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3             Brave Babli










                    Babli is one of the nine children of a poor man. She saved six children from

                    drowning in the river Ganga. She got the Bapu Gayadhani National Bravery
                    Award on 25 January 2005 from the prime minister of India.


                    This is her story.

                    Babli lives with her family in a small
                    mud house on the banks of the Ganga.

                    Babli dreams of going to school but
                    she cannot because her family has no

                    money for the school fee. However,
                    she has faith in hard work and in God.
                    She is always smiling and helpful.


                    She always helps her mother with work
                    in the house. In the evening, she goes

                    to watch the sunset over the Ganga.
                    She loves to see the twinkling stars

                    and the changing shape of the moon.

                    30 June 2004. This date changed Babli’s life forever. She was trying to finish
                    her work quickly before sunset. From time to time she would laugh at the funny

                    actions of the six young children playing nearby. Sometimes they  chased
                    each other shouting and screaming. Sometimes they ran around a wooden
                    vegetable cart with wheels. When they got tired of chasing each other, they

                    climbed onto the cart and started jumping and dancing on it.

                    The cart was standing on a sandy slope. The jumping and dancing of the

                    children on the cart rocked it dangerously. Suddenly, the wheels of the cart



                     drowning : dying under water                        chased : ran after somebody

                            because you cannot breathe                   rocked : made it shake with great
                     banks : the side of a river and the                        force

                            land near it
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