Everybody has written off Bihar very long ago, more so after Laloo Raj. M.J. Akbar records in captivating prose, his ruminations on his visit to Laloo Land. A worthy read, an evocative commentary on the state of affairs.

The word Bihar is derived–correct me if I’m wrong–from Vihara, which means variously, a resting place, a place for meditation and contemplation. For the most part, if we remember the history we had read in school, Viharas were famous when Buddhism was at its zenith. With royal patronage–some kingdoms had “officialized” Buddhism–Viharas sprang up in thousands of locations across India. The need for Viharas was felt primarily because Buddhist monks usually wandered around, spreading their religion. Because they needed convenient places to retire at the end of the day, kings and other wealthy men built these Viharas, just so they could contribute to spread the message of Buddha and help these wandering monks. Religious sermons, contemplation and meditation were common activities that one could find in a typical Vihara.

Given this background, Bihar actually should command a certain loftiness should indeed be a model state to which others can look up. It was indeed all this and more many, many centuries ago, the crest jewel being Nalanda.

But Akbar paints a different story… one of hopelessness and (almost) no future.

When I leave after nearly three hours at the residence (Laloo’s, braces mine), there is a nagging feeling of something not quite right, or perhaps something not quite wrong, through the evening. Then it strikes. The lights have not gone out even once in the first home. I suppose they dare not.

And then contrasts it immediately with the erstwhile-part of Bihar, Jharkhand.

There is a definite feel-good factor in Jharkhand, which was part of Bihar in the last elections but has spun off into an independent state. Jharkhandis are feeling very good about leaving Bihar. The difference is visible the moment you touch down. In three years they have brought their highways into the modern age. They insist that you drive to feel the difference.

And so where lies the crucial difference? Do leaders corrupt men so badly that they lose all faith, initiative, and their willpower collectively? Don’t people see the filth around them and those responsible for it and then give them the boot in the elections? Unfortunately, this last sentence doesn’t seem to apply to Bihar. Saying that elections are rigged in Bihar is an understatement. What does Jharkhand have that Bihar doesn’t?

Perhaps the best bit in the whole article is the last paragraph, which is at once moving, poignant and almost spiritual.

Hey Ganga Maiya tohe piyari chadhaibo, sainya se kar de milanwa?” Every old Bhojpuri film had at least one scene of the heroine worshipping at the banks of the Holy Ganga as it swept majestically past Patna. It was to Mother Ganga that the young heroine came when she prayed for a lover, offering her devotion in return. These days the heroine would have to walk four kilometers from Sadaqat Ashram. When Laloo Yadav became chief minister more than a decade ago, the Ganga still flowed below the Ashram and by the cremation ghat where the last rites of the great Jaya Prakash Narayan were completed. The Ganga has literally silted up, and been replaced by fields on which crops are being sown by those who have seized the land illegally. The absence of the river is startling to someone who is familiar with Patna. The whole city would pour into the sweeping river at the Chat Puja in winter. Laloo and Rabri once were among those many thousands; now they offer puja in the fish tank at their residence. The whisper is becoming a murmur and the murmur, say Laloo?s opponents, will become a roar on election day: when the Ganga turns away from the city, its rulers pay the price.

Bihar is the classic example of caste politics taken to the extreme. In the parting, I’m reminded of Naipaul who says, You can’t get people from Bihar suddenly behaving very beautifully. When the oppressed have the power to assert themselves, they will behave badly.
Sigh!