Born: 14th January 1929
Died: 17th August 2007
Shri Dashrath Manjhi was born on 14th January 1929, Gehlore village into a Musahar / Bhuiya family, which is considered as the lowest rank of India’s caste system. At a very young age, he ran away from his home and worked in the coal mines of Dhanbad. After his return to the village, he married Falguni Devi, also considered Phaguni Devi.
Gehlaur was and remains a small village with few resources, and while it lies in a plain it is bordered by a low-but-treacherous mountainous spine that divides the settlements and services on either side. Many villagers had to trek for miles around the hills just to reach their fields, schools, etc. However, The ultimate tale of man vs nature begins from Falguni Devi’s death (Manjhi’s wife) as she crosses a narrow path across the hills to bring some food/water for her husband. There she got seriously injured and the nearest medical facility was 40 miles away. Unfortunately, Devi lost her life due to a lack of medical treatment. Trashed by the loss, Manjhi made sure that such a mishap would never repeat. Taking up his simple tools, he started breaking the hills to create a road that would help other people cross the hills. Ignored by the government, and mocked by his fellow villagers, Manjhi worked restlessly on the road, and by that time some locals came to appreciate his work and started helping him by providing him food, tools. Soon he became known as “Mountain Man”. He labored for 22 years and finished 360 ft road in 1982. The road reduced the travel for the villagers, but it also allowed small automobile traffic and made the area safer. On 23rd July 2007 diagnosed with gallbladder cancer Manjhi was admitted to the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Manjhi died on 17th August 2007 and the road which was a fruit of his labour still had his name.
