Pipra, My Village: Some Landmarks

Posted on September 3, 2010 by indra

Roads are coming from two sides to Pipra. One is preferred from and to Sasaram, and the other from and towards Varanasi. I have a small land still in my name near the Village Panchayat Bhawan. It’s on periphery of a large chunk of government land that could have been developed as a good park. Some families of the deprived class or with strong men have encroached upon the major part of the land in south. My uncle who used to work for Birla Jute Mills had got built a pond there with help of charity of villagers once. I wish the Panchayat could revive that as a water body through NAREGA. It could add to the glory of the village.

Besides the school that has come up in last few years, a co-operative mini- rice mill is coming up as part of the old government godown complex built by my uncle when he was Mukhia. I never knew that someone inside the village has turned entrepreneur and running a mini-rice mill also. Still the rising number of unemployed young men with little education or skill, particularly of forward castes, must be the biggest concern. I think there are still hesitant to migrate and take up any menial job in other prosperous states. The same in the traditionally backward castes are migrating out as the job opportunity in the village is getting squeezed with mechanical means taking over the operations very fast. (See the photograph of the huge harvester lying covered between the two temples) There are five harvesters in a village with total population of around 3000 beside about 40 tractors. As it appears very soon someone in the village will invest in Paddy Transplanter too.

Oldest Temple in Pipra

While the oldest temple in the centre of the village survives, it certainly requires renovation and an overall make up all around. Particularly, the drainage needs improvement. The lane to the Kali temple starts from near the temple and that is really shabby with water logging.

Kali-sthan

Kali-sthan remains the most popular place of worship that is most visited by the women of all community for various family functions as well as during festivals. On Rakshabandhan this year, there was a big function with havan costing thousands of rupees. I came to know of it as my uncle took a lead in organizing it. I visited Kali-sthan with uncle and discussed certain additional construction to make it more comfortable for those who come to worship. I consider it important, as Kali-sthan is almost the door to the part of village that is inhabited by the so-called Harijans (word coined by Mahatama) or Dalits (word more fashionable these days).

Covered hravester between two temples. Front one built by Lakshman and the at the rear one by Basdeo baba

Over the years some other temples also have come up. Lakshman was a barber who has got constructed a temple in north of the village. He was one of the most visible persons of his time. It took long time as it was through small donations from small people. But I consider that as an example of the success of will power of even a small man.

Statue of Hanumanji and Basdeo baba’s Temple

And very near to this, another temple of Hanumanji has come up. Basdeo Baba has been behind its construction. Basdeo Baba was a wrestler in his youth and he had his ‘akhara’ nearby. I did contribute to this temple Rs 20,000 for the statue when he asked me once during my visit to the village.

According to my uncle there is one more temple of Shiva in north outside the village. There is a plan to renovate it. I could not vast that.

I still pity that the major community of the village and particularly the educated lot including former headmasters and teachers don’t take interest in the school and do something collectively or individually to make it the most important landmark of the village. I have talked vociferously to get the school upgraded up to class XII. I am ready to help to any extent. A school up to class XII and Trade school must remain the focus of the well-wishers of the village.

Interestingly, some who came to meet me including Basdeo Baba suggested that I must build something in the village to perpetuate the memory of my ancestors and mine. I tried to ask them what I should do. None provided any specific answer. They left it to me. Should I go for building another small temple as someone as I can’t finance something like Akhardham? Unfortunately, I can only provide some finance but can’t remain there to execute. I am still in search of a good thing to be done by me in my village and its executer. I wish it would have been for education. I wish to happen soon.

I am sure many villages in Bihar and other states must be having similar landmarks and men like me in dilemma of doing something but not knowing what.

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Election, Manifesto and Outcome

Posted on September 1, 2010 by indra

It was nice to see a ‘People’s Manifesto’ for the forthcoming assembly election in Bihar. It was a great initiative from Bihartimes.com, but I wish the editor makes it of greater value by involving some non-political well-wishers of the state, particularly technocrats.

I had been writing about what Bihar must prioritize for long on my blog. However, I didn’t shape all that is needed in manifesto. I wish the non-political People’s Manifesto is prepared in simple language of the people and put in the hands of each and every voter. Let the people ask the candidate if they agree to that manifesto and decide the candidate. The candidate must also answer to one more question of the people: “Will you resign on your own if you fail to serve us?”

I had great hope from the students in higher education of Bihar. Unfortunately, the way they behave and follow all wrong means to get themselves educated and equipped with a paper called certificate or degree don’t leave any hope for that. Unfortunately, for any protest they follow all wrong examples from West Bengal, besides taking political patronage of political parties with caste leaders heading them.

However, imparting the quality education to all the children of all communities, practical education for adults farmers, particularly women and skilling them at least in one or more to help them additional earning before they get employed or decide to migrate must be a single focus for any government, new or the incumbent that takes over this unfortunate state with a great history. Let the education be the one point manifesto for all the parties. Even if the state remains dependent on other states and metros for the higher education of its children, the state government must do everything to remove all the weaknesses of the present system of education, particularly in rural region seeking all help from all corners, rich individuals, private companies, educational trusts and all NGOs involved in education sector.

However, who will ensure the outcome of the expenditure made on the education sector? Who can assure the effectiveness of the midday meal or the accountability of the teachers? I wonder how the parents and educated lot in the rural Bihar keep itself so much impertinent about the future of its Next Generation. Will ‘Aam Adami’ be able to transform the mindset of the political leaders in the coming election? Will the next government make Bihar and its people more proud lot?

Let the people of so-called forward caste not bother about Lalu’s manifesto or prophecy of not allowing any one out of them a CM of Bihar, but all sane persons of Bihar expect the end of caste and community as the basis for voting a candidate. Let an honest and qualified candidate with zeal to perform must get the votes and win. Let the people of Bihar prove all who think otherwise wrong once forever.

Unfortunately, though I wished to be in Bihar in this election to see it from nearer quarter, it will not be possible. I shall be in US during the period. But I shall be eagerly watching what goes on.
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PS: Will people of each constituency of Bihar ask the candidate to set up a science college, and an ITI in a time frame of a maximum of four years? Can the voters demand upgradation of every high school in rural Bihar to have facilities of education up to class XII so that girl students could complete their pre-professional education?

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Bihar: Visiting Extended Family

Posted on August 29, 2010 by indra

I had a number of purposes behind visiting Bihar in this season that remains usually unbearably humid and hot too.

With Mamaji in his Sasaram house

My loving maternal uncle is now in his late eighties. He had been a very successful advocate in the extended family. I heard from Ashok that he got some wound in his leg and was in real pain. Once the travel plan got finalized, I talked to him. He was at Ramnagar, near Varanasi. What I found was very very shocking. I found him mentally tortured as he expected his son, particularly the youngest one to be more caring. I talked to my cousin and requested if he could bring him to Sasaram. He had done that. Mamaji had been an inspiration to me since my school days. He is very clear about his views on issues of life. I met him and could solace to a certain extent. His physical wound will soon heal, but he needs more care. He at this age too, remains fit and alert.

With Chachaji at the house he built at Pipra

I had not been to my village for almost three years or more. In my last visit, I was there only for few hours. I met my uncle who is about three year older than me. He is very much active and compliments Alok in farming. With Alok getting engaged recently in Bihar government agriculture improvement scheme, uncle will have to be more involved in household affairs. He was the head of the panchayat and the co=operative society too for number of years. He is still actively associated with the village affairs. I discussed with him a plan to renovate the Kali temple of the village.

At Shiv Prasad Misra’s New House at Madhukarpu

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I have visited Yamuna’s village and that too together with her only about two-three times. It might be that I would have visited Madhukarpur decades ago. The death of the wife of Shiv Prasad Misra, my eldest brother-in-law made this visit happen. Shiv Prasad Misra still remains the most educated and knowledgeable in his family. He is a retired government teacher and keeps himself informed. He used to read a lot, anything that was available. He started managing the joint family quite early in life. He was very tough in his youth. He maintained contacts with all his relatives. He had helped my mother too and lived with her for few years, when he was teacher in a nearby school. He had been the nearest to us till the youngest brother-in-law Raj Kishore started working and living in Hind Motors. And though in his eighties, Shiv Prasad Misra can still do physical work for hours. I still remember his going to Tarakeswar from Hind Motor more than 30 kilometers on feet as a religious ritual, returning and leaving for his village home the same day.


With Rita at her Varanasi residence

And then I heard Alok who was coming to see us off at Mugalsarai planning to drive up to Varanasi to get the rakhi tied by Rita, our little sister. I also expressed my desire to get the rakhi tied by the little sister who lives in Varanasi to get her daughter coached for admission in IITs or one of the good colleges of engineering. It was after a long time that I saw her and her daughter Kshama who is a typical example how younger generation aspires big and bigger.

I met many old known faces that have changed with their age and many new ones for whom I required introduction to relate with their families. It was a wonderful cherishable experience.

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Manmohan’s Credibility Loss and Alternative

Posted on August 29, 2010 by indra

Anna’s win certainly has exposed Manmohan and his total ineffective governance. Rahul Gandhi not only proved himself poor in assisting Manmohan to salvage the damage done in making multiple mistakes in handling Anna’s hurricane. Rather the way Rahul tried to get into the issue through his speech after a long silence stunned the youth and those who thought him as capable enough to handle the responsibility of the country. Perhaps Rahul wants to wait. And even if the party wished, Rahul perhaps is not having that self confidence that is necessary, otherwise he would not have abstained totally from the Saturday deliberations in parliament when a new history was getting written. He would have become a main character of the story but he didn’t try for it and for many such as the students of IIT, he became a minor villain.

Manmohan with a little proactive initiative could have stolen the show that went perfect with his saluting Anna but there after he allowed the role to slip out to Pranab Mukherji again and Pranab played with all elegance and statesmanship.

And the question and justification of the continuance of Manmohan has become a subject of wise speculation. India Today has written, “The sheer absence of leadership has ripped apart the credibility of the Government and raised questions about whether the prime minister can continue.”

I wonder why Manmohan and more so Rahul could hear the voice of millions of Indians and particularly of the crowd of young men and women from middle class, business community and even technocrats that kept on swelling from day one.

Manmohan couldn’t live up to the legacy as the prime minister of a billion plus nation even when the absence of Sonia provided him with the golden opportunity to prove the nation otherwise. The total management of the confrontation with Anna Hazare and every act of the government since August 16, be it the arrest and Tihar, was the Manmohan’s responsibility. I wonder he was too confident with Kapil Sibal and Chidambaram who could make Ramdev look pigmy.

Manmohan Singh in the process did not only lose his middle-class constituency but also fallen in the eyes of young MPs. The old guards were already loath to accept him as prime minister anyway.

As Dipankar Gupta writes, ‘Quite clearly, the youth appear to have forgotten Manmohan Singh’s academic past. Instead, they tend to see him today as just another politician. If Manmohan Singh appears to have lost his intellectual starch it is because he has repeatedly aligned his actions with the logic of politics (worse, coalition politics).

It is unfortunate that Manmohan has aged and is difficult to make him change to suddenly become effective and proactive. For example, why should it take seven months to appoint the head of NHAI, the vital for building roads? How many years will be needed to bring a suitable Land Acquisition Bill so that a company like POSCO ready to pour in $ 12 billion of investment would not be waiting for six years? How many Annas will be required to bring change in the governance of the country?

And it is the right time that Congress and Sonia interest of the nation decode for a change at the top, perhaps with Pranab Mukherji at least up to the time Congress wins again and Rahul dares to sit in the hot chair.

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Visiting Bihar: My Village, Your Village, and the Paradise

Posted on August 27, 2010 by indra

I always enjoy seeing the land mass spreading up to horizon when I near my home railway station, Sasaram from the door of the coach. MahaBodhi Express was almost five hours late. It proved perhaps a boon in disguise. The schedule time of arrival at 4AM would have been inconvenient for everyone. Alok was on the station. Yamuna had to walk almost half of the platform as our bogey was in the front.

I have a lot in my memory bank of many years since my childhood. I had come to this station with my grandfather at all odd times, mainly from or to Calcutta. On one side of the platforms of the Chord line, there used to be a small track running between Sasaram to Arrah. Our route used to be from Pipra to Kharadih on bullock cart or on feet and from there to Sasaram by the light railway. On one such day we had reached Sasaram late in night and stayed in a small room that was perhaps for resting. It was a real scary night. My grand kept guarding, as he suspected some burglars targeting us.

Roads: Roads linking Pipra, my home village today are good enough to showcase the excellent work done by Nitish government for linking the rural Bihar. Our Alto could reach right up to the garage in our house at Pipra. Highways between Sasaram and Kochas that is on the highway connecting Mohania and Patna are in very good condition except for small stretches at Karaghar, Kochas, and Dinara. Unfortunately, the internal roads connecting the highway to Madhukarpur, Yamuna’s village are still not metalled and so I had to leave my car Alto a little short of my destination. As many told me, it was only because the contractors left the work without completing it. And all hoped that by the next season, the roads to be as good as I found around Pipra.

Lanes inside the villages also have improved with bricks laid suitable all over. Some stretches need redesign and reconstruction. Photographs clearly show these successes and shortcomings.

Raod to Pipra

Road to Madhukarpur



Bad inner lanes in Pipra

We returned from Madhukarpur after the function of Brahmbhoj got over, though my brother-in-law and the main host of the day (who lost his wife) was insisting us to stay back. Yamuna was in double mind. But with the heavy rain in the afternoon, I was afraid if we could get out of the village. Yamuna was really morose. They arranged a Zeep of the village to take us up to the highway. Alok had already sent the driver to take our car to the highway as soon as he had finished his lunch. Most of the guests had come on their motorcycles that are as popular as the cell phone in Bihar. Bihar has prospered over the years. One can see harvesters, tractors, motorcycles all around. Some including my brother-in-law owns utility vehicles too. And very soon one will see many cars also. Even today one can get a rental car very easily using your cell phone.

Rural Electrification: It appeared that Madhukarpur gets electricity from the grid a little more than what Pipra gets. But Bihar lacks badly in electricity supply. Alok could barely provide the comfort of fan with his inverter and household solar system that he has installed. In Pipra they get power very much sparingly. May be that by the next time I visit it will be better. The central government will have to help Bihar and provide electricity otherwise Bihar’s development will remain a dream only.

Education is undergoing a turbulent change. I got the chance of talking with a number of Sulekha’s girls students of class X. They go to the only private girls’ high school in the panchayat and come to Sulekha for tuition. Interestingly, almost all the students that I met were from the backward castes. I got a shock to know that forward castes of the village hardly show the required interest in education of the girls in their families. As it appeared, hardly few would continue their education after class X. For that they will have to move to the town. I suggested them to group together and go ahead. I wanted to help them but they hardly knew the help they require.

Pipra’s new Elementary School

Pipra Middle School under construction

Pipra has a government school now and so also almost majority of the villages in the panchayat or the state. It has a boundary wall. All rooms are plastered and have good doors too. A separate middle school building is under construction. I visited the school and was there for almost an hour and a half talking about many education related things with the teachers, what they can and should do. The student strength (boys and girls) is around 450. I met six teachers including three women. I did also see the textbooks prepared by the Bihar school board that are distributed free to the students. The quality of the books appeared to be excellent. However, I doubt if the teachers are good enough to use the text books effectively and to make the students learn properly. The output and its quality of the investment on the school appear to be dismal. Teachers didn’t appear to be an inspired lot. Surprisingly, the mukhia of the panchayat is the boss who appoints teachers. The education system can hardly ensure entry of good teachers and I doubt if they can teach well.

Parents and none of the even educated villagers take any interest in the functioning of the school. The road leading to the beautiful school is just very bad and filthy making it difficult for the students to reach the school. The village is pretty away. I don’t know why the rural schools everywhere in the region have been built away from the village.

May be with physical infrastructure in place the quality of teaching will improve and soon the parents will get involved in seeing their wards getting better education.

Teachers in Pipra’s school have promised a better show when I visit next time.

I wish the school could grow up to class XII.

The rural Bihar is certainly changing for better. But many bad things of urban living style and culture are getting into the villages. One of them is ‘pouch’ culture and another is the deteriorating fellowship among the villagers

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