An extraordinary common man from Gaya, Bihar, single-handedly bored through a mountain for over two decades to make a commutable path that would take his village closer to the outside world.
For 22 years, Dashrath Manjhi cut through a rocky hillock by just using hammer and chisel to carve a 110-metre-long channel, and earned himself fame as India’s Mountain Man.
Manjhi’s wife was pregnant when she slipped and fell from the ill-fated hill, Gehlour, and got critically injured. The child was saved but sadly, he lost his wife due to delay in reaching the hospital. Considering how the hillock had obstructed him in reaching the hospital on time, he decided to carve a road through the mountain that would considerably shorten the distance from his village to the nearest town.
Dashrath Manjhi (c.1934–2007) was a poor labourer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India. He ran away from home at a young age and worked at Dhanbad’s coal mines. He later returned to his village and married Falguni Devi.
One day, while crossing Gehlour hills to bring him lunch, she slipped and seriously injured herself, which eventually led to her death. Manjhi was deeply disturbed and that very night decided to carve a path through the Gehlour hills so that his village could have easier access to medicare. He was quoted as saying, “When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve.”
Manjhi completed the work in 22 years (1960–1983). The path reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj sectors of Gaya district from 55 km to 15 km. Though mocked for his efforts, he made life easier for the people of Gehlour village. Later, Manjhi said, “Though most villagers taunted me at first, there were quite a few who lent me support later, by giving me food and helping me buy tools.”
Here are some remarkable facts about the Mountain Man, who hammered a rocky mound into a conduit pathway:
- Anguished by the poor medical facilities in his native village that led to the avoidable deaths of many people, including his beloved wife Falguni Devi, Dashrath Manjhi vowed to single-handedly cut a path through the rocky hillock in the Gehlour hills of Gaya, Bihar.
- He was mocked at, distanced by his family members and was considered a village retard, but his resolve to smite the hillock was never once shaken.
- It took him 22 years to make a 110-meter-long and 9.1-meter wide path by cutting through the rocky layers.
- His unyielding determination later shortened the distance of 70 km to 1 km.
- A movie calledThe Mountain Man, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of Dashrath Manjhi, was made based on his exemplary struggle.
- Manjhi passed away in 2007 while he was being treated for gall bladder cancer at AIIMS, Delhi.
- Commemorating his great feat, the Bihar State Government gave him a State funeral and named the road he constructed after him as Dashrath Manjhi road.
- The Bihar Government proposed Dashrath Manjhi’s name for the Padma Shri award in 2006.
- He was called the poor man’s Shah Jahan by film-maker Ketan Mehta.
Courtesy: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/
Pic Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons