A True Social Worker
Kishanpur Village looks different today. All the villagers are working enthusiastically because Misrilal Chaudhari, one of the renowned people in the village is going to be honoured. They are decorating the stage. Even his backbiters are striving to honour him today. It looks as if there is a great festival in the village.
There didn’t use to be any school when Mishrilal was supposed to go to school and he had outgrown it by the time the school was established. He has, however, contributed much to those who wanted to study. He gave away a piece of land for a school, a health clinic and an orphanage and offered labour donations to materialize those infrastructures. That was how he became octogenarian. Now, the villagers bow before his contributions and regard him as an ideal man of the village. They cannot imagine how the village would have looked in the absence of Mishrilal. He was habituated to carrying on social work even in adverse situations. He did not care whether others supported him or not. Therefore, he deserves thanks.
There is a big pond in the middle of Kishanpur Village. People used to bathe, wash and swim in the pond. It was the same pond where cattle used to drink water. Some people used to dump carcasses into it. Anyway, the villagers used it as a dumping site. It looked filthy. Some people used to squat on its dam defecating. All these inhuman acts had resulted in a negative impact on aquatic animals like fish, turtles, frogs etc., they were dying one after another.
Misrilal was much grieved to see the deplorable condition of the pond. Then, he went to the pond early morning and began to clean from its edge. People began to buzz to see his work. Some wondered why the old man was initiating the work that was quite impossible and others made fun of him saying that he was going to commit suicide by drowning, they laughed at what he was doing. Misrilal, however, did not give up easily, he requested the so-called leaders of the village to participate in the sanitary work instead but nobody heeded him.
Nevertheless, Misrilal used to go to the pond every day and used to clean it. He tried to stop the ones who were dumping the garbage into it again. Some would ignore him and throw the garbage claiming that it was not his private property whereas some others would listen to him and would get back obediently.
Misrilal’s indefatigable efforts eventually brought about a positive result, the pond appeared emerald green. The villagers realized later that they had become unjust to Misrilal not helping him, and mocking him instead. Since then, all the villagers became unanimously made a promise that they would cooperative with him in work of all sorts. Soon, they began to work with Misrilal to keep the pond clean. At least, one from each house participated in the work daily. Gradually, the pond looked clear.
The villagers surrounded a little space beside the pond and channelled a flow of water for washing, cleaning and drinking, especially for cattle, they managed to make a separate drainage so that the filthy water would not drain into the pond. They planted trees on the edge of the pond, which looked as beautiful as an emerald-green lake in the Himalayas.
Misrilal’s sanitary campaign became a success. Nowadays, visitors to Kishanpur dream of making a pond similar to it in their own village. The natives too believe that they should take initiative to build the society. The denizens of Kishanpur give full support to what Misrilal proposed to do. To them, he has become a source of inspiration that has promoted awareness in the village.
One day, Misrilal asked the villagers why they were helping him without understanding. They would believe that all the work that Misrilal used to do would turn out to be good for society. They said, “Whatever you veterans think is always right, we should not bother to think over it any longer.”
Misrilal suggested to them not to believe him blindly but to do the right thing he had done. Since then, he has enthused himself to work more though he has aged.
Misrilal did not amass as much money as a so-called social worker does, But he had plenty of inherited property. He donated his own piece of land to establish a school as there was no land elsewhere. The children of Kisanpur now go to the school where they obtain education for life. It was he again who donated a piece of land to establish a hospital for the villagers. Now, no one meets a sudden death, nor does a pregnant woman suffer labour pain any longer. Besides, he donated labour to the construction of the building. It has relieved its initiators now.
A few years ago, a rivulet called Dudhia Khola by the village flooded and swept away the paddy fields. Many people drowned leaving their children orphaned. Panic Mishrilal could not stand it, he wanted to do some good to them. Then, he again came forth to donate one more piece of land to construct an orphanage. He boarded the children in the orphan home and managed to educate them. Initially, he launched a bowl donation campaign for their food. In addition, Misrilal founded an old-age home for ageing people in the village.
Now there lives a multi-religious, multi caste and multi-ethnic people in Kishanpur. They have unity, cooperation and coordination among them. They celebrate social as well as cultural functions jointly. A few years ago, people used to accuse a woman of being a witch. They used to castigate her and exile her but Misrilal unveiled the villagers from this evil thinking.
Some other women used to be victims of the evil system, the dowry that used to torture them or kill them mercilessly. Against it, Misrilal made a home visit. He made the villagers aware of it and abolished it eventually. He invoked the fact that true satisfaction lies where there lies one’s own effort. Misrilal who was uneducated could easily win the heart of a well-educated person. Child marriage, witchcraft, the dowry system, etc. considered the burning issues in present Nepal have become as old as a myth at Kyashapur.
All the villagers are proud of Mishrilal, a multi-dimensional personality who will be honoured today. The entire village seems to be in a festive mood. Children are exposed to a belief that noble work deserves thanks.
SUMMARY
Since a man is a social animal, he should be responsible to society. True social work means offering selfless service for the well-being of the community people. To serve society, one does not require a high degree of education. Everyone will be impressed if one works with a selfless motive and thinks of the well-being of others. It also brings about a positive change in a person. As a result, the worker gets rewarded, and we are no exception to it, too- We will be rewarded if we show our active involvement in social work.
