Rowing To Bridge The Gap

Shukur Ali, a farmer, rowed a boat tirelessly to ferry villagers in Kokrajhar district and saved money to build two bamboo bridges over the flood-prone river Silai, reports Prasanta Mazumdar

- Prasanta Mazumdar

In the summer of 2010, Shukur Ali, then 18, had barely managed to take shelter under a tree near river Silai at Modati village in Assam’s Kokrajhar district amid heavy rain when he spotted a motley group of students wailing. The children were to write their board examination at a school across the river, but no boatman was available to ferry them in the rain.

Ali, a farmer, scurried to arrange a boat for the boys, who were eventually ferried in batches amid strong winds and high waves. However, only those who had crossed over early managed to appear in the exam, the others couldn’t.

Deeply moved by the incident, Ali decided to build a bamboo bridge over the river so that no other student had to experience such a trauma in the future, but what stood in his way was lack of resources. He sought help for crowdfunding but none in his nondescript Modati village came forward as the villagers were mostly daily wagers.