Friday, February 23, 2024

Education On An Egg Per Week !

A lady cooks lunch for students studying at a government school in Bihar so casually I asked her what children get for lunch. She replied, "Generally it is just rice and sabzi, aloo gobi. Sometimes there is dal too. " One labourer a parent said, "Dal is only in name.. It's so patla... almost like Ganga jal. " He added, "First they gave two eggs per week but now they give egg only on Fridays." "Also they don't allow children to take the egg home. " But why? "Because their parents would eat it. " After Bihar's new secretary K. K. Pathak has taken charge sometimes a school inspector visits the school I wish they would give an egg per day. How much can you study on an egg per week. Surely Naya Bharat can afford that.... Then we can all shout Bharat Mata Ki Jai !

Monday, February 12, 2024

Bag Shopping In Patna

The other day I went bag shopping in Patna. So far I have only purchased three bags in my life so you can see I am quite particular about my bags. And one backpack was a gift by Omega during my reporting days. But I much prefer the sling office bags, not the laptop bags you get these days. Benetton did have those bags earlier. Rockport bags are the best, nicely padded and long lasting. But the only Rockport showroom in Patna shut down 20 years ago. My last bag was from Blackberry and it served me well. Patna has a swanky new mall now so I went to check out American tourister... The salesman was helpful but I could not get what I wanted. So he asked me the purpose of my bag. I explained, "It should be big enough for files that bring down governments. " He smiled, "Sir, yahan toh sarkar khud gir jaatee hai. Aur phir ban bhee jaatee hai !"

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Barauni Junction Ke Kutte

The stray dogs at Bachhwaara junction are man eaters. But the one's at Barauni Junction are politicians. At lunchtime on platform no 24 even while high speed Vande Bharat trains make their halts they gather for their daily discourse. And then it all begins. First a gentle growl.. followed by two... and then two dozen of them start fighting. Even as scared passengers move away. A policeman looks the other way. The dogs fight like for their life. And the fight moves slowly in One Direction only. Until they reach the other end where a man is eating lunch. The dogs trample his food plate. The man curses and walks away in disgust. Then the fight stops. The dogs together eat the food, as if there was no fight at all. Right now they are all in Patna.... for the floor test...

Sunday, January 21, 2024

The Land of Rama ?

In 1992 when mobs demolished the Babri Masjid they in fact destroyed not just a mosque but also Hinduism, a liberal and tolerant way of life. But that was not all. 30 years later when the Supreme Court of India decided the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid case we saw how India's judiciary too had been demolished. Of course the court order is a court order to be respected by all parties but after this one wonders if Indian courts will be respected the way it was earlier as a custodian of our constitutional rights. The Muslims have been given no choice but to bear the pain. In fact under this majoritarian regime minorities are not protected at all. We have seen assaults and riots like never before. As a new temple emerges from the debris of a mosque the government of India has shifted it's capital to Ayodhya. A new airport, a new train station and new roads have been built to welcome Ram Lalla. The airwaves are full of Sanskrit shlokas and one presenter informed how Maharishi Manu is the founder of the city of Ayodhya. And yet in my dream I saw Ram Lalla playing on the vacant space allotted to the Muslims to build their mosque. So I feel like donating to the mosque committee, as they plan to build a Cancer Hospital along with a masjid.

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Infant Death By Anganwadi

A girl child born on Dhanteras just three months old died a few days ago. She was the daughter of my staff's brother. My staff informed me that she must have died from the cold. But when I told him this winter it's hardly cold he told me two days before her death some Anganwadi staff of the government had inoculated her. When I enquired a doctor told me inoculations are avoided if baby has fever or sick otherwise it can react. Causes for infant deaths can be many but in India infant deaths are high is a matter of shame. In 2001 Gujarat had a very high infant deaths 60 per thousand live births. But in 2020 it's reduced to 23 deaths per thousand live births. Bihar has 27 deaths per thousand. While Madhya Pradesh where every other yojana is called Laadlee something has 47 deaths per thousand. Of course Gujarat figures could be higher because everything including GDP is rigged these days. I remember as a Reporter I was asked to report on Millennial Baby in the year 2000. So from 11 pm I waited inside the Patna Medical College Hospital. From midnight onwards several babies were born but they all died. So the first millennial live baby we got was in the morning 6 am, it just showed how far behind we are in everything, sadly health care and nutrition are still neglected.

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

They Got Rid Of A British Rule, Now They're Dying!

My lawyer showed up after ages. He looked older than his age. One reason is of course his father being 103 years old, he has to be cared for. But the other reason was something I didn't know. Lawyers in India act in groups almost like criminal gangs. That's why you get so many violent court stories out of Uttar Pradesh. My lawyer informed him that lawyers ran a campaign to abolish Morning Court since it was a British rule from 1885 or something. And they were successful. So the morning court was done away with in Bihar. With the result that lawyers are having to work during the hot summer days with scorching temperatures of 44 degrees. A few have already died of sun stroke. But now who can bring back a British rule? Only a consensus between judges and lawyers can. But even lawyers are divided on the issue. Over and above Indian lawyers have to wear the black coat and trousers even in this heat. It's so sweaty that most have an Indian map on their coats and some even a Pakistan map !