I recently heard a true story about determination, self-sacrifice, and fortitude that filled me with transcendent awe, one of the most beautiful emotions to experience.

Here’s my version of this story, the story of Dashrath Manjhi.

This story began one day in 1959, in a remote village in the eastern state of Bihar in India.

A woman named Falguni Devi was making her way along a treacherous mountain path when she fell and suffered severe injuries. Medical help was less than a mile away, but because of the mountain, it could be reached only by taking an indirect route of about 40 miles, and because of the delay, she died. 

Her husband was Dashrath Manjhi, a man who worked as a laborer. He believed that his wife’s death could have been prevented if she’d reached medical attention in time, and in his grief, he became determined to carve a path through the ridge of hills to make their village more accessible. The only tools he had were his hammer and chisel, and working alone, he started chipping away at the mountain that blocked their way.

His efforts began one morning in 1960, and in 1982, after 22 years of solitary labor, Dashrath Manjhi had carved a passage about approximately 360 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 25 feet deep through the ridge of rocks. The journey, which once required a detour of more than 40 miles, was shortened dramatically to just nine miles. Now villagers had access to hospitals, schools, and markets.

When he began, he was mocked for his efforts, but later, Manjhi said, “Though most villagers taunted me at first, there were quite a few who lent me support later by giving me food and helping me buy my tools.”

For his accomplishment, Manjhi became known as the “Mountain Man,” and India Post dedicated a stamp to him in 2016.

He did this backbreaking work, for more than two decades, to spare others the suffering that his family had experienced.

In his unforgettable, riveting, transcendent memoir Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl observed, ““In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”

Out of his grief, through the sacrifice of his long labors, Dashrash Manjhi was able to transform his pain into action to transform the lives of his community for generations.

Out of his grief, through the sacrifice of his long labors, Dashrash Manjhi was able to transform his pain into action to transform the lives of his community for generations.