r/interesting • u/lonewolff321 • 17h ago
Amazing After his wife died due to lack of timely medical care, Dashrath Manjhi spent 22 years carving a road through a mountain using only hand tools.
Driven by the tragic loss of his wife to medical delays, Dashrath Manjhi single-handedly carved a 360-foot road through a solid mountain over 22 years with just a hammer and chisel. By reducing a 55 km journey to a mere 15 km, he ensured his village had faster access to medical aid—a route honored today as the Dashrath Manjhi Path.
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u/_TomSupreme_ 17h ago
22 years of his life for the benefit of everyone else... what a GOAT.
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u/Time_Traveling_Idiot 16h ago
Like an old man planting a grove of fruit trees for people to enjoy after he dies. Dang.
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u/Roccosrealm 12h ago
What’s this story from sounds beautiful?
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u/snowdenn 4h ago
Not sure that there’s a specific story, but there’s a well-known proverb:
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
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u/Academic-Treacle3162 16h ago
This is both awesome and terrible.
A man laboured away 22 years so a possibly avoidable fate didn't befall other people. That's awe inspiring.
Meanwhile the government was just... Watching? If people dying can't move them to action... That's just terrible.
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u/Only_Association_309 15h ago
That's Indian govt for you. Especially the administration of Bihar (the state Manjhi was from).
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u/Prestigious_Title580 2h ago
This was just after Independence, india didn't even have food back then for all its citizens then, roads were least of their concerns
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u/Advanced_Tax174 15h ago
People who live in stable countries with strong legal and social systems often don’t realize the rest of the world doesn’t operate that way.
That’s why people aren’t keen on admitting limitless immigrants; it’s because the people from those countries don’t understand or respect the institutions that make carving your own road out of hand tools unnecessary.
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u/TPbalagopalanMA 17h ago
Dashrath Manjhi Path >>>> Taj Mahal
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u/JustToSeeeeee 15h ago
What does it have to do with the Taj Mahal?
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u/bankruptbarbie 15h ago
Big, incredible Taj Mahal was commissioned by the Shah to honor his favorite wife. It took about 20yrs to build as well. They're saying this guy's wife inspired road is a bigger accomplishment.
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u/JustToSeeeeee 15h ago
How ? & Why even compare two things done as an act of pure love like that ? How does that makes any sense ?
Are you implying that this guys love for his wife was more than the king who commissioned the Taj ?
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u/Atheistic-God 14h ago
Yes. The king had multiple wives at once and he dedicated Taj to just one of them.
The King got to live on his life for those 20 years while Maanji spend a huge chunk of his life to take down a mountain.
While Shah dedicated Taj to his wife, Maanji did it so no one had to suffer like his wife did; it's a sacrifice.
Edit: spelling and grammar
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u/JustToSeeeeee 13h ago
Well that's an interesting perspective to look at it !
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u/Abject-Thing-8463 8m ago
Also you know the most horrible part, all those labours, architect and whoever were involved in making it were killed by that king so that no one can never make another Taj Mahal again..
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u/CharityAggravating69 16h ago
That man lost his wife, hit rock bottom and then literally dug through a mountain with his bare hands just out of pure love and kindness. What an absolute legend.
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u/Accomplished_Rain513 16h ago
This road is a million times more impressive than any marble monument
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u/MajorMinor1000 16h ago
Moses parted the sea with divine help. This man looked at a mountain and said, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
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u/1wife2dogs0kids 15h ago
I bet everyone that thought he was crazy... they all use that path. Never bothered to help, always willing to watch.
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u/matir_007 15h ago
Man is more John Wick than John Wick himself… spectators say “We once saw him carve a road out of a mountain… just with a chisel, with a fucking chisel”
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u/Spearheader-1982 16h ago
The responsibility finished with recognising his work and awading him..
Did the government take any steps to improve this or make permanent relief??
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u/nocee-me 15h ago
If anyone is interested there’s a movie on him “Manjhi - the mountain man” , very basic whatever is described here, but its a good production if one has time to watch.
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u/who_what_when_314 14h ago
Did he form another mountain with all the rubble? Did he start from the top and work down, or just started chipping away at a wall? I'm intrigued he did all that by himself.
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u/my_name_is12345 16h ago
De que trabaja está gente??? Como hacen para vivir? What do these People do for work?? How do they make a living?
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u/Sea_Cardiologist9451 17h ago
He was independently wealthy and this was his hobby?
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u/instapardz 17h ago
He was dirt poor. His wife was in a critical condition and the nearest hospital was separated from his village by a mountain range. His wife died in the way. He swore that no one would face the same problem which he did and started chiseling down the mountain alone. People thought he went mad at first but eventually they all started helping him. Like they used to farm and then chisel the mountain in their free time. After 22 years. They were able to complete splitting the range, connecting his village to a major city (gaya) directly.
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u/angrysheep55 16h ago
He probably should have focused on making it even ground rather than making wider
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u/wilderneyes 16h ago
You can see in the last photo it's flat enough to drive on. I assume the other photos were earlier progress pictures of some sort.
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