MEA 2010 travelogues- Bokaro Or Marfari

MEA 2010 travelogues- Bokaro Or Marfari
14.7.2010

After a long gap I resume my blogs. I was busy with Mecon Executives Associations’ election for 2010-12 where I contested unsuccessfully for the post of president and had a taste of election once more where my simple comment-“in a highly polarized(Bengali vs. non-Bengali or Punjabi vs. non-Panjabi) Meconians lost the issues and what I lost precious 10 days’ casual leaves and may be some thousand rupees in train fair.
What I gained a lot of experience in traveling and a taste of delivering some three dozens speeches,
I lost despite praises from all sections of executives mostly engineers who primarily design steel plants but could not give me vote because more they had hate for Bengalis or Panjabis and to a great extent they could not assimilate a doctor as their president! Yet some choose to vote me and them only a few were from doctors.
A young engineer from Bangalore commented they did a blunder but I replied it was in a sense better for me as I would save my energy for the greater nation building work of which those engineers are but a small entity though I loved and admired them.

And I plan to tell you the story of the grand traveling of India of around 13000 km in a serial which will not include Durgapur-Burnpur-Kolkata I already blogged. Bokaro- Rourkela- Delhi- Bhilai- Visakhapatanam-Bangalore-Ranchi and then again Rourkela-Kanpur-Delhi-Mumbai-Bangalore-Annavaram- Ranchi will be the routes I will cover.

Bokaro is adjacent to Ranchi and I have innumerable trips there. There are many Bokaros- Bokaro Steel City I wish to mention here not the Bokaro Thermal, or West Bokaro far away from Steel City..which had station in Marafari and it was the term when in 1970s I used to travel by Ranchi-Patna express the lone train passing in night when many people used to come with sticks to entrain their one friend or family and we used to be under great tension as if some one will pierce with pear during fight (Marafari as connotes in Hindi)..In fact had Bokaro expanded like it was envisioned, the station would have been in its centre but it is said Biju Patnayak when he was Steel Minister, he curtailed the plan in favour of Orissa!

My journey to Bokaro was as usual like hundreds of I had of that place and reached there in the evening. Bokaro had a tradition of trekkers to take you to city/ township of several lakhs and fare of Rs. 10 will not you feel more but number of passengers 4+5+3+3 and may be one more on each side of the front excepting driver!
I recall the value of Rs. One for such a tempo driver long back when it had some value on which I had thought to write a story,’Ispatnagari ka tempowala,” but I could not and still that value of Rs.1 is same despite inflation and so anglicized word for Sector IV. IX, but barah More they speak not Twelfth where I had to go and a maithil Kali temple is there but I could go to Naya More only and then I walked to my maternal uncle’s quarters who was just retired from the SAIL.
Morning I was left in the BSL office by Mamji and I had entered MECON Office easily and talked my fellow colleagues and returned quicly to get Jaynagar-Ranchi train incidentally being late. The train initiated by me and to a large extent worked by me has been brought in new time table after a great effort since 1996.
The train was full of Maithils and I could get at least one Maihtil youth from Kaluahi Jay son of a Youth ongress leader working in Assam who was succumbed to an accident at delhi when they shifted after threat from extremists in Assam.
The Youngman was working at Hyderabad and we discussed a lot. The train crossed W.Bengal’s some stations in Purulia district when mobiles cut roaming charges before it reaches Muri crossing Swarnrekha river with which I had several memories,including of a picnic on its banks and a Chhat Arghya in its water. The train became late as its engine failed near Gangaghat and finally I had to change that and to take Alleppy Express to reach Ranchi by a green picturesque route.(Continued..)