N. Raghuraman's column: How can you become 'unforgettable' in people's minds?

Who can take inspiration from Nishadraj Guha mentioned in the Ramayana, who made people cross the river without any expectation? In modern times, it is not necessary to become a sailor like Guh. They can also build bridges. If they do this, they not only transport people from one bank of the river to the other, but also transport the farmer's produce to the nearest market so that he can support the family, a student can go to the school in the next village and a pregnant woman can get better medical care. This is what Padma Shri Girish Bhardwaj did. In 1989, the people of his birthplace Aletti village, 300 km from Bengaluru, came to him and made a unique request to build a bridge to the next village. As a child, Bhardwaj had to take admission directly in the fifth grade, because no child could cross the river by walking so long. He may have also missed Guh. "I have never built a bridge. Still, the villagers said, 'You are an engineer, we will find a solution.' And then he accepted the challenge. Using locally available materials, community involvement, and simple engineering principles, he built the bridge at a low cost. The news spread faster than the river. Soon, governments and communities from all over the country began calling them. Bhardwaj, popularly known as India's 'Bridge Man', passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76. But the more than 140 suspension bridges he built in rural India still tell a bigger story than engineering. They remind us that identity automatically comes back when you solve a broader problem. India's history is replete with such examples. Take E. Sreedharan, who gave millions of people what even the most powerful cannot give – time. He understood that India's fast-growing cities needed more efficient public transport than luxurious infrastructure. He changed the face of urban traffic by completing projects like Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro with extraordinary speed and sincerity. Millions of people today are less stuck in traffic, travel safer and experience a better life, as an engineer looked at the solution to the transportation problem. The list of such people is very long. Dr. Verghese Kurien did not aim to be the father of the milk revolution. He merely solved a major problem of rural India that dairy farmers get a fair price for their produce. Lakhs of people benefited from it and got respect automatically. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak did not run after awards. He solved the sanitation crisis through Sulabh Toilets. He gave a dignified life to millions of people and changed the thinking of the country towards public cleanliness. Arunachalam Muruganantham also never thought that he would get international fame. He addressed a neglected problem – providing cheap sanitary pads to rural women. His innovation transformed the health, education, and livelihoods of countless families. And there is also Rajendra Singh, who is called the Waterman of India. He understood that water scarcity was destroying the livelihood of villages and people. Instead of relying solely on large dams, he revived traditional water conservation techniques and mobilized communities to restore rivers and groundwater. His efforts breathed new life into thousands of villages in Rajasthan. He proved that sustainable development succeeds when local people become partners in solving environmental challenges. In all these examples, one principle appears to be the same—identify a problem that affects millions of people and dedicate yourself to the solution. When a teacher connects children with education, a doctor connects villages with healthcare, an entrepreneur connects farmers with markets, an engineer connects technology with the common man, or someone connects hope with opportunity, the world always remembers who has made the lives of the most people better. The trick is that when a person builds a much-needed bridge, people may forget his profession, but remember him for a very long time.