Musings of a Bihari
MAYANK RASU
Bihar is one of the most impoverished States of India. There are other States too which are equally underprivileged or even worse but somehow it is only Bihar that manages to hog all the negative publicity. It is the people of Bihar who are shot by ULFA militants and who are beaten black and blue in Mumbai and are threatened to leave.
‘Bihari’ has become a stigma word in the contemporary Indian society and is tantamount to a swear word. I have met numerous migrants from Bihar who admit that they do not feel comfortable in disclosing the information about their native place. There are others who speak with a condescending air that they have been “complimented” by people that they do not look like Biharis (an obvious case of low self-esteem which forced a chuckle when I first heard this).
“Biharis” have now usurped the place of “Sardarjis” as a favourite butt of jokes. It is not just the jokes; there are other ways of embarrassing them too. Making fun of the Bihari accent and projecting it as the most rustic one is one of them.
Subtle indications?
So where does this leave an ordinary Bihari like me who has stepped out of the “god forsaken place” in pursuit of better education and a good living? Where should I go after cracking a national level competition? Should I go to our nation’s capital? But wouldn’t then Sheila Dixit attribute all the problems of “her” State to me?
Mumbai’s door has already been shut on me by Raj Thackeray. The northeast is out of question. Where do I go now? Are these subtle indications that the rest of the country wants me to stay confined to my State? Isn’t it like saying ... “Yeah, you are an integral part of our family, but why don’t you stay away from us?”
All this definitely leaves me with a sense of extreme sorrow and anguish. Why am I an alien to my own country? Why do I have to bear the brunt of the misdoings of the fiendish politicians who do not pause a moment before going live on the TV and making a fool of all of us?
Now let me make very clear that the cupidity of the Bihari politicians (well...of most of them) has nothing to do with the people’s character and personality. The poor Biharis who were brutally shot down by the ULFA terrorists had no “treacherous” plans to annex Asom to Bihar. They were there just to earn a living (which is excruciatingly difficult in Bihar).
Loyalty not taken note of
I have spent the initial 18 years of my life in Bihar and never did I hear anyone saying “Jai Bihar” before “Jai Hind.” Never did I come across an agitation where activists boycotted Hindi over regional languages like Bhojpuri and Maithali (mind you, Maithali has its own script).
Vir Kunwar Singh was always juxtaposed with other warriors of the freedom struggle in our history books. His being a Bihari could not gain him an undue advantage in his own State. Even after experiencing abject poverty and perpetual slight, no politician has ever dared to head start a separatist movement as that is never going to work owing to the people’s strong sense of oneness with India.
Then why couldn’t the country reciprocate our loyalty? Why have we been reduced to a bunch of wretched citizens who always have to be at the receiving end of uncouth humour and animosity? Have we been taken for granted?
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