It was just another night, last April, during the summer vacation for Binil Manjaly. He and his family were on their way home, in Athani, from Muvattupuzha after a family outing that included watching a film. He was accompanied by his parents and siblings. It was late in the night when they reached a small bridge over the Periyar Valley irrigation canal at Keezhillam, when his younger sister, Merin, saw a boy, frantically trying to flag down passing vehicles.
“We stopped and asked him what happened. The boy, Basil, told us that his family members were drowning in the canal,” says Binil. He looked down and saw a woman desperately trying to stay afloat. What followed happened in a flash, “I looked down to assess how high the bridge was, looked to see how I could climb back and I leapt into the water.”
That leap put him on the list of children who were given this year’s bravery awards. The awards were given on January 23, at New Delhi by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
A student of Plus One, Rajagiri Public School (RPS), Kalamassery, he has just returned from New Delhi after spending two hectic weeks there, preparing for and participating in the Republic Day Parade, and receiving the award. The PM apart, he met the President, the Vice-President, the Chiefs of Staff and others. He even got to meet Hrithik Roshan who was promoting his film Kaabil on a news channel’s show.
He vividly remembers the interaction with the Prime Minister. “I knew the names of all the kids who were getting the bravery awards, there were 21 of us. Four others were posthumously awarded. But when the PM asked me the names of the others I just blanked out. I mean, it was the PM asking! That’s when the kid sitting next to me told him that I was helping the three other Malayali awardees as an interpreter. Mr. Modi then asked the others to give me a round of applause.” He is now a hero in his school.
That day, in April 2016, he saved the woman but couldn’t save her daughter. “I rescued her and she told me her daughter was out there in the waters, but I didn’t see her.” The family of six was returning from Malayatoor when the autorickshaw they were travelling overturned. Two members of the family died.
“I didn’t think I had done something great, it was instinctive. I knew swimming so that gave me confidence,” says the teen who aspires to be a medical doctor. His parents were worried when he jumped into the water. Binil gave away the cash prize to Basil. Basil’s mother died in the accident.
Binil completed his Class X at Vishwajyothi Public School. His father M.P. Antony is the director of Rajagiri Outreach (Rajagiri College), and mother, Dr. Beena Zachariah Kallidukil is Chief Medical Officer (Homoeopathy), Mala. He has an older brother also.
So, what was the film that he watched that day?
“ Jacobe-inte Swargarajyam . May be I was emotionally charged after watching the film that I just did what I had to,” the 15 year-old says.
