How a movie moved a village to build road
RANCHI: The residents of Barigada, a nondescript village tucked in the steep hills of Khunti district, had never seen a movie in their lives.
They only read about films and actors in newspapers bought from the Tamar market over 30 km away. Hawkers don’t travel to Barigada because it is home to Kundan Pahan, a notoriously trigger-happy Maoist commander.
But even fear can’t prevent the spread of awareness, no matter how remote a place may be. As part of their outreach programme to educate the rural folk on governance, members of Pradan – a non-governmental organisation – travelled to Barigada to screen the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Manjhi-The Mountain Man on a portable projector.
Cinema, they say, can change people’s lives. In Barigada, one could see it impacting an entire tribal village.
As the villagers watched Dashrath Majhi – an illiterate Dalit from Bihar’s Gaya district – single-handedly carving a road through a treacherous mountain on the silver screen, they couldn’t help but feel inspired.
Picking up axes and shovels, they marched towards a nearby hill and began laying a hitherto elusive road that would bring Barigada closer to the district headquarters in Khunti town by at least 50 km. At present, an 80-km road connects the two places.
However, journalists and NGO activists realised that such an act may invite legal hassles. They persuaded the villagers to halt their attempt at road-laying and, instead, approach the government with a request for the same. The department concerned, they said, has enough funds to see the project through.
The villagers approached deputy commissioner Chandrasekhar and submitted a memorandum for a 30-km road connecting Barigada to Khunti, via Karoda and Maranghada hills. The document came with a rider – if the administration failed to fulfil their demand, the villagers would build the road anyway through shramdaan (voluntary service).
The delegation apprised the deputy commissioner of the hardships they face in their daily life due to poor road connectivity. No welfare scheme reaches Barigada on time, and worse, authorities routinely use the Maoist excuse to avoid visiting the place.
The village isn’t electrified, and health services are in a shambles. In the absence of ambulances, residents are often reduced to carrying patients to hospitals at Tamar or Khunti on cots.
The government seemed receptive to the idea.
“We have taken note of the villagers’ demand, and have already initiated the process of constructing a road through the hills,” Chandrasekhar said.
The villagers, for their part, can’t stop praising Pradan for “waking them from their slumber” through the Manjhi screening.
“The movie really motivated us,” said Lor Singh Munda, a youngster from Barigada who has taken it upon himself to get the road constructed.
Members of the NGO, for their part, are just as excited.
“The plan was to motivate villagers, and it worked wonders. As the message spread, several adjoining villagers requisitioned us to screen the movie for them too,” said team coordinator Rajnikant Pandey, adding that his colleague, Ponchapu Shankaraiyya, came up with the idea.
The administration sees other advantages in having a shorter Barigada-Khunti road too. Superintendent of police Anish Gupta said the proposed road would open up the ‘inaccessible’ area for regular patrolling – thereby driving away Maoists.
This, however, isn’t the only instance of the Bollywood biopic inspiring people. Shailendra Burnwal, a Jharkhand Armed Police commandant, said residents of Saranda’s Gudri panchayat came forward to assist his jawans in repairing dilapidated roads in the area after watching the movie at their camp.