MAIDEN IN DISTRESS: Chandra Leela, age 7, was brought to us two years ago by her father and step-mother from somewhere in the Hyderabad area.

HERO: Siddhu, age 15, has been here seven years, and is from the Cuddapah area, eight hours away by train. He is in 10th Standard, and recently won a school prize.

ACT I: 7 a.m. Some people are watering the garden so they take the lid off the Holding Tank. The water is ten feet deep. Chandra Leela, a curious child, looks down at her reflection in the water and wants to put her hands on the surface. She bends over, loses her balance, and falls in. Splash!

Her little friend Poochi screams for help! Siddhu, eating breakfast nearby, hears the shouting, and immediately runs and jumps into the tank. He finds Chandra Leela and pulls her to the top. Another older boy, T Shankar, lifts her out. They carry her to Nurse Prajula who makes her warm and tries to get the water out of her stomach. It takes fifteen minutes before Chandra Leela feels well enough to get up.

ACT II: Ten days later, 7 p.m. Raining. After finishing supper, Chandra Leela goes to an upstairs room, and goes to a window to look out. There is a metal grate to keep kids from falling out. Chandra looks out at the wind and rain, with her hands on the grate. Caregiver Parvathama is trying to fix the electric light. Because of the rainstorm outside, the wind blows the wire around. It touches the window grate and sticks there. Sparks are flying and Chandra Leela is screaming. Parvathama tells Chandra Leela to "let go!" But her hands are stuck to the window grate. Downstairs, Siddhu (the hero) hears the commotion. He runs and turns off the main switch, again saving her life.

Chandra Leela likes to stay close to him. She said, "I am very happy about him. Any time I get into trouble, he will be there to rescue me." Some time later, Bonnie asked Siddhu how it feels to be a hero twice. He said he likes to help people, and likes adventure and has the self-confidence to handle any kind of situation. He hopes to train for one of the helping professions. He'd like to be a doctor, but because of the cost will likely have to settle for something less.

Meanwhile, we are sure that Chandra Leela, given her curious nature, is learning many things, and will someday herself be a hero(ine) in her own way.

More photos from Hyderabad. Click on a photograph to get the enlarged version.

Chandra Leela and Poochi in front, with additional heroes, Siddhu, T.Shankar and Nurse Prajula

Bonnie Cappuccino with T. Shankar and his mother who was visiting.

back to back to Hyderabad main page »