'Madman' Digs Canal For Thirty Years In Order To Bring Water To His Remote Village

Nov 11, 2020

What's the longest amount of time you would dedicate yourself to a single job? A year, maybe? Five years at the most? What if everyone was telling you that this job was impossible and you were "mad" for even thinking about attempting it?

Most of us would give up pretty quickly. But one man, Laungi Bhuiya from the state of Bihar in India, wouldn't be dissuaded. He spent 30 years digging a canal through the hills so that his village could get fresh water, with his neighbors mocking and discouraging him every step of the way.

Thirty years ago, Laungi Bhuiya decided to do the impossible. He wanted to make it easy for his village in India to access freshwater. Unfortunately, there were no sources of fresh water near his village. The only option was to dig a lengthy canal that would bring the water directly to them.

It seems easy enough. But keep in mind that Bhuiya didn't have access to construction equipment like a plow or a bulldozer. He also didn't have a team of employees to help him. Instead, Bhuiya was on his own. Digging a canal was a one-man effort. Most people would give up before they even started, but Bhuiya is clearly not most people.

For 30 years, Bhuiya has been steadily digging a canal for his people. Every day, he goes out with his tools and carves a path through the landscape, reports Al Jazeera. His canal is fairly impressive: when you see the pictures, you'd never guess that it was all carved by hand. It looks like someone took construction equipment and dug a trench through the hills.

When you're working for 30 years, you're not just digging a new canal—you're also maintaining the canal that's already been dug. Otherwise, the trench would close in and you'd have to start all over again. For decades, Bhuiya has been re-digging the parts he already carved to make sure the trench stays open. It's an incredible feat that deserves only the highest praise. And who pays him for this work? No one. Nobody asked Bhuiya to complete this task. He simply does it because he cares about his people and wants to improve their quality of life.

Unfortunately, the villagers weren't particularly impressed by this incredible undertaking. For the past 30 years, Bhuiya's fellow villagers have scoffed at him and laughed at his accomplishments. Many of them called him a "madman." Instead of helping him, they treated him like a doddering old fool who had no idea what he was doing.

Even his family wasn't impressed. His wife did everything she could to keep him from building the canal, even keeping his dinner from him. She even took him to a healer for an exorcism, believing that he'd been possessed by demons. His wife felt that his dedication to the canal took him away from his family life. She told Al Jazeera, they never had enough food or money since Bhuiya was always away working on his canal. Her concerns were understandable. And after 30 years, even the most sympathetic individuals would probably tell Bhuiya that it's time to throw in the towel. But Bhuiya wouldn't stop until the job was completed. And his dedication was about to pay off in a major way.

After 30 years, news reports in India started to learn about Bhuiya and his incredible work. Journalists interviewed him, took videos, and snapped photos of Bhuiya and his canal. When his story was published in a newspaper, people all over the world suddenly wanted to meet Bhuiya. His work caught the eye of politicians, world leaders, activists, and everyone in between.

When one of Bihar's former Chief Ministers, Jitan Ram Manjhi visited Bhuiya, that's when his fortune really started to turn around. An Indian automobile manufacturer gave him a free tractor he could use to carve out his canal much faster. A pharmaceutical company also gave him 100,000 rupees as a reward for his hard work, reports Al Jazeera. It seems that Bhuiya isn't such a "madman" after all!

Now that Bhuiya's hard work has finally been recognized, the public attitude toward him has changed. In the past, people thought he was possessed by demons; now they want a road and a hospital to be named after him. His son even told Al Jazeera that his work had brought fortune to their village.

And for the record, Bhuiya's village wasn't exactly wealthy to begin with. His village is made of people who are at the bottom of India's class system, reports Al Jazeera. Officially they're known as Dalits, but some call them "untouchables." Since they didn't have enough water to build their own farmland, they were unable to support themselves. But thanks to Bhuiya, that's all about to change. Bhuiya's story shows that you should never give up, even when the rest of the world thinks you've gone crazy. He's an inspiration to all of us, and we can't wait to see how his incredible canal transforms his village.

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