/tpp_feb_26-07_2011 by The Patna Post

Vol. 1 Issue 2 Feb 26-07 March, 2011

Nitish Kumar’s journey through Bihar

Bihar’s Bachchan taking on 16 Maoist in Kaimur

The Patna Post M ag a z i n e o n N e t

Sexually a Bihari

how phar is too phar

F ro m th e E d ito r’ s D esk

26-07 march 2011

he Patna Post is now ten days and one issue old in the webworld of net journalism and believe us, it’s been received beyond our expectations across the globe. People from America to England to Canada to Panama and back to Patna over eight countries and three continents not only logged on, observed and read but commented upon the magazine’s concept, contour and context. Let us make candid admission here its all been very very appreciative and encouraging. Thank you our valued readers.

Let us also admit that we’re quite apprehensive about the responses of the magazine exclusively on net every 10-day and that too with not the regular text and taste. We launched it for the intelligent people who read quality write-ups and spare time to make critical assessment of it; who enjoy reciting poetry while reading it and get delight in seeing photographic visuals non-pareil and, for those who love to be quizzed on the place, Bihar. In simple words we wanted to make thepatnapost a publication ne plus ultra. Excitement and trepidation; sweats and frets crowded on our spectacled faces on the morning of February 15, but lo, relief came just within an hour of its wire. Over hundred hits in less than an hour without any publicity or PR—we’re relieved and reassured over our concept, idea and idiosyncrasies. Let us admit--for third time--- it germinated on two cheap rexin chairs before a modest TFT computer screen, two broken paperweights and a plastic water bottle at a place hardly ﬁt for more than three persons. But, we had faith on our ability, expertise, experience, and throbbing urge to go beyond normal and above all, on our some very excellent writer friends. All paid oﬀ in their own way. We’re grateful to our writer friends and dears ones for making thepatnapost a reality, for realizing a dream concept into a virtual realism. Sanjay is an excellent writer and so Dr Manish Kumar is a world class quizzer; Dr Binda Singh is a kind soul. Without their support it certainly would not have happened in this way. From this week many more would also come forward to make the list bulge a little adding more content and concept to the magazine. Read them to realize them and of course, to relish them later. Dear readers, please donot forget to post your comments as it prompt our creative stimulation in priapismic state. editor@thepatnapost.com

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Contents

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5 Cover Story Sexually A Bihari ! Analysis

Books

Nitish Kumarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey through Bihar 24

Psychoquest

Soul Speak

Quizicall

Poetry

Fashion/Lifestyle

16 Photo Story

tendaysyoutrundledpast

Longing & Belonging Memory lane

32 Chalchitra

Foodie

Open Space

31 36

Opinion Poll result on

Are changes in Bihar visible in the new regime ?

ed ito r@th ep atn ap o st.c o m Cover Sketchfor representation purpose only

ad s@th ep atn ap o st.c o m

yo u rvo ic e@th ep atn ap o st.c o m

Concept, design & layout by Creative Brains,/Sui Generis Media Pvt. ltd. Vol. 1, Issue 2, Feb 26-07 March ,2011 .

** views expressed by the writers in www.thepatnapost.com are their own.

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S p eed P o st

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Letter of the Issue

Congrats for the patna post.

'Congratulation for such a great idea from the soil of bihar.The cover page is so attractive and relevant.the humour page by mr sanjay kumar is so much satirical and humourous as well.such a great idea was expected from the soil of lord budha and mahavir only .this replicate the glory of great Nalanda university. Iwish all the best wishes for the success of this magazine.thanx'

Pushpendra Albe

“A creative and new initiative from thepatnapost in the age of IT. I think TPP is the pioneer in this unexplored webmag field with such a user friendly design. One suggestion pls add some more pages with your intellect.” Seema

Facebook post ‘Web mag of its own kind hi very nice magzine.’ Rajeev Tyagi

Kameshwar Thakur

Congrats on the The Patna Post launch. A visually appealing site. Very interesting to see the water bubbles and the fish there but wondering if that gold fish adds any functional aspect to the magreading experience too. It's a good start!! Best wishes,

“Somber brillance.......profoundly amazing” Sandarv Singh

“This is a good initiative by you. And brand Apna Bihar should go all through India and a Bihari should not face any problem around. Tnx for your steps....”

Manjari Kishore

Anshuman Akash, Photographer

Thanks a lot boss, if u need any photographs form Srinagar please inform me , cheers.

“Congrats for attempting a new package online. Do brief about the rationale behind this initiative and its scope for inclusion for write-ups and inputs. Cheers!”

Danish Ismail

A new web mag.God one............ Abhishek Shukla

Sanjiv Kumar

Web site and its contents are both very very good ...all the best..

Afzal

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C o ver S to ry

26-07 march 2011

Sexually A Bihari ! Sanjay Kumar

A by

terone charged muscular Bhojpuri diaspora settled at Picturesque islands of Trinidad, Tobago, Mauritius, Guyana etc. and he had close shaves of all varieties â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from providential to hair breadthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and narrow to miraculous. Some even say that the Bhojpuri diaspora for its lust and longing hastened his retirement from the international

land criminally high on libido and notoriously short on performance where sexual contentment is a fantasy, climax a chimera, metrosexuality confused with homosexuality, sex construed in terms of penetrating hard act only and farting intervening the sexual act almost ritually, is undergoing titillating changes of real erotic magnitude. Have a look in history and geography of sex in Bihar before comprehending contemporary changes. The sexual map of Bihar may broadly be studied with reference to three sociolinguistic categories â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi with their differentia specifica. The Bhojpuri homeland has been more than partial to homosexuality and has been practicing or propagating its virtues for centuries with gay abandon. Legends go that one reason the suave, clean-shaven, handsome, smooth and remotely effeminate Imran Khan never visited Bihar was that he had run into sex-starved, testos-

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26-07 march 2011

cricket. Since then the Pakistani cricketers began growing beard to put their potential tormentors away. In all fairness the attempt to connect beard and growing Talibani influence in Pakistan appears phoney and misplaced.

empire, the sexual orientation and propensities of Magadh have been historically quite inclusive including asceticism, middle path and sexual exhibitionism. A land devoid of the Aryan baggage and an imperial enterprise in quest of gratification of all sorts – its sexual disposition is inevitably chequered and eclectic straddling myriad sexual possibilities. The imperial connection also explains rampant sexual violence. There is a view that subalterns take to naxalism more for romantic and carnal reasons than revolutionary reasons. Power flows from the barrel of the gun, Mao exhorted so famously but here in Magadh they practice it more physically than militarily.

Back home every Bhojpuri male worth his handlebar moustache and every don worth the size of his gun, katta and Kalashnikov and worth any fire-power prefers pet soul mates at his libidinous disposal. The speedy trial threatens to end this cosy arrangement of local dons but they take heart from the fact that the prisons are not devoid of possibilities. Male inhabitants of Mithila – obedient, henpecked, uxorial - lift sex from horizontal plane and take it to cerebral level. Mithila is soft, sweet, loquacious and sex comes soaked in beetle juice. Seemingly, they prefer to play long innings: long foreplay followed by fleeting play and then prolonged afterplay – sex takes an ethereal, transcendental quality that is intoxicating on senses but light on body, where discourse on sex is more important than recourse to intercourse itself, more a religiously prescribed duty than a carnal enterprise.

However, history apart, in the Friedman’s flat world of which India is a flattening part and Bihar is a flattened part, sexual diversities of the past are conspicuously turning uniform and predictable. It is demonstratively down to the rose-hug-promise-kiss and whichever day leading to the valentine day. Bihar has joined the bandwagon late and understandably thus, with a vengeance and vim. Moms and Pops (themselves par for the course and intercourse) do not mind their macho sons and modern daughters going for some tango (whatever that may mean!) after attending their coaching classes.

Caught between the dichotomous influences of Buddha and Bimbisara, Mahavira and the Magadhan

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Now try to comprehend the changes:

ice-cream day, fast food day, slow food day etc. to stand a chance. The way to heaven is full of trials and trails.

That the change is almost metamorphic from my generation that went to the college in 80s. Straight from our mothers’ embrace and mohalla-municipality schools and unleashed upon a sprawling campus that supported compartmentalized sexual existence, we masturbated [hand-practice, said the college mates] in agony and ecstasy with guilt and gusto while bumbling through the college life

That the hyper aggressive girls moving around in groups- boys avoid them lest they should get mauled and molested by the marauding gang of girls. Poetic justice!, they said. That the guilt syndrome historically associated with Bihar and masturbation is gone.

That consumerism has ensured that a girlfriend is not likely to be fooled around with a treat of tangy chat at Shubhraj but they want to go vertical – the revolving restaurant before horizontal possibilities. That the chocolate is just the gambit not the game changer.

That AIDS and adultery-although being almost homophones-have nothing to do with each other. That, the more things change the more they remain the same. The difference between being a sexual Bihari and others continues to be that we always keep sex in mind and work at piss, others often keep work in mind and sex in bed; for a Bihari sex is subjugation, for others its divine pleasure; for a Bihari sex after sometime becomes a novelty but for others it keep going pink; sex becomes brutally plagiarized in Bihar but for others its unending rainbow experiment! Is this time to change the tag, the very work ethic in Bihar?. Keep reading this page.

That the refusing – to – handover – the – baton moms and butterfly daughters vie with one another for attention and gratification. Taboos--whats that ?. That the bearded Marxist jholawalas (Do they still exist?) stand no chance in the age of swanky and cool. Jholawalas – makeover or moveover!. That an aspiring, wannabe boyfriend remembers stuff like Rose day, pet day, chocolate day,

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sanjaykumarpuraini@rediffmail.com

An alysis

26-07 march 2011

Nitish Kumar’s journey through Bihar

by Abhay Mohan Jha

ihar’s chief minister was

my mind wandered back to Nitish’s first such journey. In 2005 he undertook the Nyaya Yatra, justice tour, starting from the then-dreaded environs of Bagaha in West Champaran district, the nerve centre of the kidnapping-for-ransom industry. His plan then was to seek a mandate from the people to rid Bihar of the ‘jungle raj’ – the epithet given to the long years of the regime of Lalu Prasad and his wife, Rabri Devi. The Nyaya Yatra took him to all corners of the state over backbreaking potholes for what passed off as roads under a regime whose helicopter-hopping leader, Lalu, had famously not felt he needed. ‘The rich drive in motor cars,’ Lalu had said, ‘not the garib-gurba [poor].’ His political rhetoric had made him a messiah of the downtrodden, even as the helicopter rotors whined in the background. But for how long he could maintain the façade of messiah remained to

able to convince voters that he was changing the state for the better – and they rewarded him overwhelmingly.Embarking on his Vishwaas Yatra, trust tour, from idyllic Valmikinagar on the Nepal border early last summer, Nitish Kumar took to the jungles of the Valmiki Tiger Reserve. The terrain was also feared to be Maoist turf. The Bihar chief minister was undertaking a journey of confidence. Carefully moulded tiger ‘pugmarks’ had been placed along his jungle path by forest officials who also placed a camera trap on the trunk of a teak tree. After taking a look at the ‘pugmarks’, Nitish walked past the camera – a perfect photo opportunity. Indeed the symbolism of this scene resounded for this writer through the silence of the forest, despite the make-believe pugmarks: Nitish represents a nearly extinct breed in the jungle of Indian politics. Today, finding an honest, sincere neta, with the added gusto of political will, is as elusive as the sighting of the shy, increasingly rare tiger. Tracking his fourth consecutive yatra from the Champaran region,

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26-07 march 2011

be seen. Lalu did give a voice to the backward classes. But he was not the lone face of Mandal politics in Bihar. His arrogance and whimsical

did not work this time round or in the previous Bihar assembly election in 2005. Stints in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in New Delhi had given Nitish the opportunity to showcase his prowess at governance at the centre, and his politics of managing political contradictions – both of which were to later pay rich dividends in Bihar.

Pushed to the wall of poverty, Biharis, cutting across caste, creed and class took the only way out: they migrated. Yes, the migrants faced ridicule, but faced with the black hole back home, they persevered. Soon, Bihari grit and enterprise became bywords for success stories outside Bihar. ‘You can take the boy out of Bihar, but you cannot take Bihar out of the boy,’ author Amitava Kumar once wrote to me on the subject of Bihar’s shining diaspora. But he, as well as other expatriates, such as Sanjay Pradhan, the vice-president of the World Bank Institute, amidst countless others, also shared the common angst of their home state withering away to political bankruptcy and corruption – all gloating over the edifice of caste. Migrants who worked as auto-rickshaw drivers, car-park attendants, vegetable vendors and in various other sundry jobs in the metros, the farms of Punjab and industrial townships like Ludhiana or Farid-

Photo:biharphoto. com

‘durbar politics’ saw Nitish Kumar, his former close associate, leave his side in 1994. That did not bother Lalu, who saw himself as the sole face of the politics of the downtrodden, and the political firmament that he wove increasingly became a web of corruption, crime and rampant lawlessness. And when he could not ride to electoral majority on his own, he found a passive ally in the name of secularism: the Congress party. Raising the issue of secularism, which had helped him secure the Muslim vote in the past, Lalu repeatedly lampooned Nitish as a lackey of the ‘communal’ BJP. But this strategy

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abad, too rued the reason for their exodus: high crime and lack of opportunities. This all-pervasive feeling of despondency is what gave Lalu’s adversaries an opportunity to unseat him. New vote-banks The changing of the guard, when it finally happened in November 2005, had an immediate impact. Just a week after the toppling of the Lalu-Rabri regime, I took a drive through the night from the ‘kidnap country’ around Bettiah to Patna. The glittering line of lamps on the national highway made us stop in wonder: Wasn’t this the place where no one dared to move after sundown? A new eatery was

serving hot meals at midnight. ‘Bas road ban jaye aur crime control ho jaye , tourist log aane lagenge’ (Tourists will troop in once roads are built and crime is controlled), the highway food-court manager prayed, hoping for a revival in pilgrimages to Buddhist sites in the region. Prayers like this were on every lip, and Nitish had his task cut out for him. If Lalu had the vote-bank of his own Yadav caste, strengthened with Muslim support, Nitish was seen to have won on the back of the support of disgruntled upper castes, coupled with the support of his own Kurmi caste and the aligned Koeris, two powerful inter-

Pho to :bihar pho to.co m

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mediate castes that felt left out when the Yadavs emerged as the main backward-caste power bloc in the new politics under Lalu. But could Nitish hold on to this uppercaste support while looking down the caste ladder? Another more difficult, or at least more immediate, challenge was reining in the muscle – the so-called bahubalis (political musclemen), many of whom had by 2005 jumped on to Nitish’s bandwagon.

sive about how safe Bihar was for their money. Indeed, Bihar still awaits significant investment today – though Nitish’s resounding victory in November will undoubtedly do much to assuage remaining doubt. Certainly that is his foremost challenge in this, his second innings at the helm. During his first five years in power, among the slew of commissions that Nitish formed was one that looked at land reform. Submitted in 2008, but not made public or acted upon, the report triggered rumours that a new bataidari (share-cropping) law would be brought in. The report held out the possibilities of turmoil as landowners, large and mediumsized, feared for their holdings. Indeed, this threatened to undo the chief minister’s carefully crafted plans to bringing the state back on the rails. In the event, Nitish refrained from bringing in any new legislation; instead, he stressed investment in education, health and industry in the making of a Naya Bihar.Undoubtedly, Nitish did take something of statesman’s view on the economy, looking to create avenues for the creation of wealth, with an eye to making both Bihar and its divided populace a united beneficiary of growth and development. At the same time, though, he also skilfully factored in the politics of caste, which he further

Law and order thus became Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s first priority. The state’s police, which until recently had been seen as a handmaiden of the criminal-politician nexus, were soon motivated to swing into action by Nitish’s backing. Criminals were not only caught, but they faced the music of the law with speedy trials. Many of the Bahubalis were convicted, some from within Nitish’s own NDA ranks. Infrastructure development also became a state priority, and became a boom sector. The state’s almost non-existent roads began springing to life, while new bridges brought people and places closer together. Where earlier there had been no roads, now people were complaining of traffic jams and lack of parking spaces. Industrialists Anand Mahindra and Mukesh Ambani came calling, but they were among a string of investors who were still apprehen-

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fine-tuned by creating a gender vote-bank. By providing 50 percent reservation to women in local bodies (village panchayats and urban municipal bodies), Nitish dealt a masterstroke in the maledominated polity of Bihar. True, in certain cases husbands came to use their wives as ‘remote controls’ in heading these bodies; but slowly and steadily, women are carving out clear niches for themselves in the halls of power in Bihar.

coalition at the centre. In the runup to the Bihar polls of 2005, the NDA chose Nitish as its chief ministerial candidate, a choice meant to provide a socialist, secular face to the alliance. This served the NDA well, and in the 2010 polls Muslims too voted for the NDA. This visible shift in the minority vote is largely seen as a fruit of Nitish’s acceptable image, an image that the NDA enjoyed at the centre under Atal Behari Vajpayee’s stewardship.

In addition, by starting up a programme of giving bicycles to schoolgoing girls (along with a slew of other gender-related benefits), Nitish has become a darling of this massive constituency – clearly a major factor propelling him back to the seat of power. Nitish brought in new schemes for the state’s minorities, too, in particular targeting the Pasmanda Muslims, who are considered Dalits. He further allayed the apprehensions of the religious minorities regarding his co-habitation with the BJP by publicly denouncing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Interestingly, the BJP remains happy playing second fiddle. Bereft of a popularly acceptable face after the exit of Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP found a mascot in Nitish Kumar, who had already been part of the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) ruling

With each of these moves, Nitish set up a situation in which only he could win. Lalu and his close ally, Ram Vilas Paswan, seemed to lose the plot of Bihari politics by sticking to age-old caste-alliance politics. Even the Congress, which finally woke up to the changes afoot and decided to go it alone in the state, failed to get its act together – cobbling together a team of candidates imported from other parties, most of them discredited in the public eye, and many of whom came from Lalu’s old stable. In a state in which a new generation of voters has come of age without seeing the Congress organisation on the ground, India’s grand old party came across as Lalu’s B-team.

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Thanks and complaints Midway through his first term, Nitish began his second journey

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from Champaran. On the first night of this, his Vikas Yatra, the chief minister camped in a tent in a remote village called Patilar, by the Gandak River. The irony was not lost on the locals, who had been at the mercy of gangs engaged in kidnapping and extortion at will. In Patilar, Nitish laid the foundation stone for a bridge across the Gandak, and held a meeting with the villagers. Thousands stayed up late into the night as Nitish took to the stage, asking the citizens to speak their minds. The response came in torrents of thanksgiving as well as complaints of corruption and bureaucratic anarchy.

particular stand out: the Darbhanga floods of 2007 and the Kosi deluge of 2008. When the Mithilanchal area of Bihar went underwater, Nitish was in Mauritius. For the first few days, the local administration was at a loss, clearly underprepared and with few resources at hand. Once he returned, the chief minister immediately prioritised disaster mitigation, and foodgrains were doled out by the quintal (earning him the sobriquet of Quintal Mukhya Mantri). A similar instance of Nitish’s balm was on display in the following year in the Kosi floodplain: local-level unpreparedness (leading to even a food riot in Madhepura), followed by the chief minster showing an ability to sooth the people’s pain and misery. Mega-relief camps were set up, relief efforts stepped up, cash doles handed out and rations supplied yet again by the quintal to see the flood victims through the crisis. Rehabilitation measures were also taken up on a war footing.

Such misgivings poured in everywhere during chief minister’s journey; the situation in village panchayats was a recurrent story of looting and ‘commission raj’ tactics. However, many places that had experienced no delivery of services earlier now reported something as happening. Publicdistribution beneficiaries from ‘below poverty line’ families had much to thank the government for, despite the continued shortcomings and pilferage. Nitish’s ability to mesmerise a crowd was evident everywhere he went during the Vikas Yatra. Even where the bureaucracy floundered, Nitish’s leadership was seen as effective. Two catastrophes in

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Not surprisingly, the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 were billed by some observers as the ‘semifinals’ in the Bihar power-play. And though the Congress was returned to power in Delhi, Bihar decided to put its trust in the NDA. Immediately thereafter, Nitish launched into his third journey, the Dhanyavaad Yatra, thank you jour-

26-07 march 2011

ney. On this, the chief minister was able to show that his connection with the masses remained alive, as reconfirmed and strengthened during the Vishwaas Yatra a year later. As the polls neared in 2010, meanwhile, Lalu and Paswan struck up a pre-poll alliance, banking on the coalition of Lalu’s OBC caste-combine base and Paswan’s Dalit base. Observers felt that Lalu had done his homework well, choosing candidates based on smart caste configurations in each constituency. The Congress drew crowds of potential candidates once it decided to contest all 243 seats. And given the rising ambitions of the newly empowered Panchayati Raj representatives – many allegedly fattened by the flow of development funds – the contest in each constituency became increasingly multi-dimensional. The vote-katuas (a term first used by Lalu for the large number of independents and from the Congress during the assembly polls in 1995, connoting that such candidates only had had the capacity to eat into others’ votes, not win elections) threatened to upset electoral calculations. Adding to the poll drama was the wave of local anger that many of the ruling combine’s incumbent candidates faced across Bihar. Sensing this anti-incumbency sentiment against many of his sitting

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Pho to :b

MLAs, Nitish asked for people to vote for him as remuneration for his good governance in his first term. The polls in fact turned out to be a plebiscite on Nitish’s first term. Nitish went back to the approach that had served him so well in the past, launching another cross-state trip, the Janadesh Yatra, people’s mandate tour, this time starting from the eastern Kosi belt. Again he camped overnight in the hinterland, assuring voters that Bihar’s rejuvenation had just begun and urging them to give him another term to see it through. The rest of the candidates, meanwhile, were quickly losing any potential lustre. The Congress, after goofing up on the selection of candidates by nominating them at the

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last minute, further lost popularity by relying solely on the charisma of faraway Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Likewise, Brand Lalu could not be rebuilt, as the NDA whipped up its campaign, reminding people of the ‘jungle-raj’ that they had uprooted in 2005 and the need to carry on the work of Bihar’s rejuvenation. When the rout finally came, the NDA – the Janata Dal (United) combined with the b iharpho to .co m BJP – bagged 206 out of 243 seats. This was overwhelming even by Nitish’s own earlier estimates. The results show that this was one man’s plebiscite – a mandate that Nitish quickly called a victory for Bihar and development.

ways attended elections in Bihar. Yet, this mandate also heaps mountains of expectations on Nitish’s shoulders, particularly with regard to wiping out corruption in the bureaucracy and the higher levels of government. Immediately upon being voted back to power, Nitish has begun well on these two fronts by deciding to do away with MLA funds, and confiscating the properties of babus convicted of graft.

The programme begins It would still be early to write the obituary for caste in Bihar’s politics. But Nitish Kumar has succeeded in raising the bar beyond sectarian confines, by talking of sub-nationalistic ‘Bihari pride’, of development and inclusive politics. The state has reposed trust in his mantra of ‘development with justice’, choosing to look optimistically at Nitish’s performance during his first and, now, second term. By turning out in unprecedented numbers, voters shooed away the demons of violence, which have al-

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Nitish’s mandate is massive and, of course, the greater the mandate the heavier the expectation. Nitish has begun well by getting down to work immediately upon re-taking charge after the election, unveiling a roadmap – the Programme for Good Governance – for the next five years. This promises advance in the quality of administration, education, health care, agriculture, power and food security. Back from the days of the jungle raj, there is today a sense of assurance: that order has returned to the jungle. Nitish will, of course, have to ensure that this does not lead to officials running amok with their newfound freedom, an allegation that is increasingly being voiced in recent times. --Abhay Mohan Jha is a Champaran-based senior freelance journalist. He is also a farmer and lawyer of repute.

courtsey:Himal times

abhaymohanjha@gmail.com

P h o to S to ry

26-07 march 2011

This Bachchan of Bihar is not only fighting but giving sle Text & Photo :biharphoto.com

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Kaim

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eepless nights to Maoists in the forests and on the hills of

mur

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;I'll keep fighting them [the Maoists] till my last breath â&#x20AC;? Ram Bachhan Yadav

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26-07 march 2011

n the Maoist-controlled hills of the Kaimur-Rohtas plateau in the south-west part of the state Ram Bachchan Yadav alias Pehalwanji - is a name which spells terror among . the guerrillas Sexagenarian Mr Yadav lives and moves around in the hilly forest tracts where even the most elite forces of Indian police dare not to visit.

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B o o ks

26-07 march 2011

All time great novels thepatnapost recommends that everyone should read

1. Ulysses by James Joyce Modernist masterpiece reworking of Homer with humour. Contains one of the longest “sentences” in English literature: 4,391 words.

7. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Debt and deception in Dickens’s semi-autobiographical Bildungsroman crammed with cads, creeps and capital fellows.

2. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad “The conquest of the earth,” said Conrad, “is not a pretty thing.”

8. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh Waugh based the hapless junior reporter in this journalistic farce on former Telegraph editor Bill Deedes.

3. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust Seven-volume meditation on memory, featuring literature’s most celebrated lemony cake.

9. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Buying the lies of romance novels leads a provincial doctor’s wife to an agonising end.

4. Disgrace by JM Coetzee An English professor in postapartheid South Africa loses everything after seducing a student.

10. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Tolstoy’s doomed adulteress grew from a daydream of “a bare exquisite aristocratic elbow”.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Every proud posh boy deserves a prejudiced girl. And a stately pile.

11. Atonement by Ian McEwan Puts the “c” word in the classic English country house novel.

6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Out on the winding, windy moors Cathy and Heathcliff become each other’s “souls”. Then he storms off.

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12.The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald A mysterious millionaire’s love for a woman with “a voice full of money” gets him in trouble.

26-07 march 2011

13. The Rabbit books by John Updike A former high school basketball star is unsatisfied by marriage, fatherhood and sales jobs.

20. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Boy meets pawnbroker. Boy kills pawnbroker with an axe. Guilt, breakdown, Siberia, redemption.

14. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre A historian becomes increasingly sickened by his existence, but decides to muddle on.

21. A Bend in the River by V S Naipaul East African Indian Salim travels to the heart of Africa and finds “The world is what it is.”

15. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera A doctor’s infidelities distress his wife. But if life means nothing, it can’t matter.

22. The Trial by Franz Kafka K proclaims he’s innocent when unexpectedly arrested. But “innocent of what”?

16. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Scholar’s sexual obsession with a prepubescent “nymphet” is complicated by her mother’s passion for him.

23. The Stranger by Albert Camus Frenchman kills an Arab friend in Algiers and accepts “the gentle indifference of the world”

17. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Myth and reality melt magically together in this Colombian family saga.

24. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie The children of poor Hindus and wealthy Muslims are switched at birth.

18. London Fields by Martin Amis A failed novelist steals a woman’s trashed diaries which reveal she’s plotting her own murder.

25. Waiting for the Mahatma by RK Narayan Gentle comedy in which a Gandhiinspired Indian youth becomes an anti-British extremist You can also send in your contribution of anything related with good literature & Books for this page. The Patna Post will judge them on their merit and publish. Book Editor

19. Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Romantic young doctor’s idealism is trampled by the atrocities of the Russian Revolution.

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editor@thepatnapost.com

T est yo u r Q u est

26-07 march 2011

Quizzically on by

Bihar

Quiz-02

Dr Manish Kumar

In which year Bihar Education Project was started?

Which famous Bihari produced the film “Teesari Kasam”?

Which famous Bollywood director from Bihar who produced and di rected the film “Jab We Met”?

Which famous Bihari and a member of Indian Audit & Accounts Services is a noted Kathak dancer?

In which year the publication of now the defunct newspaper “The Searchlight” started in Bihar?

From which name Baidyanath Jha ‘Yatrik’ is better known in the Hindi literary world?

Name the revolutionary from Bihar who participated in the first meeting of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army in September, 1928?

Which archaeologist brought to light Kesaria Stupa, Ashokan Pillar at Lauria Areraj and Basarah?

10 Which river of Bihar is also known as “Sadanira”?

Answer : Quiz 01 1

Bihar Herald—1875, Editor was

Maulana Mazharul Haq

Guru Prasad Sen

Farrukh Shiyar

2. Mahesh Narayan

late Pyare Mohan Sahay

3. Bihar Bandhu—1873

Daman-i-koh

4. The Hindustan Review

10. They all attended St. Michael’s High School, Patna

5. Bihar Landholders Organization

manish_kumar110@yahoo.com

The Patna Post

P o etry

26-07 march 2011

Perfection is Fantasy

Sanjay Kumar

Little slip, small lapse, let up before the last hurrah, two and half cheers. Little malice, innocuous gossip, amusing grapevine, self- deprecatory humor; vagrant clouds playing hide and seek with the fierce sun, old nanny belittling the beauteous moon, valiant soldiers crawling to redemption, racing athletes limping to the finish line; not always the trail blaze of glory, nor for everything the final solution. Perfection is fantasytoo inaccessible, too dangerous, too subjective, too pyrrhic. Human march is not about perfection but evolution, not cut and dried answers but improvisation and innovation, not regimented purity but exciting hybridity. Auschwitz, Gulag, Tiannaman, Tora Bora, Long March, Final SolutionPerfect attempts at perfection but perfect imperfections

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Patna Post

Y o ur ow n A g o ny A unt

26-07 march 2011

Q: I am preparing for my board exams and I’m very nervous. I feel as if I have forgotten everything. Also lot of revision work needs to be Dr.Binda Singh, done. I am finding it Clinical Psychologist hard to cope. Please suggest what should I do?

A. Try to focus on short time goals. Organize your day in such a manner that you give ample time to at least two subjects in a day. Don’t try to do miscellaneous task at one time rather devote quality time to each subject. Do take a break for 5-10 minutes in between an hour or two and drink ample water. Try memorizing at night and recall what you have studied at the end of the day. Always practice in writing. Avoid stress but little bit of nervousness helps you to keep focused. So work hard and be positive. Q: My son is studying in Std. VIII. His exams are near but he can’t stop watching cricket. I have to constantly nag him for not doing so.

own decisions and build up his “responsibility muscles” and let the child face consequences. Learn to respect his decision. It requires lot of patience from your side but give it a shot for the results to happen. Q:My son is 12 year old and has bedwetting problem. We coax him to urinate before going to bed but still he continues doing so. I hate to nag him but feel helpless.

A: It is often seen that children who constantly feel insecure due to family atmosphere, tend to do so. Also parents in early age do not help the child develop proper toilet habit out of sheer laziness. Some children cannot control but urinate at night. Try to create a cozy atmosphere at home and do not nag the child.Make him/her understand the problem with patience and avoid aggressive behaviour. If possible, awake your child around midnight to urinate. It will take some time but slowly he will learn to control.

A:Nagging your child will not help. Even if he obeys you today he might not do the same tomorrow. So instead of taking complete charge of his life give him a choice of watching cricket or study. If the child refuses to study you should tell him straight that he will be devoid of all perks if he doesn’t do well in the exam. Let him make his

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One answer for all your psycho quest

P c

A dva nc e sy chot he ra py

ounse lli ng

entre,

PATNA.

Call- 9835018951 ask.drbinda@gmail.com

S o u l S p eak

26-07 march 2011

Peer & Pressure

he other day I, celebrated my 24th birth Pooja anniversary. This was the dayI decided to sit back and recollect the umpteen number of things in life that i have not been able to witness. As time passed by, I realized that the subject of my agony found its reason in something that has been deplored time and again. The fear of delusion by this hugely enticing force which is widely considered an abyss of irreparable damage found me losing out on witnessing experiences which you can't buy even in exchange for a fortune once its gone. This force i'm trying to emphasize here has been experienced by one and all sometime or the other in the long course of their arduous life span. The need to have the most desirable boyfriend / girlfriend in school/college / workplace, the necessity of having the most demanded cellphone without knowing the various applications it is made to perform, the need to study in the most sought after course / school /college without analyzing where one's aptitude lies ,the need to get highly intoxicated by myriad number of drugs at a party, the need to dress up in a manner which others consider desirable, the need to listen to music which does not appeal to the senses, the need to spend all the time which could have been spent in experiencing certain moments being invested in sharpening our editing skills on Picassa/ flickr arising out

of the sheer need to click pictures enough not to last a lifetime but sufficient to be showcased on facebook. All the above and many more instances one has felt arises out of the sheer desire to be valued among those we consider superior enough to be given a position in the higher echelons of the societal system. These people are not our enemies, in fact, on the contrary they form a very important part of our lives in the form of peers, thereby imposing the pressure they can exercisethe peer pressure. Now coming back to the beginning of my self realization of discovering the subject of my agony, which i have truly mentioned, had been engrained inside me as a strong aversion from the idea of this pressure we call the peer pressure, has helped me to keep myself out of the herd race but in turn has got me devoid of the pleasure this race brings unto oneself. The mere fact that this pressure makes you run for things which might not be able to solve any real purpose, which might leave you disheartened and disillusioned but the same pressure makes you learn how to run in life, it helps you to enjoy the youth that you have been blessed with and enables you to do the umpteen number of things you can do before you turn 24. writer is IIMC alumnus and PR Executive based in Delhi. ae r op oo@g m ail. c om

The Patna Post

L if estyle

26-07 march 2011

she’s smart, gadgets for Women

the button with the banana symbol and Blow Monkey will do all the work (dry your nails). Now that’s a gadget worth buying.

proven therapies to relieve tension around the eyes and temples.The Pinhole Therapy will reduce stress in the eye while the Magnet Therapy reduces pressure. The Massage Therapy will increase circulation around your eyes.This massage therapy around your eyes will stimulate glands in the body, calm your nerves and reduce eye strain and headaches.We’re not sure if this thing really works.

A hard drive on the market made

We bet you haven’t seen a flash

his sure is an easy and fun way to dry your nails, use the monkey gadget!

You apply your nail polish, press

for ladies. Samsung has created this very sexy looking hard drive.This Costume drive has a feminine design and is inspired by a ladies make-up compact. The designer, Joongoo Lee, built this 2.5″ hard drive for ladies who need to have their data with them all the time.

drive disguised as a handbag yet. These cute handbag drives hold up to 8GB of data. You can pick between the colors: red, pink, green, yellow and blue. They kind of look like toys, so make sure that you don’t leave this drive hanging around children.

Your fridge packed with food you

This wearable facial massager will

bought weeks ago?

brighten up your day.This gadget is worn around the head, shaped to fit the ocular region of the face. The massager combines three

Now it’s very easy to keep track of how long any piece of food has been staying in your fridge. All you need to do is use the days ago Refrigerator Timer. Stick the timer onto any new piece of food. Push the button and a LCD

take all your stress away. Have a nasty headache or just feeling tired from work? This mask will

The Patna Post

26-07 march 2011

display will start counting down the number of days it has been sitting there in the fridge.

Cellphones are shrinking, that’s for sure. But this kind of cellphone did not shrink, it became very flat. Flat enough to wear it around your own wrist. And you don’t even have to carry it on your wrist. You can easily carry it in any form you like. Roll it, bend it, clip it to your clothes, … the possibilities are endless. When you do want to use it to make a call, it will form into a normal telephone. Apparently you can personalize these forms you make with the phone and record them. It will also sense your moves, making sure it understands what you want and respond in the best way it can. It learns to fit you better. When you receive a phone call, it will make a certain kind of shape if it’s not around your wrist. Anyway, it’s hard to explain. Also, this is still in concept phase so you can not buy it yet. comments@thepatnapost.com

Net Nest Step in for-

Net surfing DTP job Design & Printing, Photography

C a ll- 9 3 3 4 3 2 0 0 2 8

Rail Ticket Xerox Recharge Voucher Courier

P C Market, A G Colony Main Road, Patna -800 025

The Patna Post

tendaysyoutrundledpast

26-07 march 2011

Baap re Baap: third time lucky and lost the job!

n a significant development, perhaps for the first time in Bihar and the country as well, an elected people’s representative of the local body has to lose his job for being father third time. He was found violating the Bihar Municipal Act’2007 which permits only two children for the job. Arun Ravidas who was elected ward councillor from Bodhgaya town in Bihar in 2007 has been removed from his post when he became father for third time. He also has been declared unfit for contesting poll in future. In 2007 the NDA government led by chief minister Nitish Kumar had made this provision in the newly promulgated Municipal Act to declare an elected member of the local municipal body disqualified if he has more than two children. “A person shall be disqualified for election or after the election for holding the post as member of the municipality if such a person has more than two living children”, stated clause 18[M] clearly of the Bihar Municipal Act’ 2007. But, the fall guy Ravidas apparently has not lost all his hopes and has challenged the State Election Commission's order in the Patna High Court saying the government could not enact such law to prevent anyone from procreation. “Producing children is our natural democratic right and everyone should honour and respect this human right”, he said leaving the listeners in a complete fix.

What’s worth a life in Bihar!

an anyone believe that a human life in Bihar of Nitish Kumar costs just Rs 3 or a pound of goat meat? Perhaps not but it comes stark at your face when you hear these two stories coming from the barbarous backyard of Bihar. The first shocking incident took place at Nawkothi village in Begusarai district where, said the police, Pankaj Thakur had a heated argument with his friend Babloo Yadav who owed him Rs 3. Subsequently, Pankaj took out a knife from his pocket and stabbed Yadav to death. The police later arrested Thakur and also seized the knife used in the crime.

The Patna Post

26-07 march 2011

However, the second bone chilling incident came out from Madhepura where a butcher killed the eight-year-old son of a customer who had taken a pound of goat meat from his shop and had not made the payment. Earlier, in a similar incident a youth was beaten to death in a north Bihar district when his bike knocked down and killed a goat. Aren’t these incidents poking fun at the much-publicized “turnaround story” of Bihar that the present government led by Nitish Kumar is going all the way ha-ha, hee-hee to the world media and across? What’s the new growth rate of Bihar?....

I’m Mahadalit IPS oﬃcer & I’m victimized in Nitish Kumar’s susashan

ounds more incredible than uncomfortable but a fact that in a government which never ever tires of drumbeating of good governance and the welfare of Mahadalits [popularized by Nitish Kumar, the word, we believe, needs no explanation now], there is an IPS officer who claims to come from this deprived section of the society and alleged also that he is being victimized for this. The 1996 batch IPS officer, Kapileshwar Manjhi even has written a letter to the National Commission for Scheduled Caste alleging that he was being victimized for being a Mahadalit. In his letter [dt. Feb 17’ 2011] he has written that he was shocked to find his name missing from the list of 1996 batch IPS officers of Bihar cadre promoted to the rank of the Deputy Inspector-General [DIG] of police. On February 10 the state home department had issued the notification regarding promotion of 10. comments@thepatnapost.com

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Longing & belonging

26-07 march 2011

by Ajay kr Jha

s summer gives way to autumn and as Delhi starts becoming chill worth a full shirt or a half sweater for the more cautions ones I feel butterflies aflutter inside me. None in the family says anything but the preparation for the journey back home on the occasion of chhat starts in the right earnest. Warm clothes for Babuji, Shawl of Maai, a pair of shoes for Barahil ji….the list is made and unmade, shops identified, fellow neighbors taken along (Delhi is not without Dil especially when it comes to shopping); my usually ever complaining wife feels somewhat better at this time of the year. Kids are very enthused about the prospect of roaming around freely in absence of elders’ scold. Being in Delhi for last 15-years has taught me that all means of transport to Bihar comes under unmanageable pressure on the eve of chhat and so I decide to take my precautions. I try to book my train tickets to Darbhanga in advance – in fact two months before – but all tickets have been reserved. I hear low whispers and noisy sounds of some kind of reservation mafia at work. I curse them; my wife curses me for being worthless; my kids curse silently but all the same they also sense a flight journey in the offing. I try various options and different discretionary quotas – MP, Rail minister, PA to rail minister etc. and tatkal – to fail again and wring my hands in desperation. By this time even a bare–bones, no–frills Rs. 150 each a sandwich air service costs Rs. 12,000 a ticket and no half ticket for kids I take the plunge. I have this uncanny knack of going wrong every time. However, one good development in recent times has been that only lohri – celebrating hardcore Dilliwallas have also become familiar with the momentous life – and – death significance of chhat. One

need not explain any longer about the origin and significance of the festival. Everyone – from the south Indian corporate honchos to the brash Punjabi business brigade knows that the Biharis are a sentimental lot and that they will go to Bihar – come what may – and that they will cite unavailability of reservation for coming back late. They know they are helpless. Throwing their hands up they request their subordinates to bring them crispy thekua.

I board the flight that is totally rundown

and makes such a harsh sound that my ears start aching. My wife looks at me condescendingly. Kids are not concerned. I land at the Patna airport thinking of coming across new Bihar. The airport looks clean but is so everywhere; outside there are more vehicles on the road and people look more somber and purposeful. Everyone seems to be going somewhere. The roads are choc – a – bloc with items meant for the chhath festival. The road to my village on the Patna – Darbhanga highway is much better but congestion is pervasive. The Ganga setu is dilapidated. My family makes to the village before rituals begin. I am back to where I belong to. The writer is Delhi based Vice-President of Mikes Pharma, Guyana

ajayjha1234@yahoo.co.in

The Patna Post

Foodie

urds are a healthy, universally useful food. It is formed by lactic fermentation of milk. Curd is esteemed for its smoothness and its pleasant and refreshing taste. It is highly versatile, health promoting and valuable therapeutic foods. Once thought of only as a worthy health food, curd or yoghurt is now the base for tempting frozen desserts and is used as a healthier alternative to cream. The word yoghurt is of Turkish Origin and is believed that the first curd was made in Turkey. People who cannot drink milk may find that they can tolerate curd. Universally cow's milk is used to make curd. But in India, buffalo milk is also used extensively and in Russia, the milk of sheep, goat and mare is largely used for the same purpose. Curd is a sour milk preparation. Curd /dahi/yoghurt is eaten as such with salt /sugar/added to other preparations. The butterfat is removed from dahi by churning and used to make ghee. Curd has almost the same calorific value as cow's milk. 40 percent of lactose is converted to lactic acid. It has 3.1gm of protein, 4gm of fat, 149mg of calcium, and 93mg of phosphorous.

The Patna Post

26-07 march 2011

So, this Sunday try our special brunch recipie of dahiIngredients: 1/2 kg yoghurt 2 chopped onions 4 chopped green chillies 75 gm cheese 2 tbs coriander seeds and black pepper 1 tbs chopped ginger 1 1/2 tbs red chilli flakes 1/2 cup roasted besan Little bit of Paneer 2 tbs corn flour Oil for frying

Method: Lay a muslin cloth over a bowl and pour the yoghurt into it. Pick up the edges of the cloth and tie a knot. Hang it till it turns into a cheesy mixture. Grate the cheese. Dry roast coriander seeds and black pepper and grind to a powder. For the filling: Mix grated cheese, some of the coriander pepper powder, green chillies, onions, ginger and salt. Take cheesy yoghurt in a bowl, add red chilli flakes and the coriander pepper powder. Bind with salt, besan,little bit of paneer and corn flour. Put in the filling and shape into kebabs. Deep fry in oil and serve hot. comments@thepatnapost.com

MASTE