It was over four decades back that the news of Dashrath Manjhi, a villager from a remote part of Bihar, breaking a mountain to create a path had captured the imagination of the country. The fact that he was poor and belonged to a landless family of ‘mahadalit’ category only added further to the inspirational legend of Manjhi who has been called The Mountain Man. From the Chief Minister to the Prime Minister, Manjhi received praise from many highly placed sources in the country.

What really proved inspirational for many people was the fact that at the age of 26 a poor youth took upon himself the impossible looking task of breaking a huge mountain to the extent of carving out a life-saving path that thousands of villagers needed urgently. He toiled tirelessly for 22 years (1960-82) and finally succeeded in his objective. Acclaim followed, but instead of just basking in glory he continued to work tirelessly for betterment of his village. This writer recently visited the village of Manjhi (Gehlour in Gaya district) to talk to villagers to better understand the legend and legacy of ‘the mountain man.’ He was a follower of Sant Kabir, the bhakti movement’s famous poet-saint of medieval times, who has remained one of the strongest and most revered voices of spirituality based on justice, truth and non-violence, and leading a simple and pious life free from all hypocrisy and falsehoods.

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People from the Manjhi community to whom I spoke told me that whenever they went to mountains they found him at work just carrying some sattu in his bag, a legume-based powder which could give some energy and coolness when mixed with water. In 1960 Dashrath had gone to work on the mountain and his wife Phalguni Devi injured herself badly while carrying food and water for him. Looking at her injuries, he took a pledge to create a path in the mountain that may become a life-saver for people. This would give a safe path to everyone going to the other side, and in addition would bring closer the health, educational and other facilities of the nearest town to the people on this side of the mountain (the distance could come down from about 55 km to about 15 km).

Contrary to some published accounts, several villagers told me that Phalguni Devi did not die from these injuries but instead continued to be helpful to her husband and the pledge he had taken. She died some years later. Using the simplest tools like a hammer and a chisel, Manjhi embarked on his great journey that was to be completed in 22 years. Initially people ridiculed him and some even called him ‘mad’ for taking up such a huge task. Undaunted, he continued this work on a regular, daily basis. We must not forget that he came from the poorest community and had to also earn his livelihood to support his four-member family (which included a son and a daughter).

Initially most villagers had ridiculed or neglected Manjhi, but once his work of a few years started showing signs of leading to success, some villagers also started lending a helping hand now and then. Finally, in 1982, Manjhi succeeded in creating a path which was wide enough for a bullock-cart to pass. Later the government helped to widen this and build a proper road. Manjhi now decided to go and meet senior government officials in Delhi to take up several development works much needed by his village and neighboring communities. Education and health were emphasized by him. However as he could not buy a rail ticket he was asked to get down from the train after covering a short distance.

He now decided to walk to Delhi along the railway track, hoping that this would perhaps draw even more attention to his objective of promoting development work in his village and neighboring villages. An elderly farmer of a neighboring village told me that Manjhi had managed to meet the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and had shared with him a press clipping of this. Later Manjhi also went to meet the Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar who gave him a lot of respect. However despite his increasing fame, Manjhi retained his simplicity. A local teacher, Virendra Paswan, told me that when he was on a train word spread of his presence and there was a rush of people just to catch a glimpse of him. However, Paswan said, even at that time Manjhi was wearing a dress made from a jute sack, as he often did earlier too. In 2007, Manjhi was admitted to AIIMS hospital in Delhi where he breathed his last on August 17.

A memorial and gates were constructed in his village in his honour. However, the people of the Manjhi community and other landless and poor Dalit community members continue to live in this village in great poverty and several of them told me that even their housing situation is precarious. The government needs to do much more to help them with a sense of urgency. Meanwhile the SBI Foundation has taken up an admirable initiative called SAMMAAN with implementation assistance of Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra to honour the memory of Dashrath Manjhi in the form of many-sided efforts in his village to improve education, health, infrastructure and livelihoods that have been widely appreciated. I visited three settlements of the Manjhi community here and villagers expressed their appreciation of the good work done by the SBI Foundation.

At the same time they repeatedly drew attention to their continuing poverty and their dependence on migrant labour. They have to regularly go to brick kilns to toil in exploitative conditions in distant parts. Their housing situation has become precarious as they face eviction threats. There is an extreme shortage of water for almost six months in a year, if not more. The condition of other Dalit and poor communities like Ravidasis is also dismal. The government and society need to do much more to help the community of Dashrath Manjhi as well as all other Dalit and weaker sections in this village and neighboring areas to honour the legacy of the Mountain Man.

(The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Man over Machine and A Day in 2071.)