International Children’s Day (ICD) is celebrated in numerous countries, usually on June 1 every year. ICD has its origins in the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland in 1925. In India, the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru is celebrated as Children’s Day every year on November 14. (Nehru was the Prime Minister of India for 17 years after it won independence in 1947.) Schools wear a festive look and teachers and staff do their best to make the day really special for children. Children wear their best outfits to school, munch lots of goodies and take the day off from studying.

In Karnataka (pronounced car NOT ah ka), the state where we live, five children received bravery awards; two for saving other children from drowning, two who helped to save the life of a woman who was in an accident, and the fifth saved the life of his brother when the latter was bitten by a snake at a summer camp.

The Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare also gave awards for the best anganwadi (social) workers and the three best child welfare institutions.