We all know about the brave
and fearless tale of Dashrath Manjhi, who carved through a mountain to connect
people to the other side of the mountain. His tale was beautifully depicted in
Nawazuddin-starrer, Manjhi. Like Manjhi, there are so many other stories of
courageous Indians that have remained untold and unheard by society.
Let us hope it doesn't take
another 22 years for us to acknowledge these 12 unknown heroes that have worked
hard to inspire people around them and selflessly devoted their lives to a
cause:
1. Gangadhara Tilak Katnam
A couple of years after his
retirement from serving the Railways, Gandhara Tilak Katnam is now on a mission
to fill all the potholes on Hyderabad's roads. Katnam's backseat always has a
few bags of mixed gravel kept handy to fill potholes.
Katnam has till date filled
1,125 potholes to make Hyderabad's roads safer for commuters.
2. Nandlal Master
This local weaver from a
village near Varanasi has been on a mission to empower women and abolish child
labor. Nandlal Master started a learning centre to educate children from
villages around him because people end up getting their children married since they
can't afford their education.
His initiative now has over
500 students from less privileged homes. He has also been able to conduct more
than 700 weddings to help out families. He is now trying to promote inter-caste
marriages and breaking traditions like dowry.
3. Daripalli Ramaiah
Known as the "man who
planted more than 10 million trees", Daripalli Ramaiah carries seeds in
his pockets and plants on his cycle, planting the seeds in the hope that the
entire area becomes green very soon.
The motivation for this man to
plant trees comes from his quest for sublime peace and no material benefit.
Apart from planting so many trees, he also gives away plants for free to
people. He had once requested a local MLA to plant a tree. When someone gifted
him Rs. 5,000 during his son's marriage, he used that money to this cause!
4. Omkarnath Sharma
On a quest to start a free
medicine bank for the poor and the needy, Omkarnath Sharma, popularly known as
"Medicine Baba", walks around the streets of Delhi, knocking on the
doors of relatively well-to-do households to collect free medicines for the
needy.
Sharma began this mission in
2008, when a bridge collapsed in Delhi and he saw many injured people being
turned away from hospitals because they didn't have the required medicines.
People suffered because of inadequate medicines and he began his quest. He
wakes up every morning and walks 5-7 kms procuring non-prescription medicines.
He has now gained some regular contributors.
5. Swapnil Tewari
The creator of the organization,
Naked Colours, Swapnil Tewari has worked hard for the betterment of tribal
communities. This organization helps struggling artisans by giving them 1/3rd
of the earnings from each piece of work sold by them.
He started this mission when
he heard of the death of an artisan in Madhuban who he was in constant touch
with. The difficulties faced by his family made him travel to the village and
face all obstacles to bring the family to Mumbai. The artisan's wife had
endured rape and other violence and Tewari brought her and her daughter to a
safer place.
He has also begun an
organization that focuses on women's safety - the Pink Whistle Project.
6. Chewang Norphel
This "Ice Man of
India" has created 10 glaciers in Ladakh to help deal with water scarcity
in the region. A civil engineer by profession, Chewang Norphel in 1966 was
given the task to build schools, canals, roads, bridges, etc. in a remote
district of Ladakh. He trained a number of villagers for this task because of
the lack of skilled labour in this remote area.
When he visited the district
years later, he found that the villagers he had trained became proper labourers
who earned enough!
Because of the negligible
rainfall in Ladakh, Norphel went on a mission to build these artificial
glaciers that have helped locals in an incredible manner.
7. Pravin Tulpule
After serving in the Indian
Navy for 17 years, this ex-naval officer now acts as "Pintoo" the
clown magician while visiting pediatric wards and orphanages. After retiring,
he began serving children in the hope to bring a smile on the face of a child
who was suffering from deathly diseases.
Apart from that, Pravin is a
regular donor and has also conducted numerous hygiene-related campaigns in
schools.
8. Kamala Lochan Baliarsingh
In Bhubaneshwar, a 60-year-old
man survives despite extreme poverty. Most days, he sleeps hungry and doesn't
get to eat even a bite. Despite all this, he feeds stray dogs on the roads
everyday without fail.
Even if he doesn't get to eat
a grain all day, he makes sure that the dogs around him are well-fed. He has
been a rag-picker all his life, but for the past 10 years, he has been feeding
these stray dogs. He does not take charity and he survives with his
selflessness.
9. Kalyansundaram
This 70-year-old librarian has
donated every penny of his earnings towards charity. He ended up taking odd
part-time jobs to earn some extra money to survive and never married. His
pension of Rs. 10 Lakhs and an award of a whopping Rs. 30 Crores were also
passed along to charity. Kalyanasundaram won man of the millennium award and
lifetime service award in 2011.
He has been donating all his
money to charity for the past 30 years and he has no misgivings. He has slept
on railway tracks and pavements to experience the plight of the poor.
10. Sindhutai Sapkal
Commonly known as the
"Mother of Orphans", Sindhutai Sapkal has adopted and taken care of
over 1400 orphans and children who were abandoned by their parents.
She had been abandoned by her
husband when she was 9 months pregnant and she has often recalled how she gave
birth to her daughter without anyone's help. She cut the umbilical cord with a
stone. She also began begging when her own mother refused to shelter her during
this time.
Soon, she adopted those around
her who couldn't earn and didn't have parents to take care of them. She has won
over 500 awards, but have you even heard of her?
11. Kareem Bhai
Kareem Bhai lives in
Hyderabad. This man is trying to make a difference in the society by distributing newspapers to poor
children and making sure that they grow up as aware individuals.
12. Venkatraman
This man once met a woman who was admitted to the government hospital because she could not afford dinner. Since then Venkatraman decided to start serving lunch for just one rupee, which he has been doing for five years now.
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