A Poor Man Labour of Love

Dashrath Manjhi, a poor man from Bihar (India) made history when he chisels down a mountain in two decades. He uses his tools to create path for his community members. He is also known as Mountain Man. Everyday villagers from his town had to travel to other village to earn money, which was 70 kms away. One day his wife died due to an accident on mountain and he could not reach hospital because it was 70 kms away in the other town. This loss made the ambitious man to focus on his task.

If you are looking for an inspirational and motivational story then do not go far. Being an illiterate there was no option for him except to work in fields but the spark in him set out to carve a 1mk-long path through a rocky hillside, in order to make easier for his fellow villagers to access schools, markets, hospitals, and neighboring villages. People started taunting him in the beginning and called him mad for such a task but it was not possible for anyone to stop him. Now people in Bihar had nothing to say except “Mountain Man”.

With his chisel, hammer, and shovel this legendary man turned what was once a precarious one-foot wide passage into a 360 ft-long, 30 ft-wide road accessible by bicycles. Children had to walk eight kilometers to reach schools but that this brave man reduced distance to three kilometers.

Friends we always say “akela insaan kya pahad tod dega.” However, here is the answer of this old saying. Out of 1.2 billion population of our country, no one would dare to do such a task in today’s time but the man did it for his villagers and wife. This is such a motivational and inspirational story that no one would ever forget. He never received any compliments from Indian government except the path was named as “Dashrath Manjhi Road” in Gaya, Bihar.

In July 2010, director Manish Jha announced a film, Manjhi, based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi. Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been cast in the lead role in the film Mountain Man. Dashrath Manjhi story was also shown in Aamir Khan’s show Satyamev Jayate Season 1. I was so inspired by this story that it made me feel what am I doing for my country? One should take inspiration from this movie that if a person can carve out mountain alone then one can do anything in his life.

Source: Satyamev Jayate.