I wanted to write about my experience soon after the Patna trip simply because I din’t want to lose the ‘high’ I felt post day one. However, to ensure that the feelings were not transitionary, I waited a few days. While my first impression was clouded by the city’s dust and loud buzz, it definitely was not the lasting one. My work gave me the opportunity to tour within and outside of Patna and also to connect with people across many spheres of daily life. Apart from the meetings, interactions included those with hotel staff, rickshaw and taxi drivers, restaurant owners, street food vendors, tourist offices, local women and shop owners. I was always left pleasantly surprised with their willingness to help and be friendly, which goes to show how prejudiced I may have been about ‘biharis’, an impression based largely on their reckless driving skills. When I mentioned this to our rickshaw driver (who become our private guide for a small hike in fare, displayed a sense of loyalty by vociferously shooing away anyone who dared jump onto the ‘reserved’ vehicle, took great pride in showing us around his city and did not dictate the final price but only happily took whatever we offered – Pavan Kumar and do give him a call if you land up in Patna (0)99052 01327), he went on to say something so simple yet profound – “Bihar mein aisa kuch nahi hai, sab jagah log ache hota hai aur bure bhi hote hai, aur bihar ke log waise hi hai” which means “People are people everywhere, good and bad exists even in Bihar but it isn’t anything out of the ordinary”. He mentioned that earlier there used to be a lot of ‘goonda gardi’, but now Nitish Kumar’s government had a strong hold on law and order. In a city which would calm down by 7 p.m., we now found ourselves, two girls, roaming freely late into the evening. So obvious was his statement that I felt ashamed of expecting otherwise. And so relieved did I feel with this realization of human behavior that I even let my guard down with Bihari bacteria. Omlette pav, paapdi chaat, aaloo tikki, moodi, litti, narayal paani, aam paapad and a king size bite of moti choor laddoo later, I was hugely satisfied.
Another thing I noticed is that common spellings vary drastically across India and it’s so interesting how you can hear local accents through the way things are spelt. ‘Fhemily resturant’, ‘paw bhaji’ or ‘whishkey’, totally cracked me up and I cannot explain how funny it was when during one of our meetings, me and Vijaybhai played ping pong with Vijay and Bhijay until he flashed me a wide grin and signaled ‘V for Victory’ in my face.
Through the course of the next few days, we saw and sensed the efforts that must have gone into developing Bihar. The organizations we met expressed hope with the current government, who also regularly organizes ‘jan sabhas’, a platform for the common people to meet with the chief minister. One of the organizations, fighting for a tough policy change has managed to make headway with the government and their fight has seen more light than in previous days.
Going forward, I will judge situations not as a result of inherent human flaws but only as outcomes of their surrounding environment and also pay more attention to developments taking place in Bihar as these will make for good learning lessons. My journey came a full circle, when I asked the rickshaw driver who was dropping me home to wait outside the polling booth, while I cast my vote for Mumbai’s municipal elections. I left my suitcase for a good ten minutes, entrusting the driver and whilst dropping me home, much to my delight, he told me that he was from Patna too. Thinking back on my trip, I could imagine the family and home that he must have given up to drive us around, the buzzing mosquitoes as we call them, in a city run by those who divide and rule on state lines and elected into power only because the majority cannot be bothered to vote.
Raji Nayak said:
A different kind of post… I like it! Never been to Patna… thanks for the info.
Harish Shah said:
A superb introduction to a place that most people have not seen but only imagined wrongly from reading biased newspaper reports… People from Bihar truly are industrious, resilient and generally peaceful. Despite living in such adverse conditions in Mumbai, they yet exhibit a sense of acceptance and go on earning livelihood for themselves and their families. As Bihar progresses, a reverse migration will occur and Mumbaikars will be the losers.
Anish Mehta said:
Very nicely written, Amira…I can imagine how you must have had a great time (roadside food, ganga ghat, etc.)…I had a very similar experience when I first (and again) went to Bihar…I too, like most mumbai-ites, carried a prejudice for Bihar, till I met a few of them in my B-school, and realized they were really smart and sharp…And then I started respecting them even more, after my visit to this place…When you talk with the people over there, you realize how much knowledge they have – about our history, mythology, geography, politics, government, math, science, etc. Whereas the knowledge that I (and probably many of us metro/tier-1 city people) have, only pertained to school & college text books, which I crammed the night before exam and got distinction..But the knowledge is now fairly wiped off my memory…For that sake, I didnt even know that Teacher was different from Professor (maybe that is because I am fairly dumb, but still…)…I always thought that in school you say Teacher, and in college you say professor…that is the superficial level of knowledge that I had, and was so proud about it till now!!! Discussions with people in Mumbai is around food, pubs, travel and movies…whereas discussions with people over there is around Gandhi, Nehru, Congress, University Grants Commission, etc… I went to my sis-in-law’s wedding, and I noticed how the local private taxi fleet owner (very rich guy, and not blood-related to our family) is also welcoming and serving the baaraat, like everyone else from our family…The whole town comes together as a family !
Nitish is doing a great job, and I notice that distinctly every time I visit this place…Next time, you should visit Nalanda and Bodh Gaya. It is beautiful…My analysis of Biharis is that they are all inherently very smart people…but for most of them, what comes between them and ultimate success, is their ego (or so-called ultra high self-respect)…This can be a whole separate discussion point though…
Once again, nice blog ! Your blog also reminded me of your description of the ‘Colours of Punjab’ trip!
Amira said:
Thanks Anish for your thoughts!
Lusy is super happy with your love for Patna and yes, it feels good to finally go around and discover your people right! Hopefully I can do lots more of travel in the coming years within India. And oh yea, colours of Punjab…Hahaha awsome you remember that, I had forgotten about those pics. I’ll try and find them. See u soon and I look forward to talking and learning more about your experiences too. Take care.
Anish Mehta said:
Might be wrong, but it is my analysis that this ‘ego’ plays a big role in them making it big as government officers (IAS, IPS, Foreign Services, etc.), as against businessmen…
Lusy said:
Amira, absolutely brilliant piece of writing……..I got emotional while reading your blog. Hope everyone will think like you about Biharis
Wilson D'souza said:
humka aapka blogwa bahuut aacha laga……..I too hold a great desire to go to Patna and experience the joy myself.,,,,,,Nice to hear about Niteshkumar and his team,,,,,hope our state govt gets some motivation and cue from it….Now time for some whishkeey and paw bhaji in a non-Fhemily resturant. byee,,,
Bina said:
very interesting description of your experiences…we should be proud of people of Bihar that despite deep poverty they put in hard work with sincerity and honesty.
…it is true when they say ” you see what you look for..”
Its the goodness in your heart , that makes you see good values and find good beings everywhere….