There are two facts about heroes that have never been in doubt. One acts in movies to entertain the audience to earn fame and reputation for the knack of his acting skills whereas the other takes risks to save people in real-life scenarios, say Indian soldiers or a common man. The hero is someone who can give real-time protection by all means. The sad reality is that people admire film heroes as much as they admire the gods.
We have seen, in many parts of India, avid fans offering milk Abhishekam and prayers for the filmy heroes they admire who just act in movies but when the hero risks his life to save lives, he gets no hype but just an appreciation by some people. We live in a society where people appreciate film heroes who save people’s lives in action sequences but when the same thing happens real, no one bats an eye.
If you want to praise the real warrior, praise Kamal Kishore Das. The 11-year-old risked his own life by saving the lives of three people- his mother, his aunt and a stranger on the boat, by rescuing them from drowning in the Brahmaputra river.
This incident happened in North Guwahati, when a boat with passengers from one bank to another tumbled after dashing pillar, forcing all the passengers into the water. Kamal jumped and swam to the comfort zone but soon came to know that his mother and aunt were drowning. Seeing this, he swam back to assist his mother to reach the bank and then guided his aunt and a stranger to the safe zone.
In a conversation with The Sentinel, Kamal said, “When the boat hit the pillar, my mother asked me to take off my shoes and swim to the bank. I managed to swim ashore. When I got to the bank, I realised my mother and aunt had not been able to follow. My mother can’t swim.I swam towards the accident site and glimpsed my mother. The currents were so strong, I could only grab her by the hair, then I reached for her hand and pulled her to the pillar.”
