Barefoot warrior fights the desert and wins

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN
Fatehpur (Surendranagar district): Everything that touches the Little Rann of Kutch turns barren, desert-like. But not Fatehpur village that sits on the edge of the Rann. Its entrance is lined with 700 trees that remain lush green even during the summer, all because of the village’s ex-deputy sarpanch Bachubhai Gadhvi, better known as Kaviraj. He fought the vagaries of nature and an apathetic government with his bare feet. And, he won. Tired of his village’s daily struggle for something as simple as water, he vowed in 1985 not to cover his feet until every home gets ample water. During peak summer, the earth would sizzle, like burning embers. But for 23 years, Kaviraj walked the flames, till his village got cool water. “My dream has been fulfilled. I will put on shoes for the first time since 1985 at a public function in the next two months,” he says today with pride. Kaviraj, who was the village’s leader for all practical purposes, “Women had to walk three km to fetch contaminated water. In 1985, we had cholera in the village because of the water. I could not believe we had bloody fights over such water.” Kaviraj took it upon himself to get the village borewell working at any cost. “I would travel bare feet 20 km to Patdi taluka and push government officers to include us in their various schemes. And today, look at our village...” Jashabhai Thakor of Fatehpur says, “We are happy we have water even during summers. This was unthinkable before 1985. All this, thanks to one man - Kaviraj.”