Kerala’s mountain man: 59-year-old semi-paralysed man builds himself a road
- Shashi is a native of Thiruvananthapuram.
- The 59-year-old is semi-paralysed.
- He fell from a tree after suffering a stroke.
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Now comes Shashi G, a 59-year-old partially paralysed coconut climber from the outskirt of Thiruvananthapuram, for despite his ill-health has been digging out a road from his home.
Shashi, the mountain man of Thiruvananthapuram, suffered a stroke and fell from a coconut tree 18 years ago. Since then he has been partially paralysed.
After losing his control over his limbs, he appealed to the village panchayat for a tricycle so that he can involve in some business for his livelihood. But the village panchayat refused his appeal as there was no proper road to his house.
He then requested the local body to construct a road to connect his house to the main road. The village panchayat turned deaf to this appeal also. Not one to give up, Shashi for the last three years took upon himself to dig a way through the mountain.
Every day he spends 6 hours digging the road. Till now he has already dug 200 meters mud road on which small vehicles can move. Now the road work is in the final stage.
“ I will complete the road construction in one or two months and submit an appeal again to the village panchayat. Let me wait and see whether they approve it or not,” Shashi told NDTV.
“In the beginning, everyone discouraged me. But I had a firm conviction that I’ll accomplish this mission. Besides, this labour of road construction works as physiotherapy for my stroke-affected limbs. My village panchayat disappointed me by not granting a tricycle. But I’m satisfied that I’ve given a road to my village”
