JOIN USSachin risked his life to save brother
Eight-year-old Sangamesh S Athanur of Bijapur and 11-year-old Sachin Thambad of Bangalore were the recipients of the ‘Hoysala award’ instituted by the Department of Women and Child Development. This bravery award honours children who display exceptional courage and presence of mind to save lives in dangerous circumstances.
Recalling the incident that took place at his residence on September 16 this year, Sangamesh, a third standard student at St Joseph’s School said his elder sister had forgotten to switch off the iron box after pressing clothes and had locked the door. Both his parents were away at work. “When I reached the gate, I saw flames raging inside my house on the first floor.” Sangamesh immediately collected the key from the house in the ground floor and opened the door. “I put off the switch to which the iron box was connected and poured water upon everything that had caught fire.” On his state of mind at that moment, Sangamesh said, “I was not scared at all. I only wanted to save my house.”
It was in the same month that Sachin, a resident of Marathahalli displayed presence of mind to rescue his younger brother Yogesh. Reminiscing about the incident, he said, “I was drying my hair after a wash near a 35-foot deep well when my cousin said he saw Yogesh, who did not know swimming, diving into the well. I instantly jumped into the well, and was not able to spot my brother for a while. Luckily, I spotted him near the bore pipe. He was losing consciousness and I brought him out on my shoulder. Those outside helped in giving first aid and taking him to a hospital,” he narrated.
Kalashree awards were conferred to fifteen children for excellence in the other fields. Samit P Shinde, a seventh standard student at Ramakrishna Vidya School in Bijapur was honoured for his tabla playing abilities. “I began playing tabla at the age of two. My dream is to become a great tabla player,” said the 12-year-old, who spends two hours a day in practice.
Chandramouli Kandachar, studying in seventh standard at St Mary’s High School in Arasikere, was always fond of dismantling parts of electrical equipment in the house. His curiosity has fetched him the award for ‘New Innovations in Science Model Competition’. “I have created a resistor circuit which can be used to control streetlights and doubles up as a burglar alarm,” says this 13-year-old who wants to do his doctorate in Electronics and invent bigger things in life.
The avid reading abilities of D Anirudh, a class VII student of St Joseph’s Central School in Mysore, helped him secure the Kalashree award for ‘Creative Writing’ in English. “My favourite books are the Harry Potter series, Amar Chitra Katha, Encyclopaedia and anything by Ruskin Bond. They helped me improve my vocabulary which helped me write well,” he said. Two individuals and two institutions were also honoured on the occasion.
Award winners
Hoysala award: Sachin Thambad (Bangalore), Sangamesh S Athanur (Bijapur)
Institutions awarded for commendable service in the field of child welfare: Swami Vivekananda Integrated Rural Health Centre (Tumkur) and Aadivasi and Rural Development Organisation (Chamarajanagar)
Invididuals awarded for commendable service in the field of child welfare: Dr Shubhada H N, Managing Trustee of Bhandavya Educational Trust in Basavangudi, Bangalore.
Subhan Sab Nadaf R D, Founder Secretary of ‘Helpline Rural Development Organisation,’ K T J Nagar, Davanagere
Achievement award for children in children homes: Creative writing- Arun Kumar (Shimoga); Education- Ashwini (Bijapur); Sports- Akshatha G Madagaonkar, Shakunthala, Shashikala, Kamalavva H, Geethanjali S (all from Dharwad), Umesh (Hassan); Cultural- Kumara (Hassan)
Achievement award for girls hostel child: Neeraja S of Chikkaballapur for Education
Exceptional achievement award for children: Academic- Ullas Keshav (Mysore), Krishnaveni S M (Dakshina Kannada), A M Anand (Davanagere); Arts- Shruthi S (Bangalore), Ruthusha Nagaraj Kapini (Bangalore), Ambika S Belam (Gulbarga); Sports- Preethi B Ujjini and Priya Prakash (Bangalore), Ishwarya Manjunath (Hassan), Sharanya Rao H (Virajpet); Culture- Swathi P Bharadwaj (Hassan), Akash and Akshatha Keshav (Bangalore), Swapna Raghupathi (Kodagu).
As many as 15 Kalashree awards were also distributed.