I had once written about him...
A tribute to this man...he died last week.
Outlook Magazine wrote wrote about him:
- "Every morning, for 22 long years, a frail, diminutive man, barefoot and clad in a loin cloth, would trudge two kilometres to a hillock of solid rock and chip away at it with a hammer and chisel. Bemused onlookers thought he had lost his mind, and he was an object of great fun for village urchins. But the women of the village, young and old, admired him, for his was a labour of love."
This was his memorial to his wife, who had died on her way to the Wazirganj hospital, because the road around the rock was 19km long, and took long time to traverse... a memorial
- "...that won't ever find a place in hallowed global must-visit lists, but can well be passed down from this generation to the next as a monument of love. A poor man's Taj, literally. Not for its aesthetics, but for the way it symbolises the human spirit's capacity to endure, its indomitability..."
7 comments:
Indeed.
Ironically enough, he was given a state funeral attended by the chief minister and senior officials. If the state had been doing its job, there would have been no Dashrath Manjhi!
am not sure, if I would agree with your two points, Confused!
1. The "state" - inspite of all its ills - had provided a connecting road between the village and the Wazirgunj. It was 19km long, since it circumvented the rock... Dasrath Manjhi made this a 6 or 10 km road.
2. <"there would be no Dasrath Manjhi">!!!?.... this is a debatable/ faith-based point... I have more faith in human spirit which will keep stretching the boundaries - and so I think/hope (maybe, wrongly) that there will be more of them in India... and they will not from those who - as the phrase goes - "voted from their feet" :)
Here you go sir-http://coolbihari.blogspot.com/2007/08/tribute-to-dashrath-manjhi.html
Not related to this post, but thought you may be interested:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Ministries_get_confrontational_with_apex_court/rssarticleshow/2332289.cms
Another unrelated link to the post,but on something pretty vital for the next 50 years: fair use of water.
http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=27459
Cheers
This is a very inspiring story sir! An amazing saga of grit, love and determination!
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