Siddaraju’s home in Kesthooru is in a festive mood. Last month two boys had drowned in the Kesthooru tank , while trying to retrieve a ball that had fallen into the tank. Siddaraju who was nearby heard their call and was successful in rescuing one of the boys.

Against this background on the 60th year of independence day, he was awarded a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10,000 by the governor T N Chaturvedi. A sense of gratitude now reigns in Siddaraju’s poor household.

The police department showered praises on Siddaraju for his bravery and presence of mind. Under the guidance of District Superintendent of Police P Harishekaran, Kora Sub Inspector P Sheshadri informed about the brave act of Siddaraju to the Women and Family Welfare Department. The officials of the department then informed about the same to the State government.

As a result of this Siddaraju, hailing from the most backward village of the Tumkur district was recognised for his bravery.

Manjunath and Gowramma, parents of Siddaraju, who is studying in the seventh standard,  work as coolies. They had least expected that their son would receive honour from His Excellency, the governor of the State.

“We were not aware of this bravery award at all. If not for the encouragement of the police and the Women and Family Welfare Department our son would not have received this award.Our son was able to rescue only one of the boys, if the other boy had also survived we would have been happier”, said Siddaraju’s father.

Probably, Siddaraju and his parents would have never dreamt that they would ever see the Raj Bhavan and receive such a huge amount from the governor, especially in circumstances when they were all making hand to mouth existence.

The happiness of the villagers of Kesthooru knew no bounds on seeing the picture of their village boy in the newspapers, who is now a recognised name at the State-level.

Sub-Inspector Sheshadri said that Siddaraju had given a new lease of life to one of his classmates, which is a great feat in itself.