Gunpur: “Be grateful to the man you help, think of him as God. It is not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men.” These are the words of Swami Vivekananda. However, this exhortation is the mantra of Dayanidhi Barik, a driver by profession and a resident of Gunpur.
Dayanidhi is unlike any other driver. He provides poor people free hearse service to carry the bodies to the cremation ground. He works extra hours to save money for the hearse he runs.
“As a resident of the area, I realised it was very difficult for the poor people to carry the bodies of their relatives 4-5 km for cremation as their economic condition did not allow them to hire a vehicle. So, I wanted to help them. It was only after buying a hearse that I could realise this goal,” Dayanidhi told Orissa POST.
Dayanidhi has started this service in 2016 and in these 32 months he has transported 315 bodies to the cremation ground. He also said he named his hearse ‘Swarga Ratha’ as the Hindu tradition believes that a person goes to heaven after death.
According to Dayanidhi, Sankar Ratha, Sanjaya Sahoo and other generous persons of the area financially helped him buy the hearse. Locals of Padmapur, Gudari and Ramanguda also depend upon his hearse.
“We have been seeing him for past two years. He is very well known for his services. Locals of Gunpur and other areas admire his dedication and the devotion with which he serves the poor. The poor can call him anytime for carrying the body of their relatives to the cremation ground. And sometime he pays out of his pocket to perform the last rites,” said the locals of Gunpur.
PNN
