At every scream or cry, he quietly jumps into the Yamuna, saves a drowning person and quietly makes his way back to his tin-walled office to change his clothes.
For Satish Chandra, saving lives is now a way of life. As a lifeguard, Satish claims to have saved over 50 lives in his service span of 33 years. He has saved people from drowning in rivers like Chambal, Ganga, Yamuna, Khari and Banas and has never faltered in his duty.
“Many people express their gratitude to me and others simply walk away but it makes no difference to me because for me it is a duty that I have been assigned,” he says without any trace of regret.
Satish, 55, began his journey from Chittor in Rajasthan in 1979 when he saved an officer of the Water Commission from drowning. “The officer was so happy that he got me a job in Udaipur and now I work at the Central Water Commission’s monitoring station in Agra on the banks of the Yamuna,” he says.
Satish has worked in Allahabad during the Kumbh Mela too. He recalls that in 1995, a tractor crossing the Chambal river turned over, 35 people were swept into the river of which he alone saved nine lives. The biggest regret in Satish’s life, meanwhile, is the lack of recognition.
“It pains me at times when I see people getting bravery awards for one incident and here no one even recognises me for the bravery acts that I have done. However, it is my job and I will continue to do it, irrespective of the recognition or the awards,” he says. Satish feels that if he gets any recognition for his job, he may encourage others to follow in his footsteps too. “Today, when someone is drowning and I jump in to save him, I see hundreds of people standing around watching the ‘tamasha’ but not even one of them lends a helping hand. I want this to change,” he says.