The courage and will of this man is one of those rare real life incidents which will continue to inspire mankind for ages to come. This simple man from Gayahad the fortitude and conviction to move mountains and he made it happen by his sheer perseverance and faith in his efforts to move the mountain. He is an inspiration for all us and just when you feel chips are down and the road ahead seems insurmountable, put yourself in his shoes and imagine the courage it would take to move a mountain.
Yes, this man literally moved a mountain! Alone, just by his sheer will and perseverance.
The man who moved a mountain
Over four decades ago, a frail, landless Dashrath got hold of a chisel and a hammer and decided to change the face of his village nestled in the rocky hills of Gaya. He almost tore open a 300-feet-high hill to create a one-km passage. Instead of endlessly waiting for the apathetic administration to do something for those formidable hills that virtually cut his village off from civilization, Manjhi, then in his early 20s, took up a chisel and hammered at the rocks for 22 years.
It all started when Dashrath Manjhi’s wife, Falguni Devi, died due to lack of medical treatment because the nearest town with a doctor was 70 kilometres (43 mi) away from their village in Bihar, India.
Dashrath did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate as his wife. So instead of depending on fate or Indian government or even devoting himself to God to forget his sorrow, he carved a 360-foot-long (110 m) through-cut, 25-foot-deep (7.6 m) in places and 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) to form a road through a mountain in the Gehlour hills, working day and night for 22 years from 1960 to 1982. His feat reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of the Gaya district from 75 km to 1 km.
This hand-carved passage through the hill still remains the only sustainable change his village has ever chanced upon. Tubewells were installed, but they ran dry. Electric poles were put up, but the cables never came. And a five-acre plot given by former CM Lalu Prasad to Manjhi for a hospital still lies barren.
Septuagenarian Manjhi did not give up though. In an interview he had said “I met CM Nitish Kumar recently. He has promised to develop the passage so that even a car can pass and will connect my village to Gaya. And, he told me that I will lay the foundation stone.”
Promise remained as Promised.
Manjhi died on Friday August 17, 2007 at AIIMS in Delhi. The state government of Bihar, in honour of Manjhi, has announced its decision to name the road built by the mountain man as Dashrath Manjhi Road and that hospital in Atri village in Gaya (which is yet to be built),to be named after him. He will not be there to lay the foundation stone when that passage will be developed fully, however, his story will continue to be the source of inspiration for many in the nation.
But is that all? What about our country? Poor villagers have to walk 75 km to visit a doctor. How difficult it would have been for our government to construct a 360 feet tunnel?
Indian government have no time to think about the poor. Our government and leaders are busy helping the MNCs like Vedanta , Essar and Posco to loot the natural wealth of the villages and tribal areas and drive away the aborigines calling them as Maoist , terrorist.
Incredible India!
I bow my head down to pay my humble tribute to Dashrath Manjhi and in shame for my country.
By: Debashis Rationalist
Genera secretary, Rationalists’ and Humanists’ forum of India.
RATIONALIST DEBASHIS 