier. "I still don''t know why Icame back early. It was God who sent me," he reasons. "As I climbedthe staircase of my house, I saw that the main door was open. The moment Ientered the room, a robber came from behind and put a knife to my throat," Vinodsays. Vinod saw that two other robbers were holding his mother,while another one had his brother. "They came to our housepretending to be from the courier service and brought with them a box of weaponsand 20 meters of rope."The threat of death didn''t unnerve Vinod. Hesnatched the knife from the robber and put it to his throat instead. "As Istarted fighting back the robbers panicked."Eventually, the robbersran away, but Vinod followed them. "I followed them downstairs witha knife in my hand. There were around 60-70 people, who stood their watching mefight them, but no one came forward to help me," recollects Vinod.The robbers got away, but Vinod''s mother was traumatised for over amonth. She has recovered now and is proud of her brave son.Hismessage is simple: "One should never quit and should always fight againstinjustice."(##include msid=43376741,type=11##) Heroism doesn''t end at saving human lives. But Gopaland his friends'' concern for an animal almost got them killed.Oneevening, while walking towards their village Gopal and his friend heard the wailof an animal. As they turned around, they saw a buffalo gettingelectrocuted.Gopal''s friend turned around and ran towards the dyinganimal. "My friend tried to hold its tail and set it free, but got electrocutedinstead. It was now the buffalo and my friend who were stuck to the electricpole." Vinod saw his friend getting electrocuted, but that didn''tstop him from rushing in."Without thinking of life or death I wentand pulling him with my handkerchief around his neck." "I saved himbut unfortunately the buffalo died," Gopal says.