Kondiba, A Hero

This story celebrates real heroes, people who, in spite of their own hardships, understand others' problems and rush to help without any thought of reward. It shows that differently-abled people can be self-reliant, courageous and even heroic, and that caring for others and staying calm in a crisis can change lives, including one's own.

A blind beggar in Mumbai

Kondiba Gaikwad hated begging, but the famine in Maharashtra in 1972–73 drove him from his home in Aurangabad to Mumbai in search of bread. He first tried selling brooms but had little luck, and soon learned that Mumbai was generous to beggars, especially blind beggars. Kondiba, twenty-five, had become blind with smallpox at the age of eight. He lived in 'Golibar', a large slum colony in Ghatkopar, with Tukaram and his wife Yelanbai.

The dangerous well

In the middle of the colony stood a well full of blackish-green water, dug two years earlier because the single water tap was not enough for the growing population. There had never been money for a wall around it; its mouth had widened as the soil and rocks fell in, and its narrow bottom was muddy and full of weeds. The well was dangerous, but it had been there so long that no one worried about it. One day, while Kondiba was eating the food Yelanbai had prepared, there were sudden shouts, 'Someone's fallen in the well!'

The rescue

Kondiba set aside his meal, asked to be led to the well, pushed through the crowd, pulled off his shirt and slipped into the water. A boy named Arvind had fallen off a tree trunk while drawing water, and the two boys already in the water could not dive. Kondiba had been a good swimmer as a boy, but years of poverty had made him weak. He dived once, feeling his way along the rocks to the muddy, weed-filled bottom, but found nothing. Exhausted and breathless, he surfaced to hear Arvind's aunt wailing.

Never had Kondiba missed his eyesight so much, not knowing that even seeing eyes could not have pierced the muddy water. Knowing he was Arvind's only hope, he dived again and again. Finally, just as he could hold his breath no longer, his fingers felt cloth among the weeds, then Arvind's legs, then his belt. Holding the belt tightly, he pulled the boy free and struggled the six metres up to the surface, where other hands lifted Arvind out. After artificial respiration, Arvind began to vomit water and revived. A police officer later told Kondiba that if the boy had stayed in the well any longer, his brain would have been damaged from lack of oxygen, Kondiba had saved him just in time.

From beggar to hero

The next day Arvind returned to Golibar and touched Kondiba's feet in gratitude while his aunt watched with tears. Word of the blind beggar's courage spread quickly. His picture and the story of his daring rescue were published in many national and local papers, and suddenly Kondiba became a hero. He was praised by the Governor, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and other officials, and rewards totalling Rs 12,970 were presented to him. For a few months he lived in a Home for the Blind, where he learned skills such as bottling and the weaving of chair seats. Today Kondiba lives in Jalna, a market town near his native village; he has married a local girl and runs a small business. His bravery and determination completely changed his life, the beggar who hated begging need never beg again.