Bravery awards change boys’ lives

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Life has changed a lot for two young rural boys who were decorated with the Union government’s Bravery Award for savings people’s lives.

From leading nondescript lives, today the boys make frequent visits to the cities for citations and awards for their brave acts.

Dindigul’s M. Maruthupandi (17), who saved hundreds of passengers by stopping a train with a red cloth of his little sister thus averting a rail accident due to fractured track, and Yelagiri’s G. Parameswaran (15), who saved three girl students from drowning, were honoured at Sikorsky Legacy of Heroes world tour event held here on Monday.

“I am so happy to meet pilots and to fly in a helicopter which was once a dream for me,” said Class IX government school student Parameswaran, who aspires to become an IPS officer. “I want to serve the nation. I still regret that I was not able to save two other girls who had drowned on that fateful day,” he added.

For Maruthupandi, a Class XI student of NSVV Boys’ Higher Secondary School, going to college and taking up an officer’s job is the ultimate target in his life.

“No one in my family has studied in college. I want my son to get a decent job,” said his father Mr A. Murugesan, who makes a living by collecting old newspapers.

To commemorate the centenary year of civil aviation and to pay tribute to company founder Igor Sikorsky, the helicopter company has been taking its S-92 helicopter across the world. While Chennai was the first stop in India for the 22-seater helicopter, it will be unveiled in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi in the coming days.