The photograph of a schoolgirl trying to pull out a wheelchair-bound man out of the waterlogged street in Bouddha, published on the front page of the Monday’s edition of The Kathmandu Post, has captured the imagination of many social media users.

The girl, who is seen grabbing the footrest of the wheelchair while its occupant is gesturing with his right arm as if refusing her assistance, became the cynosure of all eyes when it was published. Her act won kudos from thousands of people on social media platforms in the forms of ‘likes’, ‘shares’, ‘retweets’, ‘comments’ and what you have.

The image captured by photographer Sanjog Manandhar had 22,756 impressions and 1,797 engagements on the official twitter page of the Post by Tuesday. On the facebook page, meanwhile, the picture had received 13,000 likes. 

Many were curious as to who the girl as who jumped into the flooded waters to rescue the disabled man.   

Sujata Gole Tamang is a ninth grader at Shree Mahendra Bouddha Higher Secondary School. 

She was returning home from school on that fateful rainy Sunday afternoon when she saw the man in the wheelchair, stuck in the flood.

“He was shouting then, so I thought that he was calling for help. I tried to pull him out but he refused assistance and I left him be,” the 17-year-old says. 

Tamang does not think there was anything special about her trying to help a man on a wheelchair. 

Sujata Gole Tamang tries to rescue a wheelchair-bound man out of the flooded street in Bouddha. The photo, first published on the front page of the Post on Monday, struck a chord with many people who heaped praises on Tamang via social media.  POST PHOTO: SANJOG MANANDHAR

Regarding the praises and kind words from thousands of strangers,in a self-effacing manner she says, “I was doing what I felt the right thing to do at that moment.” 

The disabled man in the picture could not be contacted for his comment.

For lensman Manandhar the photograph was a case of  being in the right place at the right time. He, along with other press photographers, were at Bouddha on that day to cover a protest rally. 

“It was raining and we were having tea when someone told me about the people being stuck in flooded street nearby. So I thought I would go take some pictures of this flood when I saw this girl trying to help a man on a wheelchair and captured their moment,” he says.   

Tamang, who hails from a village in Dolakha, is has been living with her aunt for the past one year. She came to live with her aunt in Kathmandu after her mother’s suicide.

“My father is a teacher back home, my two sisters have already married and my brother is in Malaysia. I came to Kathmandu because it was painful to live in the village after mother passed away,” she says.

Tamang wishes to become a social worker one day and open an orphanage. 

“I want to support those children who have lost their parents, school them and become a mother to them,” she says. 

With the compassionate character she displayed in that famous image, she is already well on her way to becoming the person she aspires to become.