Do you know how the Children’s Bravery Awards started?  

As most of us know, November 14 is the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister. It’s celebrated as Children's Day in India since he used to love children. Most of us have also seen media reports of the annual Bravery Awards distributed by the government of India on that day. A maximum of 25 children can be awarded. They have to be within 16 years of age, Indian citizens and they should have done something very brave within the previous year.   

But almost no one knows why the awards started. It all began on November 14, 1957 with one brave boy, who is not remembered anymore.  

What happened on November 14, 1957 to start the bravery awards? 
On that fateful day, Jawaharlal Nehru was attending a Ramleela performance that was being specially put up for him. Child scouts had been invited to guard the tent where the programme was happening. Among them was 14-year-old Harish Chandra Mehra, a boy scout guarding the VIP enclosure. He suddenly noticed that the top of the tent was smoking as it had caught fire! The people inside and around had simply failed to notice it. Without wasting time, Harish ran into the tent, grabbed Nehru’s hand and pulled the startled PM out. Then he dashed back in as people started panicking. The tent was blazing by then. Harish climbed a 20 foot pole in the centre and cut away the burning cloth on top with his boy scout knife. His hands got singed in the process. The pole crashed, bringing down Harish, who lost consciousness and had to be hospitalised.   

How was the brave boy who saved Nehru honoured? 
Nehru was touched by the raw courage of the boy. His daughter, Indira, went to the school where Harish was studying, and told him that he was to be awarded. Accordingly, on February 3, 1958, Harish Mehra was awarded the first-ever National Bravery Award at Teen Murti Bhavan by Nehru.  

What happened to the first bravery award winner after that? 
Harish had to drop out of studies 5 years later to support his family. He led a normal, quiet life. Now Harish is almost 79 and a resident of Chandni Chowk, Delhi. Apart from his family, friends and neighbours, few remember him as 'Nehru ki jaan bachane wala bachha' (the child who saved Nehru's life).