The struggling Gaya district is in the eastern state of Bihar, India.
Kolithwa is a village there. Loungi Bhuiya is one of its residents.

In a story by Judy Cole, “Loungi Bhuiya had become increasingly distraught as more and more farmers—including four of his own sons—left Kolithwa for greener pastures. Taking a leaf from Don Quixote, Bhuiyan was determined not only to dream an impossible dream but to make that dream come true by single-handedly bringing water to his village in hopes of transforming the barren land into arable acreage.”

“Despite the teasing from his family and fellow villagers, the now 70-year-old Bhuiya toiled every day to make the four-foot-wide by three-foot-deep canal a reality. It took him nearly 30 years to accomplish his goal, but now everyone is benefitting from the fruits of his decades-long labors.”

“Of course, when Quixote creator Miguel de Cervantes wrote: ‘When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical may be madness. To surrender dreams, this may be madness… Maddest of all is to see life as it is, and not as it should be,’ he wasn’t referring to Bhuiya—but he just as well might have been.