Tribute to a real hero.

Update [Apr 17, '06]: Mridula is maintaining a nice blogroll about this incident here. Also has a snap of Javed, and info about a similar girl, Pooja, who is battling for life in Meerut hospital.

Have been busy lately with a deadline, and the lean phase will continue. Plz bear with me.

In the meantime, I would like to dedicate this post to a real life hero.

From the article:

When Javed, an 18-year-old class XII Delhi student, escaped the Meerut trade fair inferno unscathed he could have thanked his stars and returned home. But he did not. Aware of the grave risk he was taking, Javed moved back to the blazing pandal and pulled out nine kids to safety.

In doing so, Javed suffered 70 per cent burns. The superhero succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning.

There are allegations that he was not treated properly at the hospital, and then there is the issue of the reason of the fire in the first place. Overall, a sad occurance. [also, I wonder what one's chances of survival are after 70% burns]

This post is for you Javed. May your soul rest in peace.

-A
P.S. Can anyone from Meerut/Delhi reading this confirm how his family is doing? I mean do they have other children? How are they financially? Are the 5 lakh rupees given to them by the UP govt going to be enough [if the money ever reaches them, that is]?