Bihar

Where to Tricity???

Tricity-meaning three cities combined. One such tricity consists of 3 cities namely: Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. Chandigarh was planned a new city as the capital of Punjab when Lahore was lost to Pakistan. It was matter of prestige for Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India who wanted to assuage the sufferings of the Punjab which befell it due to partition. Everyone is aware of the beautifully planned city. As the years went by, States of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana were separated from the Punjab. There was a demand by Punjab to hand over the Chandigarh city… Read More »Where to Tricity???

Opium poppy: Seeds of Trade

Britain ruled India not for nothing. They exploited the abundant natural resources as well its simple folks. They earned huge profits by exporting tea, opium and cotton to Europe. They employed the Indians like Africans as labors in many of their colonies overseas where there was a shortage of labor for cultivation. Opium obtained from poppies grown in the fertile valley of Ganges in Bihar was considered of high quality because of its high alkaloid morphine. It was traditionally grown in this region since the times of Mughals who were heavy users of it and many of their princes are… Read More »Opium poppy: Seeds of Trade

Nadiya Ke Paar

A few days ago, while surfing the channels on my television, I suddenly stopped because one of the channels was telecasting the Hindi  movie of the past years. It was called as “Nadiya Ke Paar” which in English means “On the other side of the river”. The movie was a huge hit in its time. Its scoring point was simple and honest plot set in the rural area of Bihar. The movie transported me to the good old days when we lived in the village in Punjab. There might be difference in the language, features of inhabitants but overall conditions… Read More »Nadiya Ke Paar

What is Maya?

I am sure that people in the West might have heard the word Maya. In the Hindu mythology, Universe or the Maya is the dream of Hindu God Brahma which he dreams. Then, there was Narada his son, who was a very erudite sage. With his intelligence, he impressed so many Gods and they often discussed their problems with him and used his services as a messenger for communicating with each other because one of them may be in Himalayas while another in the down South. One day Brahma called upon Narada and offered him a single wish. The Narada… Read More »What is Maya?

Mango : The King of Fruits

Hiuen Tsang, Chinese scholar after being in India is going back. Time AD 627-643, on the fabled Silk Route. Apart from his knowledge of Buddhism, his rucksack contains an extraordinary fruit called Mango. The name in hindi AaM is derived from Sanskrit word AMRA which seems to be the loan word from Dravidian and is related to Tamil words for Mango like “mamaram”. Portuguese were responsible for transferring the name to the West. It is growing in India since 4000 years at least. Moguls were great connoisseurs of the fruit. Akbar got 100000 mango trees planted in Lakhi Bagh (Lakhi:… Read More »Mango : The King of Fruits

Where is Gopal?

I was working in a place called Sivasagar in Assam. There was a shopping centre. In one of the shops a boy named Gopal used to work. Gopal was a runty-bodied boy from Bihar; he was working in a shop here in the mini-shopping center. Anyone who saw him will take him for the proprietor of the shop which sold eatables, victuals and phone service and has a xerox machine. Shops generally are all-in-one type here. Gopal was very agile and competent and extremely good-natured. He has a gift of gabbiness and it did not take him long to make… Read More »Where is Gopal?

Freak Weather

I remember when we were young in late fifties and sixties, weather transitions were fairly uniform. The farmers whose hard work can turn to dust till the crops are harvested and safely brought home, were fairly confident about weather. We saw only poor monsoons once in a while and crops failing badly and food scarcity. In those days farming was dependent on the blessings of nature especially for water. The variety of crops and food items was not much. Only native seeds were used and often mixed crops were raised. For example, wheat alongwith sprinkle of barley or mustard. Only… Read More »Freak Weather

While Riding a bus

I was in Panchkula a few days ago. I had to go to Chandigarh from there. Transport service is not good.You have to shell seventy to eighty rupees if you want to go immediately and have to catch an auto-rickshaw. A few rickshaw drivers park their vehicles and wait for any stray passenger. They sit in a group and play cards to while away the time. It must be very boring for them. There are simply not many takers of rickshaws. This is because most of the residents in the area have their own vehicles. I decided to take the… Read More »While Riding a bus