The Banganga tank is a rectangular, reflecting lake surrounded by steps on all sides.
It was like something out of a Bollywood movie, and, fittingly, it happened in the heart of Mumbai.
Last Saturday, a 14-year-old boy dove into the Banganga Tank in Malabar Hill, and saved a 10-year-old girl from drowning at 25 feet under water. It took the boy, Mohit Dalvi, two unsuccessful attempts to finally bring the girl to the surface. And it wasn't a moment too soon.
"Doctors said that if she had spent even a single minute more inside the water she wouldn't have made it," said Anil Pashtye, the father of the 10-year-old girl, Krishna. He added that he will be forever grateful to Mohit.
The Banganga tank is a rectangular, reflecting lake surrounded by steps on all sides. Around 5:30 on Saturday evening, Krishna was playing near these steps when she slipped and fell.
"Two girls were playing near the lake. One of them knew swimming, Krishna didn't," recounted Mohit. "She tried grabbing on to her friend's leg but couldn't hold on. When her friend came out of the lake, she told us Krishna was still under the water. I dove in, she was almost 25 feet under the water but I could see her hand. I pulled her up," Mohit told NDTV.
Twenty other residents also jumped into the lake looking for Krishna but couldn't find her. "It was too dark and I couldn't breathe under water for that long, but Mohit has stamina and he is not scared. He can even go 50 feet under the water," said Akshay, a resident.
Doctors at the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Malabar Hill are treating Krishna free of cost; she's being discharged today.
Mohit is being hailed as a hero, and the hospital and politicians have rewarded him. The teenager lost his parents when he was very young, and he stays with his older brother and an aunt. St. Elizabeth's doctors are looking for ways to fund training in professional diving for the 14-year-old.