There are
spools of mini stories in my head. I see girls frolicking about with complete
abandonment. The fields beside them are lush and green speckled in yellow – the
mustard effect spreading across acres. There is an easy gait and pace of life
amongst the locals here that makes me envious. It’s just them gliding along on
their cycles.
I see men
seated on mats playing a round of cards as a cow nudges a passer-by for food
when not poking its heads into unattended homes.
There’s a boy
ankle deep in water in the rice fields luring a goat towards him in a dog-like
manner -- with a stick.
|
The easy gait |
A huge tree
catches my attention which on closer inspection I realise is in fact two trees
– their roots are conjoined at the bottom. But the ticket-collector in the
train interrupts my flow of thoughts.
I see empty
tracks running parallel alongside my train. My brain seems to be conjuring
captions. And yet again I miss out on clicking yet another photograph. This
seems to be my constant affliction – to click or to soak in the moment. This is
what has led to the spools of stories. But I digress.
|
Absorbed by the world outside |
Inside the
train I watch the dexterity with which the vendors prepare and sell their
edible wares; every single time. They have perfected the composition. It’s
almost music-like. I, for one, have sampled everything so far. The setting sun
demands my attention back to the world outside the train. I can see the setting
sun’s reflection in a water body through the window opposite from me. It’s a
pulsating orange.
|
Nevermind the Gujarati newspaper in Bihar |
|
A different kind of lemon tea |
With the lights
dimming down on the outside my focus returns to things that get seemingly
missed by the naked eye (let alone by the camera).
The cow
nuzzling its calf…
The changing
hues of the grass in all shades of green…
The little kid
trailing behind struggling to keep pace with the rest of his family…
The tree beyond
the haze that looks like it’s waltzing by itself…
The gaggle of
swans cackling together…
I slowly switch
to eavesdropping on co-travellers in the train. Politics seems to be on
everyone’s mind. The same is true about family. I eavesdrop on a dad making
plea requests with someone on the phone on behalf of his kid who is studying
away from home.
What’s evident is that when all of the above
transpired, I was traveling by train.
What isn’t evident is where this entire sequence of
events transpired. After all, the picture I’ve recreated through words is very
commonplace.
So what’s in a name, right?
Wrong.
Because the moment I tell you that everything I
described is from my time solo traveling through Bihar, you’ll shoot the most
quizzical look you can at me as if to suggest that such things cannot occur
there.
Why? Because it’s Bihar.
Good news: You aren’t the only one.
More good news: I’ll help change that notion for you.
|
Pongal in Patna - who'd have thought?!? #IncredibleIndia |
A
little rewind:
“You’ll be going to Bihar” they said and in that
same instant my brain oscillated between ‘Challenge accepted!’ and ‘OMG! Death
knell!’
Back
home, family and friends who knew what my geographic coordinates would be
reassured me constantly with a ‘Be safe’, ‘Stay alert’, and ‘Take care’. Few
others supplemented that with a ‘You’ll be alright’. To me all the messaging
seemed to suggest one thing: As if moving to Delhi (from Mumbai) wasn’t (bad) enough,
you’re now going to Bihar. And that too for a month!
Thankfully
no one said that out aloud.
Contrary
to what seemed like a deportation of sorts, the purpose of my stint in a state
that is on nobody’s travel priority list was my Fellowship through which I’d
take technology to the grassroots in India to bridge the data divide. That’s
why I’d moved to Delhi. And that’s how Bihar happened.
|
Just another day on the streets of Bihar |
|
That I cannot recall a single instance of cat calling should say enough about Bihar. |
So
what’s it been like in Bihar?
Numero
Uno on the list of things to be figured out whilst moving to Bihar was
accommodation. It was now more or less apparent that I’d need something of a
base in Patna. I dig homestays but there wasn’t one I could find here.
Through
Divine Intervention (no pun intended), I found an abode with some nuns. For a
brief moment my life felt straight out of the scene from Jab We Met where
Kareena’s character lives with some nuns in Manali; except I wasn’t going
through heartbreak. Sure I’d left behind a place I called home and everything
else I was familiar with when I moved to Delhi so in the process I may have
ruptured a few ventricles in either heart valve! But I digress…
So
while the nuns ensured I had hot piping meals, all the blankets I’d need to
stay warm through the wintery nights and figured my way commuting through
Patna, in return I could merely help with fixing loose computer cords (reasons
why the keyboard wouldn’t type), fixing fonts (why Hindi would read as
gibberish) and figuring out why the radio app wouldn’t play on the smartphone!
|
My humble abode in Patna |
It
could be Bihar’s geographic location in what’s come to be known as the ‘notorious
north’ that puts it in this awkward bind and perhaps the demeanour of its
people that one is intimidated by everything about it.
But back
on the streets of Patna, where I found myself 80% of the time navigating my way
from one NGO to the next, people were not just approachable but extremely
helpful. I could walk up to anyone – be it a passer-by, the fellow at the pan
shop or the auto-rickshaw driver. It was seldom, if ever, a matter of ‘let me
see who looks safe to walk up to’.
So
what happened when I walked up to a local to seek directions?
a.
They’d direct me on exactly how I needed to get there, or
b.
They’d smile sheepishly (mostly men) or apologize (mostly
women) if they are unable to help out.
|
Everyone everywhere in all of Bihar was just as approachable |
I
would end up being on the go throughout the entire day. So I’d figure my meals
on the go too; especially lunch. While on most days eating at a road-side food
stall would suffice there were days when my hunger pangs demanded a more
fulsome meal.
That’s
how I entered a dabba one afternoon found myself a seat at a table already
occupied by two men and placed my order. A couple of seconds later my brain
registered something: I was the only female at the dabba! I voraciously wolfed
down my meal – aloo gobi with butter roti – chomped on a few radish slices and
then I was off again.
|
The infamous litthi-chokha |
|
And droolicious sweets from Dakbangla Road in Patna |
So there,
for all the eyes that were rolled and gasps that were let out (mine included)
Bihar belied them all. And if there’s anything besides my experience that’s
been stuck in my head, it’s a Twain quote:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice,
bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these
accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be
acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
|
In my quest to #ExperienceHumanity, here's the everywhere I've been in Bihar |
|
Making the most of public transport within and around Patna |
|
My auto-rickshaw came with woofers. Does yours? |
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P.S.: SocialCops (www.socialcops.org) is accepting applications for the next cohorts of its Himsagar Fellowship starting May and July. If traveling far and wide to meet local organizations in remote parts of the country and creating a voice for communities that have never been heard before sounds like something you’d be interested in – application details are here. (http://fellowship.socialcops.org)