The problems of Bihar generally highlighted on this forum are known to all of us and also to the people in power. It does not take much intelligence or thought to churn it over and over again. Yes, it works only as a reminder to everyone else that Bihar has been ditched by its own "too clever" people and that these "too clever" people must be kept isolated in society lest they muck up the lands of others. When it comes to upliftment of Bihar, some see their role in highlighting only the filth and squalor as if it is news and others did not know about it. Who does not? To me it is like describing garbage without talking about its disposal. Just a lot of noise with no effective use of the brain.

It definitely takes plenty of brain storming to highlight problems along with suggested feasible solutions and that is where we must see our role. Some days back there was a suggestion that retired army people must be brought in to help in maintaining law and order in Bihar. That was, to my mind, a welcome suggestion and perhaps it could have been picked up by the authorities from here. We, as educated people, must see our role in thinking out possible solutions to problems. We may not have all the facts and figures of the ground situations but we have a fairly good understanding of the situation and can work with what we have to arrive at good suggestions for improvement. Any suggestion towards a solution, how-so-ever far fetched or making a miniscule positive change, is a million times better than hollow lamentation, in the hope that some one else does the thinking and solution finding. Who is that illusive "some one else" who has to do the thinking and solution finding? Isn't it us? - Rajesh Chaubey - May 10, 2006

Dear Rajesh Chaubey ji,

I am sure I need not remind you that the first step to solving a problem is identifying the problem itself. Second in my opinion would be to discuss it. Third would probably be brainstorming and identifying possible solutions and final step would be spotting the best solution and implementing it.

What you say is perfectly true and indeed a very noble thing to do. But you must realize that majority of the people in any society are capable of doing only the first two steps. People who have the ability to do and contribute meaningfully to steps 3 and 4 are very few. Such people are people with great understanding of present and past and have clear visions for the future. Unfortunately, such people are too few, which is probably reflected in the composition of this and any other forum.

I would hence fervently hope that you would forgive the majority for being non-productive most of the time. I also hope that most people would graduate over a period of time and be able to make meaningful contributions. In the meantime, I would hope people are not discouraged to spot problems and bring to everyone's notice for that is the first step to getting rid of the problem itself. - Ravi Pandey, Mumbai - May 10, 2006

Editor's Note: This is not the same Ravi Pandey who has written several articles on PD before.

Let us not abdicate our responsibility by saying we are just good for groaning, moaning and grumbling. We are the best brains the country has produced. It is time we brain-stormed to make constructive suggestions. Let us not spend time in writing essays describing the ugly side of Bihar. We all have seen it and know what it is. It has no news value unless it is something new.

Do we write essays and complain around the neighborhood about the ugly things we find in our homes or do we plan how to fix it or have it fixed and execute the plan. As regards the ills that ail Bihar, they are not new. We may not be in a position to take action but are surely well equipped to think deeply and come out with some good suggestions. Who knows, may be such suggestions may be picked up for implementation. Imagine the satisfaction it would give if one of your suggestions is picked up and implemented. - Rajesh Chaubey - May 10, 2006

Shri Chaubey has raised a very pertinent point. I recall in the seventies, there was a move at Jamshedpur about banning Patna University graduates in TISCO because of the faulty examination procedure. Our moralists immediately jumped into the discussion taking turns to highlight all that was wrong with Patna Univ and Bihar in general in the popular newspapers of the day. I don't know how much this debate resulted in cleansing the education in Bihar, but certainly Biharis lost out in the job market of steel city and the "Oye Bihari Brigade" tasted yet another success.

Let us face it, the issue was cornering the then coveted jobs at TISCO and the claimants were the dominant Punjabi and Bengalis and the Biharis. In the world of realpolitik, we Biharis lost out. As they say, "Bad se Badnaam Bura".

Contrast it with the news of Pune University paper leakage, and how it was handled and you would know the difference.

I have unconfirmed reports that when there were too many IIT entrants from Gaya, the JEE managers summarily decided to disqualify examinees from there. The result is - hordes of Biharis students now taking JEE from centres outside the state.

Yes we cant accept wrong doings, but let us not continue to hand defeat to our detractors from the jaws of victory in the name of morality. - T. V. Sinha - May 10, 2006

I totally agree with Rajesh ji. He has raised a very genuine concern.

Most of the people find intellectual satisfaction in portraying their own homeland, Bihar in bad light. It provides them with enough reasons to ditch Bihar and move to some other state. Most of the times these people are the non-resident Biharis and they are not even remotely attached to any of the problems (even if they occur) which they project. Unfortunately there are a lot of Biharis with this attitude and they successfully manage to influence their fellow Biharis who are always looking for an opportunity of leaving their state an early as possible. This is an escapist practice and must be discouraged. - Gunjan Arya - May 11, 2006

I agree with your sentiments. But one thing I would like to ask, are the politicians always guilty for defaming Biharis? What about the public of Bihar who just use unfair means to grab seats in the trains when the train is entering Bihar from other states? What about those criminals who shoot down people in mid-day??? What about the roads which are a roller coaster ride for anyone walking on it? What about the illiteracy and corruption levels?

I thing we are just wasting our time and diverting the attention from the serious issues of face-lifting by simply cursing the politicians.

Apart from that, Bihar has earned bad name because of lesser growth both industrial and agricultural. The crime level in other cities like Mumbai, Delhi and even Chennai is also high but due to their development being on higher side, these things do not hamper the state's reputation. - Ravish, Hyderabad - May 11, 2006

Hiding the true picture is not justified but unfortunately all the Bihar baiters and some self-acclaimed do-gooders of Bihar only try to bring out truth and often enlarge it beyond proportion about only bad things of Bihar. They often forget to mention any good things of Bihar. Many Biharis who are in good position today would not like to be called Biharis when they are out of Bihar and will feel happy if they are told by non-Biharis that they are not like Biharis.

The fact is India is very much infected by state sub-nationalism. Most of national media is controlled by people from outside Bihar. They jump on any opportunity to condemn Bihar. Everything in Bihar is taken as rotten. Even then if central govt or any ministry makes allocation for something good in state, media paints it as undue favor to Bihar.

I wish everything is taken in true perspective. Hordes of Biharis are proving their worth by doing well in IAS/IPS exams, in IITS and in all good educational institutions of India and abroad - thanks to poor educational opportunities in Bihar. It is true there is corruption in Bihar but same is true about other states. Delhi, Punjab and Haryana are probably top three crime infested states. Lalu is accused of Chara scam, but so has been the case with Chautala and Bansi Lal in Haryana, Bangarappa in Karnataka, Jaylalitha in Tamil Nadu. Riots in Gujarat have no comparison, poverty is at extreme in Kalahandi of Orissa. If top guns in Bihar take bribes of one or two lakhs, in Punjab they took bribes of fifty lakhs for civil service jobs.

Why people consider calling Bihar to be worst as the only and absolute truth, I wonder. - Mithilesh Kumar, Delmar, NY, USA - May 11, 2006

Discussion on this topic is now closed.