A day at Bhojpur(Ara)- ‘We will have Mithila state. We can change our state but not neighbors and so Bhojpuris and Maghis should feel for us good neig

A day at Bhojpur(Ara)- ‘We will have Mithila state. We can change our state but not neighbors and so Bhojpuris and Maghis should feel for us good neighbours

On 18th February 2011 I had taken Bhagalpur-Annand Vihar Garib Rath train at Mugalsarai to go to Delhi to attend my the marriage of my colleague’s daughter(an IAS).

In the same coach a teacher of the Vidya Bharati, Balindar Prasad was traveling and he invited me to come to Ara anytime to talk to the intellectuals of the area.

I am leading medicos as well as Mithila state movement and in that context my tours have been mostly limited to medics and Maithils.

I wished to have some meetings with Bhojpuris and Magahis as I had delivered a lecture on creation of Bhojpur and Magadh states at Patna Pustak Mela on 12.12.2010.

I wished to convey Bhojpuri bretherens that I was not against of the promotion of Bhojpuri.



I talked Balinderji some days back and having no prompt reply I fixed my progammes for Teghra and Bihat on 26th as I had to attend a dharna for Mithila state on 27th November at Dalsingsarai.



On 23rd November while I was returning from Darbhanga at Kiul I got a call from Balinderji that the programme was possible and accordingly I changed my programme of 26ht.

On 25th night taking Hatia- Patna express talking some students in the way(one of them was very much impressed with me whom I had talked on science and history which was listening their happenings with different doctors. Someone told that Parasnath was famous for Buddhists that I corrected for Jainism .

At patna I got soon Lal Quila express for a journey to 67 kilometer off Ara, the centre of Bihari portion of Bhojpur. Seeing a Muslim lady with a child I stood and offered seat to her and saw flowing Koilwar river. A boy was introduced working for BSNL from Maunathbhanjan(UP) whom I said that he was looked to be a devotee of Lord Hanuman and that he was. Knowing that I was going to be a guest of an unknown traveler he requested me to be his at night near Patna junction which I accepted provided he came to my meeting with intellectuals at 4 pm.



At station Balinderji had sent his colleague ramesh singh but his mobile did not work nor mine though he had contacted me while I was near Koilwar. After some time we could recognize. I had long back taken the address of balinderjee near Moffussil thana ramreakha Vidya Sarswati Vidya Mandir as once I had this mobile problem at Banka too.



He took me to a Tiwari’s house where I had my rituals of bathing- sandhya-Tarpan-puja and then a high class vegetarian meal.

I was escorted to the nearby Sarswati Vidya mandir, knowing the land was donated by Ramrekha Yadav’s sons I enquired why Yadav was not affixed to ramrekha/ To my utter surprise it was a foolish work of some high class Hindus of the RSS cadre who according to me were enemies of the RSS itself and had no knowledge of the basics of the RSS(in the evening I was further shocked to know that some regular swaymsevaks were for this reason made victims in the false cases of rape which a judge Mihir kumar Jha quashed and for that one of them were so much reverant to any Maithili Brahmin that I was invited in Bhojpur who were supposed to be termed as anti-maithil at least since Lau-Rabri regimen.

Just before I had elaborated that Babu Kunwar Singh’s ‘guru(spiritual teacher) was a Maithil Brahmin from Ranti (Madhubani, the hear centre of Mithila)who had stimulated him for fighting against British imperialists.

I also discussed long with the secretary of the school, Sarvdev Tiwari, about the monument of Kunwar Singh. I was shocked that still Govt. has not done anything appreciable while for his village Jagdeeshpur 10 km off of Ara there should have been regular bus from Patna for tourism purpose.(in the evening I saw too huge hoardings of Bihar Ministry for some Sufi but that was for minority vote bank, I criticized on 27th meeting of intellectuals at Samsatipur in harsh words.).



It is a matter of further shame that Kunwar Singh’s statues were erected by his castement here and there- had that great hero fought for his caste? I recalled my speech on him in 1974/75 when I was a second year student and had delivered speech on the request of a friend( again he was a Rajput ?) when failure of electricity aroused a murmur that I commnded’ listening does not require light’ and thde hall was silenced and I continued my speech some 29 minutes(incidentally mike’s battery was working).



I was escorted to the assembly of boys and girls and had inguration of function by lighting lamp before Mother saraswati and Bharatmata.

I was presented a Shreefal(coconut) so beautifully wrapped in colured papers with threads( I had not seen such on the past though my sister today informed such were available at Ranchi also).



Some girls presented a self composed welcome song in sonorous voice-

“raura ayalanhi hamare anganwa,

Ee phulwadi bhay gel;;”

I was stunned to listen those as I had an impression that Bhojpuris were very strong species who have no affection and their songs are mostly obscene.

I spoke- “ India is one and it looked different”

India was not formed on 15th August 1947 but has been a vibrant nation.



Then mostly picking up threads from the kids I gave some hints on health and hygiene- even very akward looking thing- like after defaecation, first you clean urinary orifice with water and then anus and once anus never your hands to go to urinary passage( to prevent Urinary tract infection).

I asked them to chop of nail and have right way of brushing teeth(at 45degree angle joint of gums to teeth, not on the while glistening enamel).

I gave them some tips on vitamins and suggested to avoid toffees preferring apples/ guava/ ground nit instead than sweets(difficult to suggest such things to children).



I said them ‘in one class only one will be first and hence your work is to read only naot thinking for results as per Gita.

Personality is tested in failures not in successes. So NO SUICIDE in any case- sometimes teachers are at fault to give numbers- have pity on them.



I told them the story of a Maithil village girl Priyanka of naaur village who wished to be an IAS and lo! Incidentally there was also a Priyanka!

Gotanjali was there and they could relate to Rabindranath but no maitriee, nachiketa, Abhimanyu, Aaruni or Prahlad!

I felt we are now focused to marketing names on consumerism more than our proud culture.

One girl asked me as to whether I wrote any book and I presented a copy of my MaithiliGita for the library there.

Since Headmaster balinderji had requested me to tell something in my mother tongue- I asked if there was any maithil child- no hand was up and then I narrated them the story of Ugna in Maithili when Lord Shiva had became a servant of the mahakavi Vidyapati(who had even fought with Muslim invaders with swirds and had written

‘Debur bhangi masid bandhi( demolishing temples they make mosques).



It was much time and we started for Vidwadgoshti (intellectuals meeting) at the house of Sadanad Mishra near Kunwar Singh University where though attendance was low we discussed many things.

I told them to go for a Bhojpur state for which they agreed. I told them that We will have Mithila state. We can change our state but not neighbors and so Bhojpuris and Maghis should feel for us good neighbours that my visit was meant.



President of the gosthi Dr.Ramtabkya Singh though HOD of the PG dept. of Chemistry had a flair of writing and singing which I listened. The other retired head of Hindi had a great Bhojpuri thinker Dr. Gadhdhar Singh who informed that now people write too much in Bhojpuri though previously they were serving Hindi cause.

I explained them how national language could be simplified Sanskrit.

To my utter surprise Dr. Singh informed that Mahakavi Vidyapati had visited Jagdeeshpur also and had written in Bhojpuri (two verses of that are with him- which I will try to get from him in future).

Maybe true as Mithila in Vidayapti’s long life tenure for some time was ruled by nawabs of Jaunpur too where Vidyapati had gone as Royal emissary and he might have wrotten in Bhojpuri too and iof that proved so he might be called the first Bhojpuri wroter too., again a proud moment for we Maithils.



It was getting dark and I had decided to go to Patna , if not to Dalsigsarai..

Yet I thought to pay a visit to the grand old physician of the town Dr. SN Mishra, MBBS 1956 batch of the darbhanga medical college who obtained his DTM&H and DCH from England. A native of Shivnagar- Benipatti, 80-years old Dr. Mishra told that he was ‘ a fortunate father of six daughters- the sith mamta was a docto0r and all six son-in laws eminent doctors’ One of them the third Pramod K Jha, FRCS was a batchmate of mine.

Dr. Mishra organized Viodyapati parva for some 30 years which I requested that be revived with the energy of some youth(though some such young maithils were informed no one could come for my meeting and thus such a planned meeting could not be held.

Nor any doctors’ meeting except meeting Dr. Mishra who told us that he used to take rs. 50 as fee for six months no second fee(now he charges Rs.200). He tried to build up a medical college also and runs Shyamal Super specialty hospital at Patna.

I took a rickshaw and seeing the roads of Ara reached station and despite shortage of time I did darshan of Ma Durga and Lord Hanuman at the station. Ma Bakhorapurwalee Durga is otherwise famous who is somewhere near I could not go but had seen written on some distant buses even at Ranchi.



Express traons were late and I asked for a passenger ticket for Rs.10 which in the train I saw was of Mail Express for Rs.22. was it a mistake or an already sold ticket resold to me difficult to say.

I called the Maunathbahnajan boy who had phoned that he was going to Maner(which I had a wrong impression was towards Nalanda in Magadh from where my teacher Dr. KK Sinha belonged to) from where he would go directly to patna and had requested me to give a call.

I was a bit suspicious to go to an unknown person’s room at night and I SMSed my sister his number and address near Veena talkies of Patnanear Ptna junction and with courage I went there.

In the meantime Akhilesh of Nanaur phoned me that a Vidyapati parva was going on at the Rajeevnagar of patna- I told him that if the organizers give me time during cultural function, breaking for my speech for few minutes, I may reach there but the secretary did not agree- whether too give me more honour ? Or was hesitant on my stand on Mithila was difficult for me to understand. Yes, it is difficult for me to understand Mithila psyche!



The train was late and around 10 I reached Ptna. I took some dried chura and thought not to eat anything but the unknown boy Manish came to receive me at the Veena Talkies and in his 8.5’X 15’ cubic(with attached bath and toilet) I was again offered meals cooked by himself.

I thought a second Vinay Tarun he was (of Bhagalpur, there he could know that I was a doctor when I prescribed for his migraine).

He is one among four siblings who could not read beyond graduation for deposing money for his sister’s marriage(father of 46 was almost unemployed). I told him, ‘you could do what I could not.’

In the morning I was awaken by alarm but again slept a finally a call from my sister at 530 I could get up and around 715 I reached nearby Patna bus stand crossing the platforms of Junction station by foot overbridge.



The 7-05 bus to Dalsingsarai already leaft and next 8 am darbar bus I could and reached Mithila’s Dalsingsarai around 11 am in Dharna and then to samastipur—(to be continued)















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Dr. Dhanakar Thakur
Spokesman,
Antarrashtriya Maithili Parishad