New Delhi, Jan. 18: Four children from the Northeast, who overcame their fears to save the lives of others, were today named winners of the National Bravery Award 2015.

Chongtham Kuber Meitei of Manipur concedes that he was scared to jump into a 10-foot well when he heard a girl cry out for help from within its depths. But jump he did and saved the 12-year-old who would have drowned if not for Kuber.

"I won't lie, I was really scared. But I had to jump into the well to get to her. She would have drowned," said Kuber, who was barely 13 when the incident happened on March 8 last year. Kuber, who had ventured towards the well in his hometown Tera Loukrakpam Leikai in Imphal West to retrieve the football he was playing with, has since become a local hero.

The same day, elsewhere in Manipur, the only concern of Maurice Yengkhom, 14, was to save his best friend from being electrocuted.

"We were playing on the terrace when he called out to me. I started hitting him with a cane chair, hoping to free him from the current. I went on hitting him till he was free. He was unconscious when I finally pulled him off and his face was burnt but he was alive. I was so happy," Maurice said.

The two continue to be playmates but they remember to be careful.

This dogged determination also compelled Ramdinthara, 16, of Mizoram to rescue two boys, who were playing near a transformer in Saiha district, from getting burnt to death on January 2 last year.

"Children play regularly near the transformer. I was passing by when I noticed that these boys had accidentally fallen on the transformer fencing. They were struggling to free themselves and I didn't know what to do," he said. Overcoming his fear and acting on his gut instinct, he pulled them out of harm's way with his bare hands by grabbing their hair and flinging them to safety. "I took the boys who had burn injuries to hospital. They are healing now," Ramdinthara, the son of a tea-seller, said.

Asked if he was regarded as a hero in his town, Ramdinthara, who wants to become a pastor, said, "I am no hero."

His father, V.L.M.S. Dawngliana, doesn't know English and hardly follows a word of what his son is saying to journalists, but he uses his smartphone to video every interview for folks back home. Ask him how he feels about his son, he has just one answer, "He is a good boy. Very good boy."

His son's education will now be funded by the Indian Council For Child Welfare and he has earned his way into Rashtrapati Bhavan and at the Republic Day parade, all thanks to his son's bravery.

A 13-year-old girl, who stood shyly by letting others talk, was Angelica Tynsong from Meghalaya. She saved her seven-month-old brother from a raging fire that threatened to engulf her family home on January 31, 2015.

Angelica doesn't know Hindi or English and was finding it difficult to tell her story but the citation beneath her name and photograph told a tale of great perseverance and courage.

She was washing clothes outside her house and her brother was sleeping inside when she realised that her house was on fire. Without thinking of her wellbeing, she rushed in, wrapped her brother in a blanket and rushed out. While her house was gutted, the little girl had her brother in her arms, unscathed.

As the kids sit braving the Delhi chill, away from their homes, with flashlights beaming on their faces, it is the faces of their parents that shine the brightest.

"They are brave children, all of them who got the award. It takes immense selflessness to do what they did. Perhaps only children can act with such selflessness," said Kuber's uncle, Kennior.

A braveheart whose parents missed him among the brave in Delhi

In a corner of the lawn where the function to name the winners of the bravery award was being held, Arun and Neelam Singh stood with tears glistening in their eyes. Although their son, 14-year-old Shivansh Singh, had an award for bravery, he wasn't with them to enjoy the moment like the others.

"I wish he was here. Seeing all these boys and girls enjoy their moment of glory, I wish my son could have been part of this," said teary-eyed Neelam.

Shivansh, a medal-winning swimmer from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, died while trying to save his friend from drowning. "Shivansh tried but couldn't save his friend. When I see these boys here helping others, I wish some of Shivansh's other friends who had been present there would have helped him in the rescue. All of them together might have saved both the boys," said Arun.

For Priyansh, the couple's younger son, Shivansh is a hero and an inspiration.