In Nanaur Maithili camp-A village girl Priyanaka wants to become IAS

In Nanaur Maithili camp-A village girl Priyanaka wants to become IAS

We got bus for Adariya-Sangram and it took three hours with a snail speed to justify Rs. 30 as fare. In the way I noticed many villages like Sarisab Pahi(where my younger brother’s wife is a teacher in a very old school), Bideshar sthan (Vindhyeshwar’s corrupt form but one resident could not accept my correction), Sarb Seema, Jhanjharpur,etc. I saw many boards on the name of Mithila, including a wine shop!

I was always careful that I was travelling in the heart of Mithila and it would be difficult comparing this part with parts around Saurath or Janakpur as to which was of greater Maithil essence!

From Adaria a rickshaw puller asked for Rs.40 but I preferred evening walk under the moonlight. Nanaur High School was almost 4 km and probably rickshaw puller was right in his demand, I realized later. I saw a Ramkatha was going on listeners were from low castes and the comparisons like SAAS AISI KI PUTOHU KI SANS RUK JAYE was apt for them. The preacher had more stress on such social topics than Ramkatha and we were at sore that he was not delivering in Maithili which other speaker did in late night and we were happy.

Anand Kr.Jha and Dr. Kamal Kant Jha were already there and they received us.

One Mandlji was given charge of our food and the organiser Akhilesh had gone to Darbhanga for his morning news bulletin.

The night was turbulent for me- though cool in temple in from of high school, the mosquito-net my sister had given to me had holes and mosquitoes as well as ants made every possible holes in my body.

Morning it was an open air defecation, like last year at Baira Parsa but I had no knee cap injury die to cycling and it was better managed. I had asked Akhilesh for provision but he ignored. Anyway the temple was far from village and it was an advantage.

But it became disadvantageous when number of trainees were almost nil(only four could be certified in the end) despite propaganda by Anand in the village. I had very little introduction with young Akhilesh and when I had to tell about the importance of training camps, I did not mention that collecting people and proper delegation of work would have resulted in better utilization of our time. I was in fact angry that I lost my one leave for that camp.

But it was utilized when a teacher of school, Rahman sahib asked us to take classes of children as number of teachers were less that day due to PAX election (which was a major happening in villages in whole state; though I could not understand it properly it looked to me a cooperative election and cooperative movement is a must for Mithila’s entrepreneurship development).

Boys and girls were seated on two verandas and by turn Dr.Kamalkant Jha and I took their classes. He covered Mithila-Maithili related things but I added to it career counselling, methods to read, health and hygiene, my own experience as student of their age and encouraged them and also promised that if any brilliant student is poor, I will manage his/her expenditures.

Three boys had more than 80 per cent in class VIII. One among them Murari was very small child who wanted to be a civil engineer, second also for the same but third was clever enough to say ‘mechanical engineer’.

Among girls one Priyanka Mishra wanted to read biology but wished to go to the administrative services. I encouraged her from her name ’Priyanka’ given by her maternal uncle when Priyanka Chopra’s first film was realeased. She also knew other Priyanka daughter of Rajeev-Sonia Gandhi.

Many ride ‘Hero’ cycle given by Govt. of Bihar. I exclaimed such cycles should be called ‘heroine”

Children were very happy with the talk and in the end they all recited Bidaynath Mishr ‘yatri’s ‘Bhagwan hamar Mithila Sukh Shantik Ghar ho’ and Vidyapati’s, “Jai Jai Bhiravi Asur Bhayauni..(one of girl later came to Durgasthan meeting in the evening and samg that also).

Encouraged three boys of calss IX Ramashankar Yada, Deepak Kumar,Ranjeet Kumar Mishra composed poems and presented me which will be published in the Maithili Sandesh.

Satish Chandra Mishra, Secretary ,AMP came to take a class on discipline riding motor bike for 102 km.

Merit exam for ISc Biology students at Jhanjharpur College- on Sept1, could not be arranged despite Principal’s assurance to me and Anand. Yet one guardian came with his son and he gave examination in the Nanaur School. Though not satisfactory mark, it was a test for him and lesson to read more. He like many previous students could not reply that Maithil’s recognition in VIII Schedule was given during Vajpayee’s tenure as PM.

In the evening we decided to go to Village’s Durgasthan, if they did not come to us in the school.

Welcomed by Puja Samiti president,there was a huge crowd which listened to us with pin drop silence . Presiding the function Prof.Deen said that Mithila was already a state and it has all qualifications to become a state. When we were returning, crowd self exhortedly said,Jai Mithila,jai Maithili. Probably they were shunned to listen me that choosing that constituency by Mishra family was a caste oriented move as they belong to Saharsa where too they could have fight. And making Urdu second language of Bihar blocked Maithili’s space!