Thirty-year-old Aluvelaamma was weeping as she walked up the dais to receive the Keladi Chennamma bravery award that was posthumously awarded by the State government to her daughter Sukanya at a function to celebrate Children’s Day on Monday. The ebullient crowd at Bal Bhavan Auditorium in Cubbon Park, who moments ago were cheering award winners, fell silent as Ms. Aluvelaamma collected a trophy and medal.
Last November, when 15-year-old Sukanya was returning home from her school at Bagepalli taluk, Chikkaballapura district, she saw two girls drowning in the village pond. She jumped in and swam to their aid. She was able to rescue them, but as she was about to reach the bank, her legs got stuck in the slush. Moments later, she drowned.
Standing with the trophy, an inconsolable Aluvelaamma, who is a daily wage labourer, held out a passport size photo of her daughter. "This is the only things of hers that I have. Even though the two girls who reached the bank tried to help her, she refused help. I am proud of her brave act, but how will the vacuum she left behind be filled," she asked.
Awards were presented to four other students from Karnataka for acts of exemplary courage.
Among them were Shreyas N. Rao and Shashikumar. In June this year, both these class ten students from Mysuru played a pivotal role in opening the emergency exit after their school bus caught fire. They rescued several of their schoolmates from the burning bus.
"There were around 70 people in the bus. I saw the emergency exit and both of us pulled the door. We got down and rescued the other children," said Shreyas.
His friends Shashikumar added that although they were initially scared, they tried to stay calm, as there were very young students in the bus. "We got a watch and a certificate from the school, but we had never imagined that we would get a State award for this act," he said.
Seventeen children were presented awards by the State government for exceptional talent in arts, sports, music, culture, academics and for innovation.
Seema Shettar (15), a class nine student from Koppal, was honoured for creating a digital microscope using a camera. "During science classes, we had only one microscope to see minute objects. So we used a camera and convex lens to create a microscope where eight to 10 people can see minute objects at once," she said.
Four organisations and four individuals were also honoured for commendable service in child welfare.
