He built my parents house when he was all of 17 !! And now he came back to redo the house after 30 years. The boy has become a father of a boy studying Structural Engineering. Basha is not an engineer or hasn’t been to any Polytechnic or ITI to get educated. He learnt on the job and became a “mistry” (mason) to earn his living. He learnt well and managed to earn his living through this skill.

Seeing Basha work is like watching a true craftsman – when he fills in the cement mix suddenly lines are straight. Basha has not only supported himself, but has supported his extended family too. His older brother works for him, his sister’s son works for him and many other people from his village and extended family work with him. Some have gone onto setting up their own businesses and have done well, while some others just didn’t take the initiative.

Besides the skill of masonry, some other things that make Basha special are – his unflinching integrity, his sincerity, quality of work and the 100% dedication be brings to his craft. He has rebuilt several walls when the work wasn’t upto his satisfaction. He has a terribly short fuse for sloppy work and has been known to smack people who don’t learn and don’t deliver quality work. Yes he is unlettered, but has tremendous “shiksha” from experience and he freely shares his knowledge. He would be the first to arrive and has gone around picking up people who were getting late for work :). He doesn’t miss the fundamental of watering a wall for a couple of days to help the cement set really well.

Basha knows the value of education and has ensured his son is educated well and meeting his son was refreshing. Like father, like son. The same sincerity of purpose, and dedication to his studies.

Having a skill ensures you earn your living and that is more respectful than waiting for a government dole or someone’s charity. So hone a skill incase you are unable to fund a full fledged degree and keep learning – learning is a lifelong process.Our commitment to the Yatra stays and we should soon be on the road again !