The man who moved a mountain

– Dashrath Manjhi
There are over 1.2 billion of us Indians, most living in rural
India; many, in urban slums. Every day, millions of our fellow
countrymen struggle against the odds to eke out a life of
dignity. The others are still searching for answers, thinking
up solutions to hurdles, to make life better for our fellow
citizens.

This is the story of a man who did not just think. He was
among India’s poorest of poor. He decided, if those in power
would not help his people, he would. This is a man who wanted
to do it himself! This is the story of Dashrath Manjhi: the
man who moved a mountain, so his people could reach
civilization (including a doctor) in time.

Dashrath Manjhi: The Man Who Moved a Mountain

The hamlet of Gehlour
It was 1960. Landless labourers, the Musahars lived amid rocky
terrain in the remote Atri block of Gaya, Bihar, in Northern
India. In the hamlet of Gehlour, they were regarded the lowest
of the low in a caste-ridden society and denied the basics:
water supply, electricity, a school, a medical centre. A 300-
foot tall mountain – Gehlour Ganj – loomed between them and
civilization.

Gehlour Ganj, Atri: A 300-foot tall mountain loomed between

them and civilization in Wazirganj

Like all the Musahar men, Dashrath Manjhi, worked on the other
side of the mountain. At noon, his wife Phaguni would bring
his lunch. As they had no road, the trek took hours over the
mountain. Dashrath tilled fields for a landlord on the other
side. He would quarry stone. And in a few hours from then, he
would be tired and hungry. He would watch and wait for
Phaguni.
One of those days, she would come to him empty handed,
injured. As the sun harsh sun beat down, Phaguni tripped on
loose rock. Her water pot shattered. She slid down several
feet, injuring her leg. Hours past noon, she limped to her
husband. He rushed to chastise her for being late. But on
seeing her tears, he made a decision.

Dashrath worked in the fields on the other side of the

mountain
Challenging a mountain
Dashrath sold his goats, and bought a hammer, chisel, and
crowbar. He climbed to the top, and started chipping away at
the mountain. Years later, he would recount, “That mountain
had shattered so many pots, claimed lives. I could not bear
that it hurt my wife. If it took all my life now, I would
carve us a road through the mountain.”

The treacherous trek up and around the mountain took hours

Word spread. Chipping at the mountain, he quit his wage job.

His family often went without food. Then, Phaguni fell ill.
The doctor was in Wazirganj, 75 kilometres over the mountain.
Unable to make the journey, she died. But her death only
spurred him on.

It was not easy. Unyielding, the mountain would cascade rocks

at him. Hurt, he would rest and start again. At times, he
helped people carry their things over the mountain for a small
fee, money to feed his children. After 10 years, as Manjhi
chipped away, people saw a cleft in the mountain; some came to
help. In 1982, Gehlour was in for a surprise.
Dashrath Manjhi’s hammer, chisel, and crowbars

Baba, the revered man

Manjhi broke through a thin wall of rock and walked out into
an open space. After 22 years, Dashrath Das Manjhi, the
outcast landless labourer had conquered the mountain: he had
carved out a road 360 feet long, 30 feet wide. Wazirganj, with
its doctors, jobs, and school, was now only 5 kilometres away.
People from 60 villages in Atri could use his road. Children
had to walk only 3 kilometres to reach school. Grateful, they
began to call him ‘Baba‘, the revered man.

But Dashrath did not stop there. He began knocking on doors,

asking for the road to be tarred, connected to the main
road. He walked along the railway line all the way to New
Delhi, the capital, collecting signatures of station masters
in a book. He submitted a petition there, for his road, for a
hospital for his people, a school, and water. In July 2006,
‘Baba’ went to the then Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s
‘Junta Durbar’. The minister, overwhelmed, got up and offered
Baba his chair, his minister’s seat; a rare honour for a man
of Manjhi’s background.

After he had chipped at the mountain for 10 years, people saw

the cleft

The government rewarded his efforts with a plot of land;

Manjhi donated the land back for a hospital. They also
nominated him for the ‘Padma Shree’, but forest ministry
officials fought the nomination, calling his work illegal. “I
do not care for these awards, this fame, the money,” he said.
“All I want is a road, a school, and a hospital for our
people. They toil so hard. It will help their women and
children.” It would take them 30 years to tar his road.
He had carved out a road 360 feet long, 30 feet wide

SO MANY MORE MOUNTAINS

On August 17, 2007, Dashrath Manjhi, the man who moved a

mountain lost his battle with cancer. All that he had done was
for no personal gain. “I started this work out of love for my
wife, but continued it for my people. If I did not, no one
would.” Manjhi’s words reflect the reality of our country. Now
that he is gone, his people are still poor. There are
electricity poles, but no electricity; a tube well, but no
water; no real hospital, no real livelihoods, little
education. Manjhi’s son lost his own wife recently to an
illness. After all these years, their fate was sealed by
another mountain: poverty, the inability to pay for a doctor,
for all the necessary treatment on time.
It would take the government 30 years more to tar the road

Manjhi’s legacy, his inspiration, though, lives on. It lives

on among the thousands of Indians who are making a difference
to their fellowmen, fighting new battles, overcoming
challenges. It lives on in so many of you who are moving your
own mountains. Manjhi showed us that the real hero lies inside
you. It’s you who can rise up to the moment.

How often do you make the choice to make the change? This
Republic Day, we’re pledging to make 2015 the year of the Do-
It-Yourself Indian. It’s time to pick up the hammer ourselves
and start chipping away at the insurmountable mountains that
surround us.

Start with recognizing the common heroes, share their stories

and inspire many others. Start with recognizing the Mountain
Man. Spread this Spirit of
Do-
It-
Yourself: www.thunderclap.it/projects/21371-recognize-our-comm
on-heroes