Moving Mountains

Impossible feats are commonplace around the world and have been featured prominently in media and literature throughout the ages. Whether in temple carvings in Ankor Wat or heroic stories from the Bible, humans are inspired by stories of unimaginable feats and their accomplishment. These scenarios are often deemed impossible by those accepting physical, mental, societal, economic, cultural and environmental constraints. A select few people refuse to be bound by these limitations, often paving the way for others to follow in their path. The scenarios featuring these remarkable individuals can be characterized by the title of an impossible-possible scenario, where a situation that is considered implicitly impossible is overcome through determination, courage, and commitment.

Dashrath Manjhi is an individual who exemplifies all of the elements of an impossible-possible scenario. Considered to be of a magnitude that is physically, mentally and economically impossible, a labourer from rural India took on a project that would seem impossible for a government to achieve over a similar time frame. After facing a tragedy, involving the potentially preventable death of his wife, Manjhi set about to erase the challenges that led to her passing. With the nearest village supported by a doctor being over fifty kilometres away and made even more inaccessible by the hard rock ridges between it and his village, Gehlaur, these hardships made his wife’s urgent care even more difficult.

In response to this great change in his life, Manjhi set out to clear a path through the mountain to help others that may be affected by its placement. Undertaking this goal was no small task, with only the aid of hammer and chisel to carve through the rock. Although taunted for his determination and commitment towards this impossible goal, he persevered and achieved his goal with a shorter and safer path that trimmed the arduous journey between villages by forty kilometres and nearly eliminated the dangers of travel. However, making the impossible possible took twenty-two years of his life to accomplish. This scenario demonstrates that the limitations once perceived, are constructed within society and that their surmounting is a matter of determination, courage, and commitment by those willing.

Dashrath Manjhi’s story struck me on many levels. Having seen the multiple seemingly impossible environmental challenges that are mentioned throughout the classes of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability, it can bring a feeling almost ominous when looking towards the future of the world; Manjhi’s story resonates a more positive note. His story strikes an empowerment that goes beyond recommendations and goals, rather pure commitment to a solution. The sharing of his story would be beneficial to others who suffer from concepts such as the tragedy of the commons, where individuals may under-rate their own abilities to contribute to something greater, such as the saving of our planet .

Overall, stories such as Dashrath Manjhi’s and those featured on the Impossible Project channel are evidence that we are not bound by the limitations set by others, only ourselves.

For more information: Movie about India’s ‘Mountain Man’ hits screens