What happened with Pooja Kabadwal? What did she do?
Answers
Brothers in arms
Pooja Kabadwal, 6, Almora, Uttaranchal
THE DAY THAT WAS: MAY 24, 2006
AWARDED FOR: CALM COURAGE THAT SAVED HER TWO YOUNGER BROTHERS EVEN WHEN HER MOTHER LAY DEAD
She's a regular Florence Nightingale. Taking care of people comes naturally to Pooja. If you turn up tired, she'll fetch you a glass of water before you ask. She would shadow her mother around and finish up those little odd chores she would be capable of doing. "My girl is very thoughtful and kind," says her father, Kailash Chand Kabadwal, who works in a plywood factory in Almora. Quiet and shy, Pooja's life revolved around her books and her two younger brothers-the three-year-old Saurabh and baby Suraj-till that fateful day. Conquering anger and fear is what little Pooja remembers of the day, when a distant relative forced his way into the house and stabbed her mother to death. The man not only fled with valuables, he bolted the door from outside and set the house on fire. Pooja climbed on top of a stool and tried to get out. But it was sealed with mesh. So she took her brothers in her arms, removed all inflammable material from where the fire was blazing, and sat in front of the window to prevent asphyxiation. "I was terrified at first," she says. "I also felt very angry with the man and felt like hitting back. But he had a knife." She wants to be a doctor and a Miss India when she grows up.