LUCKNOW: A teenager from Barabanki district made it to the list of this year’s ‘Balvir Puraskar’ winners. The 16-year-old Kunwar Divyansh has proven that age has nothing to do with bravery, instinct has.
Divyansh stood like a wall between his sister and a raging bull. He saved not only his sister but seven of her schoolmates by taking on the animal that went berserk near a roadways bus station. He brought laurels to the state and his district by receiving the Pradhan Mantri Bal Puraskar virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his bravery on Monday.
Divyansh, a resident of Makhdumpur of Nawabganj Tehsil in district Barabanki, has been the recipient of about two dozen awards at the national and state levels for his bravery. Most recently, he was selected for the Prime Minister's National Children's Award 2021.
The incident which awarded Divyansh his share of fame took place almost three years ago when he was only 13. While returning home with his five-year-old sister Samridhi and seven other school children in January 2018, Samridhi was attacked by a bull near a roadways bus station. Divyansh attacked the bull with his school bag and managed to drive the bull away, saving his sister's life.
Consequent to the encounter, Divyansh who managed to shoo the mighty bull away, suffered four fractures in the right hand. Three years later, Divyansh received a letter from the Prime Minister's Office, informing him of the award.
While he met the PM Modi through video conferencing on Monday, President Ramnath Kovid, former Governor Ram Naik and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath have also honoured Divyansh for his bravery.
Divyansh's father, Dr. DB Singh, is the associate dean of the Student Welfare Department at Lucknow's Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University. His mother Dr. Vinita Singh is the vice-principal in Shri Ganga Memorial PG College in Paisar.
A boy of steely grit, Divyansh said that one should take difficult situation head-on instead of fearing them. He said: “I was returning home with my sister and seven other schoolmates after studying at Jaipuria School in Lucknow. As we got off the bus, a bull moved towards the children. I attacked the bull with my school bag. The angry bull hit me with force and fled the scene and I had fallen on the ground."