V
V.Balasubramani
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A school in memory of a Bihar man who carved a road out of a mountain - with his hands
The story of the “Mountain Man” who hand-chiselled his way through a 300-ft tall mountain is a story that children of Bihar read in textbooks today.
A tale that sounds mythological, there is nothing fictional about Dashrath Manjhi, an ordinary man who lived in the village of Gehlaur near Gaya in Bihar.
Born in 1934, Manjhi, working as a labourer, first embarked on the mammoth task of carving a road out of the mountain when his wife was injured while walking on the hill to get him water and required immediate medical help. The Gehlaour village itself was precariously positioned that to reach the next village, one needed to make a dangerous and difficult journey on the hill’s slopes.
His wife died soon after, but his love for his wife became the initial spark for Manjhi who began his solo effort to complete a 360 ft long, 30 ft wide road using just his chisel, hammer and shovel .
It took him 22 long years to do so, but by the end of it this has not just helped his own village, but has allowed many more regions in the area to be well-connected.
The road itself reduced the distance from his village to Wazirgan from a 75 km to 5 km. At least 60 villages have benefitted from his efforts.
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