Fourth
standard student Siddesh’s curiosity about trains and presence of mind helped
in averting a train accident on Sunday, 15th Mar 2015.
It is in the "Heart of Karnataka", surrounded
by Chithradurga, Bellary, Shimoga, Chikmagalur and Haveri districts. It is famous for its cuisine too ! ….. it is Davanagere,
often spelled Davangere, a city in the Indian state of Karnataka, lying
at the western part of South India. National Highway 4 (NH4) passes through the
city, at a distance of about 264 kilometres (164 mi) from the state capital,
Bangalore. Davangere became a separate
district in 1997, when it was separated from the erstwhile undivided district
of Chitradurga for administration conveniences.
Till 1980s
Davangere was named as Manchester of Karnataka for cotton Mills. Availability
of cotton lead to formation of many cotton mills from prominent business
families of the city. This fame was lost in time as cotton mills were shut down
gradually. The city however continues to be a major trading center of agri
commodities. Siddesh,
a 9-year-old, class 4 student of the
Government Higher Primary School in Avaragere village, on the outskirts
of Davanagere city, is in news – rightly as he averted a railway accident on
Sunday morning. He not only alerted his father Manjunath about a crack in the
track but also flagged down an approaching train with his red T-shirt.
Manjunath has a
small, thatched hotel near the DCM township about 50 yards away from the
railway line, Siddesh said, "I was worried on seeing the fracture and
rushed to tell my father about it." Initially, Manjunath didn't take the
boy seriously. But when the little boy dragged him to the spot, he realized the
gravity of the problem. Some walkers and joggers had already assembled at the
spot but couldn't decide what to do even though a couple of trains had passed
over the faulty section.
The boy had gone to
attend to nature's call near the railway tracks around 6.30am when he heard a
sound different from the usual one when trains went past. He would watch trains
go by and was familiar with the different sounds, Manjunath said. "Our son
stood on the track waving his red T-shirt wrapped around a stick at the train
from Hubli to Chitradurga (Hubli-Chitradurga passenger) at 7.30 am," said
the boy's mother Anasuyamma. Railway
authorities said track fractures can happen around the onset of summer. Some
passengers on the train appreciated the boy's courage and appealed to the
district administration and elected representatives to recommend him for a
bravery award.
School headmistress
Gayatridevi MC said Siddesh is an average student active in extracurricular
activities. She's now seeing a brave new boy who perhaps saved many lives. Railway Officials
are quoted as saying : It was a welding failure. We appreciate the boy's quick
thinking in flagging down the train. Our engineer paid him Rs 500 on Sunday and
thanked him. We'll recommend a bravery award.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
17th Mar
2015.
PS : Benne Dosa, is a type
of dosa which traces its origin to Davangere.
It means "butter dosa" and is made up by addition of butter
while preparing normal dosa; accompanied
by coconut Chutney . It is similar to masala or set dosa but smaller in size, made
out of rice batter and much butter. It
has found its own well-deserved place in
the menu cards of all well-known restaurants in Karnataka.
News
credit : TOI & Indian Express; Photo Credit : dinakaran.
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