Like any other boy of his age, 10-year-old Siddesh Manjunath would walk to railway tracks near his house every day and wave at passing trains. This habit of the class IV boy from Avaregere village in Davanagere saved the life of around 850 passengers on March 15. Here’s how:

Siddesh told that after breakfast he decided to go to his father’s tea shop. To get there he had to cross the railway track. When he neared the track, he had to wait as there was a train passing by.

“I regularly cross the track here and I am familiar with the sound that the train makes on the tracks. I noticed that the train was louder than it normally was. After it passed I examined the tracks and saw a big gap on one track. I ran to my father’s shop which is nearby.”

10-yr-old boy stopped train, saved 850 lives

His father Manjunath along with a few villagers came back with Siddhesh to check the track. They all agreed that it was a risky gap and were discussing what to do.

While they were talking among themselves, they heard the sound of another train approaching. One of the villagers suggested that they should wave a red cloth to try and stop the train.

“It was luck that I was wearing a red T-shirt that day. I immediately took it out and started running towards the train. I waved the T-shirt vigorously and held it high while I ran. I was not scared. I have seen trains every day of my life. I only wanted to stop the train,” Siddesh added.

“My father and the other villagers were running behind me. The locomotive driver saw us and stopped the train,” he adds.

He received Bravery award for the year 2015:

“I am very happy with my only son, he has made us proud,” says Manjunath who has studied only up to Class 5, but would like his son to get a proper education.

On Saturday, Siddesh, son of an eatery shop owner, was the centre of attraction at the Children’s Day award ceremony held at the Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park. He was presented with the bravery award for the year 2015.