Let your light shine!

Dashrath Manjhi was a poor, illiterate, landless labourer in Gahlore, a backward village in Bihar. In his village there was a hill which blocked the village from the rest of the outside world. The people had to walk along a perilous path over this hill to connect to the rest of the world. One day his wife while passing through this hazardous path tripped and fell on the way and broke her leg. Dashrath was so upset that he sold his goat and purchased a chisel, a hammer and a rope. With these simple tools he began to dig a tunnel, determined to change the face of his village nestled in the rocky hills of Gaya. After 22 years of hard work he completed the passage which is 360 feet long, 25 feet high and 16 feet wide. As a result of this accomplishment a lot of development began to take place in their village as the travel distance had been reduced to eight kilometres from fifty kilometres. The state government rewarded his achievement by allotting him five acres of land. Now Dashrath wanted to build a hospital in those fi ve acres of land because his village lacked medical facilities.

This simple illiterate man from Gaya achieved this feat by his sheer will power, perseverance and faith strong enough to move mountains. Like Gandhiji, Mother Teresa of Kolkata, and many others, the lliterate Dashrath has shown us the way. He is an inspiration for all us.

Soon we will be celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. Though a Hindu festival, it is celebrated by people of all faiths and all across the nation with much gaiety, enthusiasm and merry making. As the tradition goes, it is the celebration of victory of good over evil, of light over darkness and of knowledge over ignorance. Let this Diwali then, become for us an occasion to light a lamp, a ray of hope in the life of our fellow countrymen.

Dashrath in accomplishing this unique feat through his selfless service and sacrifice has embodied the true spirit of Diwali and become a beacon of hope to the people of his village. Like Dashrath, all of us can become agents of change and transformation and ambassadors of goodwill, by igniting the minds and enlightening the lives of others for which we don’t have to be rich or powerful. Like a lamp or a diya which burns itself out to eliminate the darkness, be a diya and let your light shine!