Less Than An Inch A Day
This song tells the story of Dashrath Manjhi, an Indian labourer who cut a path through a mountain ridge that was 360ft wide. The path was 30 feet wide and 25ft deep in places. It took him 22 years to complete the task using only a hammer and chisel, and I worked out that his progress was well under an inch a day.
The reason he undertook this task was that his wife was badly injured after falling on the mountain and the same mountain ridge blocked the way to the nearest hospital. Getting round the mountain was a very long trek and they wouldn't have been able to make it in time. After his wife died Manjhi swore it would never happen to anyone else ever again and so he embarked on his Herculean task!
Chip chip with my hammer and chisel, tap tap tapping away
I'm going to cut right through the mountain ridge, at less than an inch a day
When my wife fell down the mountain
It was the mountain that sealed her fate
The hospital was too far away
We would have arrived too late
As she lay there in my arms
Tears filled my eyes
I cursed the mountain in my path
As I watched Falguni die
Chip chip with my hammer and chisel, tap tap tapping away
I'm going to cut right through the mountain ridge, at less than an inch a day
I swore that it would never happen
To anyone else again
So I sold my goats and bought some tools
And worked to ease my pain
I started to chip and break the stone
Then I carried it away
I was cutting through the mountain
At less than an inch a day
Chip chip with my hammer and chisel, tap tap tapping away
I'm going to cut right through the mountain ridge, at less than an inch a day
At first my neighbours thought me crazy
As I got on with my plan
Chipping away at the cold hard rock
With a hammer in my hand
Then I burnt firewood to heat the rock
Then threw cold water down
which cracked the rock for chipping
As I brought my hammer down
Chip chip with my hammer and chisel, tap tap tapping away
I'm going to cut right through the mountain ridge, at less than an inch a day
After twenty two long years
My road had broken through
Three sixty feet of mountain ridge
And with a smile I knew
Falguni would be proud of me
And all my friends would too
They call me Manjhi Mountain Man
Who cut that ridge in two
Chip chip with my hammer and chisel, chip chip chipping away
I'm going to cut right through the mountain ridge, at less than an inch a day