When the pioneer sentry of Swaach Bharat Mission, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak leaves for his heavenly abode.
Vivekanand Jha, Ranchi. A couple of years ago, I had paid a visit to Dashaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi. Suddenly I developed the sensation for urination. Naturally, I had panicked, for my standing at the bank of Ganga river provided me with no access to such amenity. What I should do now, my mind dug deeper into the crisis which nakedly stared at my face, with solution eluding me tangibly? Much like the scriptural saga of an elephant being finally dragged deep into the river by the crocodile, confronting the imminent death, he lifted his trunk to invoke Sri Krishna, with the prayer, ‘ Naak, kaan duban lage Sri Krishna ko pukaro, he Krishna, he Krishna ab to jeevan haaro'( Nose, ears were getting drowned, O Krishna, I am losing my life, please come and save me’!) My situation was akin to that elephant in deep distress. Worse still, being a diabetic patient, the urgency to relieve myself was disproportionately far greater. I too earnestly began invoking Sri Krishna. Lo and behold! barely had I closed my eyes and uttetered a prayer, the mobile toilet, at a distance, was suddenly visible. I quickly identified it: it was the mobile toilet van of Sulabh Sachalayatan, founded by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak. I could quickly recall how my first meeting with Dr Bindeshwar Pathak in the Constitution Club in Delhi, coincided with the inauguration of the mibile toilet van. Indeed, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak had innovated with some grand idea which had the potential to instantly relieve me of my physical distress, in the absence of which, I could only speculate the worse that would have happened with me on that day in Dashaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi.
15th of August, the day India attained freedom from the shackles of colonisaton, is known for another important event: The birth anniversary of Rishi Aurobindo. Henceforth, another feather to its crown, albeit from the implausible perspective: The day took a crusader on the path of sanitation, away from our midst: Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the well known sentry for Swacch Bharat Mission. Significantly, as I ended up paying my glowing tribute to Rishi Aurobindo, a news awaited to aggrieve me into the state of deeper discomfiture: The demose of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak. In fact, the news was highly devastating for me, especially because I had the privilege of profiling him in my famous book The Living Legends of Mithila, wherein I had the greater opportunity to know Dr Pathak from a little closer distance. Moreover, the news construed a bigger jolt for me, as I had lost another living legend of Mithila.
Significantly, as we were commemorating the 77th independence day, 15th of August, the day India attained freedom from the shackles of colonisaton, is known for another important event: The birth anniversary of Rishi Aurobindo. Moreover, I wondered, hearing the tragic news of the demise of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, that Henceforth, another feather to its crown, albeit from the implausible perspective, got added to it: The day took away from us a genuine crusader on the path of sanitation, our very own, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the well known sentry for Swacch Bharat Mission. Significantly, as I ended up paying my glowing tribute to Rishi Aurobindo in the late evening, a news awaited to aggrieve me into the state of deeper distress: The demise of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak. In fact, the news was highly devastating for me, especially because I had the privilege of profiling him in my famous pioneer book The Living Legends of Mithila, wherein I had the greater opportunity to know Dr Pathak from a little closer distance. Moreover, the news construed a bigger jolt for me, as I had lost another living legend of Mithila, after having already lost couple of them, over last few years.
Interestingly, born in a Maithil Brahmin famiiy, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, kick- started his social entrepreneurship at an early age: his cleaning of the faeces from the Dalit famiiy, evoked a serious retribution from his parents as well as his in- laws. Unequivocally, his father- in-law, went to the extent of regretting his decision to get his daughter martied to him. Yet, despite the tooth and nail resistance from his family, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak went on his path for sanitising the locality of Dalits, which he felt, needed his profiund attention. Moreover, as his work grew, he founded Sulabh Sauchalaya. Initially, even though his work was confined within Bihar, gradully it spread its wings across India, and even abroad. In fact, it was during the book launch of the Hindi version of Yes, I am Bihari, Han, Main Bihari Hoon, he had sponsored the caps bearing the inscruption of ‘ Han, Main Bihari Hoon, however, he failed to keep his commitment of being a part of the book launch, which caused me jitters, as he failed to turn up at the eleventh hour. However, my first meeting with him in the Constitution Club, wherein I had broached the topic of his getting Bharat Ratna, which, notwithstanding his pretensions, staunchly resonated with him. Subsequently, I had petitioned the Prime Minister for conferring Bharat Ratna, the highest Civilian award, upon him for his pioneering contribution towards his grand Swaach Bharat Mission, which Prime Minister Modi adopted with the sense of aplomb.
My last meeting with Dr Bindeshwar Pathak was in the beginning of 2018, when I had paid him a visit to his office in Delhi. My surprise knew no bounds, when I beheld the battery of women personal assistants queuing up to him. In fact, what I saw, was unprecedented for me: The hordes of personal assistants would encircle him, and wherever he would go, they all would rush behind him. It was the spectacle of showbiz. I sincerely wondered, whether he at all needed the hordes of assistants. The fawning assistants, much like the adage ‘ when asked to bend, they started crawling’, obsequiously followed him, as the ministers would to their emperor in ancient and medieval India. Unequivocally, the corporate cronyism had come to be institutionalised in Sulabh. Moreover, when I disclosed about my meeting the ailing Sri Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister, Dr Pathak gestured that it was futile to meet him, as he was not in his senses. Later, Mr Jinta, Ataljee’s PA then, had severely indicted him for not paying even a single visit to see the ailing Prime Minister, even though he was the prinary beneficiary of his generosity.
Dr Bindeshwar Pathak was the prodigious son of Mithila, and the nation. His drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s Swaach Bharat Mission, is self- manifest today, when Sulabh Sauchalaya had spread its wings across the nation. Better still, he had given jobs to tens of thousands of people across the nation, which remains a laudable step. In fact, millions of people survivve due to Sulabh, remains an exemplary contribution of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak which will immortalise him in the annals of time. Most importantly, his featuring in The Living Legends of Mithila, adds further value to his persona. Thus even a millennium hence, when the posterity will try to unravel Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, The Living Legends of Mithila shall stand as a living testimony of his glorious deeds. I, therefore, in the capacity of the author of The Living Legends of Mithila, seek a Padma Bhusan for him, the second highest Civilian Award. Whereas the loss of Dr Bindeshwar pathak is the loss to Mithila, Bihar and the nation, I pray to the almighty for his salvation at His Lotus Feet. May his soul rest in peace; may all his family members have the resilience to bear with this loss.
Vivekanand Jha
Author of The Living Legends of Mithila, and its Hindi version, Mithila ke Adhunik Diggaj.
He is an Author, Academician and a Public Intellectual.
