Heroism has no age, no gender, no caste or no nationality. Just a brave heart willing to go to any extent to be a saviour. It was an ordinary day in Dharti Mata village in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district. Surta Parmar (38) was at home doing her daily chores. It was then she heard a sudden thud and commotion outside which caught her attention. She ran outside only to see a terrifying scene. A car had crashed into a pond nearly 10 feet deep, and a family of three was trapped inside, including a toddler boy.What happened next was not a planned rescue operation but an act of selflessness and bravery and humanity. There were no diving teams, specialised equipment or trained rescuers at that moment, just an ordinary woman with an extraordinary courage. She heard a baby crying inside the car and decided not to wait for the help to arrive.What happened next left everyone shockedParmar couldn’t bear the sound of the crying baby and rushed towards the pond which was about 200 metres from her home. A crowd had already gathered around the pond, some were even making videos of the accident but no one dared to get inside the pond to save them.Inside the car were Dharmesh Yadav, his wife Shilpa and their 11-month-old son, Drish.The family was travelling from Dungarpur to Banswara in Rajasthan for a wedding when their car reportedly hit a divider and plunged into the pond nearby. In a matter of moments, an ordinary family trip turned into a nightmare.And then came the sound that changed everything.“I could hear the baby crying,” Parmar recalled. The parents had fainted and that was enough.Parmar jumped in
“How could I have stopped myself even after hearing his cry” (Instagram)
Parmar entered the water. Her 15-year-old daughter, Ayushi, too went in with ropes to help her mother. But reaching the vehicle was not easy. The car was locked and the windows were rolled up.Parmar was not able to get inside. Then she found a rod and smashed one of the windows. She reached for the baby first and pulled little Drish out of the vehicle. Then one by one she dragged Dharmesh and Shilpa out as well.It was a difficult task. We can only imagine the physical and emotional pressure on her. The water, the vehicle, the sound of a baby crying, all the negative thoughts, without much help.But Parmar kept going and rescued the whole family. They were rushed to a local hospital where Drish received treatment and was discharged soon. But his parents suffered multiple fractures and needed surgery. They were referred to Udaipur and were later reported to be out of danger.Had it not been for Parman, the story of the Yadav family could easily have ended very differently. Dinesh Yadav, Shilpa’s uncle, later said that the family might not have survived had Parmar not jumped in the water.The woman who says she did nothing extraordinaryThe most emotional and heart-touching aspect of Parmar’s story is that she does not describe herself as a hero. She does not talk about courage or bravery but humanity. She talks about the baby.“What would that baby do without his parents?” she asked, explaining why she could not stop herself after hearing his cry. She told Hindustan Times that her father abandoned the family when she was just a month old. About a decade later, she lost her mother to cancer.She knew what it meant to grow up without parents. So she could not walk away or watch helplessly.Perhaps that is why her explanation for the rescue feels so much more powerful than any formal declaration of bravery.