BIHAR VERSION OF XP

An excellent creative effort, certainly not my own.
Hats off to the person who created it.
For your collective enjoyment.

I'd LOVE having a real desktop like this one

This happens only in Sikkim

Two popular eateries located at MG Marg here had to shut down on Sunday after Government officials raided in their premises.

The District Collector (East), Vishal Chauhan, inspected the two establishments- Quick Bite Fast Food and Rasoi Restaurant, above Tourist Information Center along with officials from the Sikkim Food and supplies department, following several complaints lodged by their customers.

The surprise raids were the outcome of many complaints received by the DC’s Office over the use of domestic LPG cylinders by these two eateries, against standard norms for commercial establishments.

Along with this, the DC’s Office had also been receiving complaints of unhygienic conditions of these two eateries located in the heart of the Capital.

Several customers had made complaints over the lack of hygiene in the kitchens of the two restaurants.

Read the full story here

That's why I always say Sikkim is Heaven.

When I was staying in Gangtok the late 80's and 90's, the one thing that I really approved of was the way in which the Government took its role seriously as a positive force.

And also how citizens took their civic duties seriously.

[BTW, that pic is me enjoying a delicious meal at my favourite Hotel Tibet in 1987]

I wish the enlighetened citizens of BIHAR, the ones who are so interested in seeing their State get a better deal, read the full story and cick on the link.

Bihar can never hope to see unhygenic eateries shut down, or being raided for defrauding the government by sing domestic gas cylinders in a commercial establishment. It's because the local administartion is corrupt to the core, and simply because citizens don't care to be informed.

Roundup 2

Several thousand tribal and Dalit Hindus in India
have converted en masse to Buddhism at a ceremony in Mumbai
This is the link which you're looking for as reported by the BBC
The other one leads you to a report from a year ago.

Religious Roundup:

Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in India


at which hundreds of Hindu


converted to Buddhism and Christianity.

[Click the photograph for the BBC story]

The Dalits - once known as Untouchables - hope to escape the prejudice and discrimination they often face.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the house of Bihar Dalit journalist and social activist Umesh Manjhi, whom I taught at a journalism workshop some years ago. His sister was converting to Buddhism at the Maharashtra meeting, he told me. Manjhi, who hails from Bihar's Musahar [rat-eater] caste, says that Musahars were not actually castes at all but tribals.
The question is, is this 'conversion' just politics? If it's just for political ends, doesn't it defeat the purpose?
These converts known as 'Ambedkarites', are often looked down upon by the traditional Buddhist heirarchy, so what do these 'changing religion' practices really achieve?














BBC REPORTED


Pakistan couple jailed because Islamic Law doesn't acknowledge Gender-Reassignment surgery







A Pakistani court has jailed a married couple for three years for perjury after a dispute over the husband's sex. Last week the court ruled that the husband was, in fact, a woman, despite sex-change surgery and that the couple had lied about his sexual status. It also said their marriage was un-Islamic because it was same-sex.







The case is believed the first of its kind in Pakistan. The couple said they would appeal against the sentence and have asked President Musharraf to help.






Shumail Raj, 31, had sex-change surgery to become a man and then married his cousin - who was aware of the condition but says she needed his help to avoid being forced into wedlock with someone else.

Raj had undergone surgery twice in Pakistan over the past 16 years to become a man. But tests carried out by doctors on behalf of the court ruled that Raj, who has a beard an moustache, was still a woman. He himself says that he needs to go abroad for more treatment even though his breasts and uterus have been removed.
The judge, Khawaja Mohammad Sharif, said he was issuing a "lenient" sentence, below the maximum punishment, because the couple had apologised.






Reports said Mr Raj and his 24-year-old wife Shahzina Tariq appeared shocked by the verdict.







"We appeal to President Musharraf to intervene. Mr Musharraf is talking about moderation and enlightenment. We hope he will do something for us," Mr Raj said.

Earlier, the couple told the court that they had got married so that the wife could avoid an arranged marriage.






The bride's father wants to annul the wedding . But the couple argue that they married to protect the bride from being sold into marriage to pay off her uncle's gambling debts.






Shahzina Tariq says they are not homosexuals and they married because they are in love.






They were arrested a fortnight ago after the bride's family complained about the gender of her husband.

Pick of theday

A Hindu's love for an ancient Sufi shrine

By Gunjana Roy, Bhagalpur (Bihar),

May 27: For eight long years, a 65-year-old Hindu man has been managing with care and devotion a Sufi shrine after Muslims hit hard by the 1989 communal violence gave it up.

Suresh Bhagat, who has virtually deserted his family in the process, says he enjoys every minute he spends at the 300-year-old shrine of Bazid Dargah Pahalwan, a revered Muslim preacher, in Amapur village some 20 km away.

The last of the Muslim families left the village in 1999, a decade after Bihar's worst communal riots killed hundreds and marked the end of Congress dominance over Bihar.

Read the rest of this story, whioch is yet another example of how the common man in Bihar is far more spiritual and understanding of the true spirit of Hinduism than the hate-mongering high-profile 'saviours'.

I spotted the story here

Besides boasting of the tiger forests, wild life sanctuaries and a lot of
rich flora and fauna, what is exactly the life of the rural people here? Are
they basically simple, happy villagers living in peace and harmony
subsisting on
occupations like fishing and honey collection from the forests
or is it the
other way round? The local folks, being themselves a part and
parcel of this
high risk zone, been sadly ‘molded ‘by circumstances into a
bunch of inhuman,
atrocious people?

Read this interesting article in a blog by ratul banerjee

Nar Bahadur Bhandari convicted

Former Sikkim Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari was on Saturday convicted in a disproportionate assets case by a designated CBI court .
The court of Special CBI Judge S W Lepcha held Bhandari guilty under the prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the court on Monday. The case relates to the alleged construction of a five-storey building by Bhandari in Gangtok at a cost of Rs 15.22 lakh which is unaccounted for.
The case was being heard by the designated CBI court since September 1994.
Bhandari was the chief minister of Sikkim from 1979 to 1994.
He was the all powerful Chief Minister in teh late '80s. His Sikkim Sangram Parishad party has the enviable record of capturing 100% seats in the state assembly. Absolute power corrupts, and in 1994, there was a split in his party, with Pawan chamling from South Sikkim becoming the new Chief minister.
had He is presently the president of the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee.
As Correspondent for the Telegraph and Executive Editor of Sikkim Express, and later 'Forthrightly', I have many interesting stories about the man, who was, and continues to be an astute politician.

Seven-yr-old faces dowry charges

Sameer Kumar, Abhay Mohan Jha reported for NDTV on Saturday, May 26, 2007 from (Begusarai, Bihar)

A seven-year-old has been charged in a dowry case in Bihar. Santosh, a class four student has paid the price for a crime he did not commit.

My comment: The age for being enrolled in primary school is six years, a student in class four will be at least 12 years, the usual age when rural Biharis start scouting around for child-brides. Either the child's age has been erroneously reported, or here's a genius that passed Class one at age four!

First Post

This is where Fragmented Rainbows Continues
In its new Avatar

Odd Couple

Bihar never ceases to surprise. When you talk about sexuality issues, the week’s unusal story is about a Muslim man married who a Hindu Hijra [transegender] in a Bihar court.
Mohammad Salim married eunuch Jaygopal Malakar in Chapra district civil court in the presence of several people including two legal witnesses last Tuesday. This is Salim's second marriage.
According to advocate Jungbahadur Singh, Salim in his affidavit prepared at the notary said he married Jaygopal Malakar, a dancer in his music band with the approval of his first wife. Salim is father of a two-year-old girl, born from his marriage to Sanjida Khatoon.
In her affidavit Jaygopal Malakar said she married Salim on her own will. "Salim's parents and his wife accepted me as second wife," Malakar said. Salim and Malakar said they would also solemnise the marriage in keeping with Muslim rituals soon. Singh said the couple met two years ago and fell in love with each other.
This has expectedly, brought in a lot of flak and opposition from the Moslem clergy who say that the marriage is un-islamic.
Mihammed Salim and Jaygopal are true trailblazers. Human and sexuality rights activists should watch this story and its aftermath carefully. Will they be left in peace or will the media publicity destroy them?

PICK OF THE DAY

Every day, here's good stuff I've noticed

Aniket Keshkamet, an MBA graduate who now works for GE Finance, has moved jobs twice in the last three years and seen his salary nearly treble.

"I get a pension that is part of the package and healthcare, for the whole family, dependent parents, my wife and myself," he tells me.

With a population of well over one billion people, India shouldn't be experiencing that kind of wage inflation but it is - not least because many millions of people are failing to get the education that they need.

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE:
What is holding India's economy back

ATM’s there, but where has the money gone?

The biometric automated teller machine (ATM) inaugurated by rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in his constituency Vaishali worked for less than 10 days. The custom-made ATM was installed, especially to help people employed under India's national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGA) collect their wages.

The biometric ATM was the first of its kind made for people who cannot read or write. It uses sophisticated and features like fingerprint verification and voice-guided animated screens to help daily-wagers withdraw money. In fact, the NREGA workers were reportedly trained to use the machine.

On March 12, when it was inaugurated, 210 workers opened accounts in the Central Bank of India branch in Vaishali. Since then, just about a handful withdrew Rs 1,000 each. The ATM ran out of money soon, a source, said.

The ATM was meant to protect workers from local contractors who routinely take a cut from their wages in return for getting them on the list of government employment schemes.

The NREGA was launched promising some 60 million households in India a certain level of financial protection through guaranteed work or unemployment benefits. In Budget 2007-08, Rs 12,000 crore have been set aside for 330 districts covered under the programme.



When contacted by a reporter from the Financial express,Central bankbranch manager Satish Kumar, in Vaishali, said he was appointed only a few days back. The money to be stocked in the ATM was calculated by the BDO (block development officer), he said. The BDO forwards the estimate to the rural development ministry and other associated government bodies. This is checked once again by a CAPART (Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology — an autonomous society under the rural development ministry) officer. When the BDO receives the funds, he gives them to the bank that then fills the ATM. with cash. “I’ve written to all concerned, including the BDO and the district magistrate,” Kumar said.

But now the ATM has run dry, obviously because the BDO hasn't got the funds.

Or is the BDO another link in the corruption game?

SAATHII RAINBOW FILM AWARDS 2007

An activity within Rainbow Pride Week 2007

and
Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2007, Calcutta

Concept Note and Plan of Action

1. Background to the awards: The idea for SAATHII Rainbow Film Awards (SRFA) was first proposed by SAATHII at the 2nd International Conference on Sexualities, Masculinities and Cultures in South Asia organized by Dharani Trust and Swabhava Trust in Bangalore in June 2004. The idea was proposed during a session on LGBT or queer representation in Bollywood films by Humsafar Trust, Mumbai.

In 2005, SAATHII put the idea into action and instituted the SAATHII Rainbow Film Awards (SRFA) 2005 as a key attraction within the Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival and Rainbow Pride Week in that year. Both are important events on Calcutta and India’s growing “LGBT events calendar”.

The first SRFA were won by: (a) Onir for “My Brother Nikhil”, which was voted the “best film portraying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender characters and issues”, and (b) Purab Kohli in “My Brother Nikhil” as the “best actor in the role of a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender character”. The awards were decided on the basis of voting by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people across West Bengal. As many as 106 people cast their votes for their favourite films and actors.

Note: More details of SRFA 2005 can be seen in Appendix 1 (file attached). Please visit the Picture Gallery at http://www.saathii.org/%20gensex/calcutta/ to know more about the late Siddhartha Gautam, one of India’s pioneering human rights activists in the 1980s and early 1990s, the festival organized in his memory each year by SAATHII, and for a background to the annual Rainbow Pride Week activities in Calcutta (and increasingly beyond it in other places in eastern India).

2. Rationale for the awards: The main aim of SRFA is to take the participation of LGBT people in the Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival beyond viewing the films. The awards seek to make the “voices of LGBT audiences” heard by filmmakers. The message conveyed is that LGBT people have an opinion on the films that portray LGBT characters. These opinions should be taken seriously by filmmakers and other artists involved in the making of films so that the portrayal of LGBT issues and characters becomes more sensitive and mature, particularly in “popular cinema”.

These awards are an experimental step towards advocacy with filmmakers. Films are a powerful medium of communication and mould social opinion in a big way. Therefore greater the participation of LGBT people in these awards, the stronger their voice will be with not just filmmakers but also larger society. Strategic media coverage of SRFA will be needed to publicize the initiative widely and help achieve its intended aim.

3. What or who will be awarded SRFA 2007:

a) Best feature film portraying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender characters and issues
b) Best feature film actor in the role of a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender character
c) Best documentary film focussing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues

4. Why the word “Rainbow” in the name of the awards: The rainbow colours present a wide spectrum of colours – as diverse as the genders and sexualities of human beings. The objective of the awards is to strengthen the social status of LGBT people and generate greater acceptance for diversity in genders and sexualities. Hence the use of the word “rainbow” in the awards name.

5. Which films will be eligible for the awards:
a) Films that portray LGBT characters and issues in the Indian / Indian Diaspora / South Asian contexts
b) Genre: Feature and documentary films. Mixed formats will also be considered but will primarily be considered under the documentary genre
c) Only films made in India will be considered
d) Films can be in any language. Sub-titling in English for films other than those in Hindi, Bengali and English will be preferred
e) Time period: Films released or first screened in India in the period June 2005 till April 2007 will be considered (SRFA 2005 considered films released till May 2005)
f) Formats: Preferably DVD. VHS and VCD formats will also be considered
g) Print quality must be good for public screening
h) Films must be accessible to SAATHII by May 31, 2007. SAATHII has a large collection of films in its reference library in Calcutta, many of which will be considered for the awards.

SAATHII is also trying to acquire more films for its reference library that can also be considered for the awards

Recommendations or submission of films from those receiving this concept note will also be welcome, provided the films reach SAATHII’s Calcutta Office by end May 2007.

The address to which films must be couriered (along with a cover letter that includes an introduction to the filmmaker and a synopsis of the film): CD 335, Sector I, Salt Lake City, Calcutta, Pin 700 064. For more details, please call 033 2337 9880 or write in to saathii@yahoo.com

i) In the case of films already in SAATHII’s collection or those that SAATHII is trying to acquire, the filmmakers (film director and / or producer) must be willing to have their films considered for SRFA 2007. SAATHII will try to contact the filmmakers to confirm their interest
6. Who will decide the awards and how: SAATHII will first short list the films to be considered for the awards on the basis of criteria mentioned in the previous point. A six to eight member jury consisting of LGBT community leaders from West Bengal will then view these films and rate the films and actors on the basis of specific criteria. SAATHII will organize the screenings for the jury and also prepare the rating criteria to be used by the jury. The jury members will represent (LGBT) communities, not support groups or organizations they may be affiliated to. The jury members will be selected by SAATHII to represent a cross-section of socio-economic strata and occupations.

SAATHII Trustees and full-time or-part time staff will not be part of the jury to avoid any possible conflict of interest. Names of the jury members will be made known on the final day of Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2007, when the SRFA 2007 winners are announced. The award winning films will be screened on the final day of the festival, and interaction between the audience and the filmmakers will be facilitated.

What will the awards consist of: An artistic creation by an artist preferably from within the LGBT communities. First preference will be given to improving on the creation that was designed for SRFA 2005 by Reflection, Calcutta. If this is not possible, some other creation will be considered.

Contact for SRFA 2007, Siddhartha Gautam Film Festival 2007 and Rainbow Pride Week 2007 details:
Pawan Dhall / Subhadip Roy / Dibyendu Ganguli, Phone: 033 2337 9880, 98303 15269 (Subhadip), 98319 30065 (Dibyendu), E-mail: saathii@yahoo.com

Andaman Islands Under Attack!

Poachers threaten Andamans sea-life .. inter-services team work works!


The recent spurt in poaching activities
and intelligence inputs
regarding illegal immigration
is a cause of concern.


To curb the anti poaching activities in and around Andaman Islands and to ensure that the marine wealth is no more exploited by foreign poachers, Andaman and Nicobar Command has enhanced vigil in the maritime zones, especially in the Northern group of Islands.



Apart from the four components of the command viz. Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, there has been active involvement of the Police and Forest departments, in the endeavour. Ships and Air Crafts from all the services have been directed to step up maritime surveillance.


This has resulted in the arrest of 60 Myanmarese poachers with 8 dinghies in the recent past.


Various islands of Northern group have been identified and are being sanitized by the task groups formed by the Command in a phased manner.


The temporary camps built by the poachers are being destroyed.



Coast Guard and Naval ships are carrying out necessary barrier patrol at sea and denying further replenishments.


These poachers are generally found in possession of Traucas, sea Cucumber, Corals etc, which are believed to fetch them high price in the international market.


Monitoring and patrolling has been enhanced aiming to deter the poachers from entering Indian territorial waters and exploiting our marine wealth, a communication from ANC, HQ said according to The Daily Telegraph, Port Blair..



Now some information on sea-cucumbers:



From a Chinese advertisement :
Sea cucumber is a famous nourishment among the Chinese. What we serve is not The traditional sea cucumber which is dried and the consumers have to dip them in Water for a considerable period of time. Our sea cucumbers ready for cooking are Handpicked from local sea cucumber and processed carefully to make them maintain Their protein and nutrition maximumly. Customers have no need to dip them in Water any more but just to unpack to cook. Their taste and feeling in mouth is Better than the dried one dipped in the water.

Misunderstood Muslims?

Muslims are the most misunderstood community in India.

Do you agree?
They are usually projected as backward-looking.
The common concept is that each man has four wives.
They are thought to be conservative.

I have taught mass media for many years in one of Bihar’s leading women’s colleges.
In every class of 35 students there are at least seven to eight Muslim girls.
They are as good and as competitive as any other student.
Their parents don’t seem to be ultra-conservative, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing Mass Media!

A WALK ON THE OTHER SIDE

When we talk of India shining
We usually think of the big things
The bright shiny cars
The glass and chrome high rise buildings.
We look at the other India
And what we see is darkness.
But that’s not really true.
Today I took a walk on the other side.
To the homes of the poor.
The dispossessed.
The Dalits.
No doubt, things weren’t sanitary.
Or pretty.
Or even hygienic.
But what I saw wasn’t squalor.
It was aspiration.
It was not resignation.
It was there in their eyes.
The will to live with dignity.
As much as possible.
Even if it means to make do with a school under a tree.
Or to subsist on potatoes.
Even if it means shrinking livelihoods.
The machine is replacing unskilled labour.
The machines are replacing semi-skilled labour.
That will mean more men out of work.
More illicit liquor.
Maybe even more discontent.
We need to find answers.
Fast.

DISCOVER JAMALPUR

Jamalpur in Bihar's Monghyr Disrict has one of the most remarkable Railway Workshops in the World, and the largest in India. Not even the US of A can surpass India's mammoth railway network, the busiest in the world.


Jamalpur, pioneering railway workshop

Jamalpur Workshop has the proud privilege of being the only railway workshop , where broad gauge cranes for railway's use are manufactured. This is the only railway workshop where large, microprocessor controlled 140-Ton capacity break down cranes for Indian Railways are manufactured indigenously with very little import content.
This workshop has completed over 140 years of glorious performance and dedicated service to the Nation. Ironically it stands alone in the Industrial desert of the northern part of Bihar in general and in Munger District in particular.
This is the only workshop in Indian Railways to have been equipped with its own 5 MVA power house.

Jamalpur Rly Workshop ‘ FIRSTS’



The first to manufacture a steam locomotive
(The first one, CA 764 'Lady Curzon', was produced in 1899.) at a cost of Rs. 33,000/- which served for 33 years. The manufacture of Steam locomotive was stopped in the year 1923 .

Jamalpur Workshop built 216 locomotives and locomotive boilers – between 1899 and 1923.

The first to have set up a rolling mill not only on the railways, but probably in the country in 1870.(now closed)The first to establish a railway foundry in the year 1893.

The first to build a rail- travelling crane in India with indigenous know-how in 1961.

The first to manufacture high capacity synchronised electrically operated lifting jacks popularly known as "Jamalpur jacks" in 1962 and ticket printing, ticket chopping, ticket slitting and ticket counting machines.

The first and the only railway workshop to manufacture electrical arc furnaces of ½ tonne capacity in 1961 for production of steel casting
'The Express' - the sister of 'Fairy Queen' built 1855
Click on the first picture for more about Monghyr/ Munger in Bihar.
****** **** ****
I came across this wonderful resource :
Railway Colonies in India by John Alton Price


When quite a child in India I had gathered, from the odd word I happened to overhear, or the odd attitude one observed when the subject of Railways was mentioned there seemed to be an antipathy towards 'those Railway people'.

This rather upset me and I thought the attitude was somewhat curious, not to say unfair. I found out as I grew older and a bit more knowledgeable that the Railway people were considered a bit 'Racy' and not quite up to the mark or shall we say a bit common. In much later days I was to discover for myself that these opinions were positively unfair and rather, or downright ignorant. I had in my 'growing up' days had very little contact with railway people in India, except for the occasional meeting through rail travel.

During my service in the Military I was to be Posted to a quite important Railway Station called Jamalpur, in Bihar. It was early May 1942 and our Unit was transported to a wooded area to set up Camp.

I was to discover that Jamalpur had the third largest Railway Workshop in the World (or so I was told) and was responsible for the training of Railway Engineers who came to the Workshops after they had passed out of their particular schools of academia. Consequently most male members of the town were Railway Engineers of one kind or another, However high or low in status I found them most agreeable. I was never able to have a guided tour of the workshops but I'm sure the inner workings of the railway would have been interesting. In the front of the Workshop buildings, on a three foot high pedestal was placed a Locomotive which happened to be the first Engine to ride the rails of The East Indian Railways. I have a photo of the beautiful machine.



[ This is an edited version, click on the picture of the engine for a time travel to Jamalpur in the 1940's

Bihar woman among top 25 Asian farmers

SHE'S GOT NO LAND, BUT SHE'S A TOP FARMER!

She does not represent the who’s who of Indian business or industry. Her views are not being considered to chalk out the roadmap to bring the underdeveloped state of Bihar back on tracks of progress.

She is not even a member of the Bihar Development and Industrial Council (BDIC), formed last year to provide a common platform to business and industry tycoons who are concerned for Bihar and get together to deliberate and suggest ways for development of the state.

But the semi-literate, daily wage earner Lalmuni Devi of Azadnagar village in Patna district, now figures in the list of top 25 Asian farmers following her adoption of mushroom farming under the guidance of Indian Council of Agriculture and Research (ICAR).

WHAT'S THE STORY? CLICK HERE!

In Memoriam, In desperation, In pain

It's time we stopped killing our +People through indifference

Socially ostracised, an HIV positive man in a Bihar village committed suicide by setting himself on fire.


He was the only bread earner and immolated himself two days ago in a village in Jamui district, about 150 km from Patna, the state capital.
The immediate provocation for the drastic act was reportedly a quack, who said his days were numbered.

"He poured kerosene oil and set himself ablaze. He died of severe burns," a villager said, adding that at the time of the incident his aged parents had gone to a village fair while his wife was at her parental home with her two children.

"The family used to go without food due to poverty and he was treated badly by the villagers," said the victim's father-in-law.
The man had been suffering from high fever, a wracking cough and weakness since his return from Kolkata last year. "He became skinny and could not walk properly," said a villager.

Like millions of migrant workers who leave home in search of better prospects, he too had gone to Kolkata two years ago to earn a livelihood. While he contracted the virus in Kolkata, his wife got it from him, health officials said.

According to official figures, 1,100 people among Bihar's over 83 million population are infected with the virus, but AIDS campaigners claim the figures are underreported.

Unofficial figures put the HIV population of Bihar at 40,000.

India has an estimated 5.7 million (5.2 million in the 15-49 years category) HIV/AIDS affected people. About 39 percent of them are women

The Flowering of the Bamboo - Horror Story

It has started.

RATS!

For the first time in a half-century, the dreaded bamboo flowering has begun in parts of Manipur.

The Mautam, as the mysterious occurrence is known in the Mizo language, is disastrous for two reasons.

First, after flowering, bamboo dies almost immediately, rendering it almost completely useless. Whole swaths of bamboo forests disappear.

Second, the sudden prevalence of bamboo seeds leads to an explosion in the regional rat population. The rodents decimate more than just the bamboo blossoms, however, and inevitably turn their attentions to the locals’ foodgrain stores.

So great is the fear of the imminent blossoms that in areas of Churachandpur District only recently cleared of militant activity, the Indian Army has been redeployed – to go on an emergency education spree about rats.
The enormous bamboo forests of the Northeast spread across Manipur, as well as Mizoram, Tripura and parts of Assam.

Although the plants only blossom once every 48 years, the occurrence has long been known to lead to widespread famine.

The last time that the bamboo in the region blossomed was in the late 1950s. The picture show the bamboo seed eaten by rats.

A report by India's forest and environment ministry predicts that at least 5,100 sq km of Mizoram's forest area (out of a total of 6,446 sq km of forest) will be affected by the Mautam in 2007.

The Mizoram agriculture department anticipates a crop shortfall of at least 75% in 2007-2008 because of farmers not planting.

And why do farmers not plant? It's futile because waves of rats devour everything.

Desperate to control the rising rat population, the state government announced a reward of one rupee for every rat killed.
During 2006 alone more than 221,636 rats were killed. The killing continues but the rats keep coming in hordes.

The photo shows rats tails in a heap to keep tally!

It was in October 2005 that the initial heavy flowering of the bamboo was first noticed at Chawngtlai bamboo forest in the southern district of Champhai.
It then spread rapidly in 2006.

Tribal elders in Mizoram remember the deadly Mautam of 1958-59, that led to a widespread famine in the Mizo Hills, then a part of Assam.

This famine resulted in the formation of the Mizo National Front and disaffected young people blamed India for turning a blind eye to their desperation. That resulted in the struggle for 'Independence' from India. Rats caused insurgency.

The BBC has the full story here

FAST FOODS OF BIHAR

I was on my usual rushing around grind in Patna, and suddenly, the topic for today was staring at me in the face. What are indigenous fast foods?

Before the 'Chilli Chicken' invasion and 'yugg-roll', we did have our own quick recipies, dished out by our not-so hygenic but popular vendors.

Summer's on and watermelon salads are the rage. weighed, diced and sprinkled with savoury spices and rock salt, just the thing to beat the heat.

The Poochka or pani-poorie is the perennial favourite. Mouth-watering 'literally'. A globe of brittle dough with spiced potato stuffing filled with tamarind water that stretches your mouth and explodes on your tongue! It's an experience that can't be described in words.

The comes the Bihar staple, the ever present, unromantic yet highly popular 'litthi'. it's a ball of dough filled with roasted gram flour. Available almost everywhere. Like on this busy intersection.Even this small boy can handle a portable oven and hot litthis that sell like hot cakes even in the sweltering heat of a May aftrenoon.

In honour of Buddha Purnima or Saga Dawa

The Buddhist heritage of Bihar is something to be thought about.

The Bodhgaya Stupa, or Mahabodhi Vihara , was erected in the place where Buddha Shakyamuni gained enlightenment some two thousand five hundred years ago. Here we see boy monks from two Buddhist traditions.

Its origins are lost in time, but it is known that King Ashoka erected a shrine to Buddha here in the third century B.C.

In spite of extensive research by scholars, until this day no one has been able to give a definite date as to when this present temple was built, who constructed it or how long it took to be completed. It is generally believed that the Great Stupa must have come into existence between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D.

Much of the history of Bodhgaya is known from its inscriptions, graffiti and to a lesser extent literary accounts of the many pilgrims who visited throughout the centuries.

During the long reign of the Pala Kings of Bengal, the Mahabodhi Temple received lavish patronage, and most of the images and Stupas that can still be seen in and around the temple date from this period.

Several inscriptions mention Pala Kings as having made gifts and endowments as did Kings from other parts of India.

The beginning of the thirteenth century saw much of India in chaos due to the invasion by the Turkish Empire. Invading Muslim armies destroyed temples and defaced statues. There is no record of exactly how and when Bodhgaya was destroyed, but there are records that in the onslaught the Turks put to death innumerable monks and destroyed images and shrines.

During the Turkish rule, the Mahabodhi temple fell into ruins due to deliberate destruction and neglect, and the visits of pilgrims became less and less frequent. All accounts of the temple prior to the British restoration in 1880 indicate that it was an uncared for and neglected ruin, with the ground floor and second floor chambers collapsed. An accumulation of rubbish around the temple meant that the level of the ground had reached above the niches on the outer wall.

In 1802, the Burmese sent a mission to Bodhgaya, and the British also became interested.

Francis Hamilton's 1811 visit didn't yield a published report until 1836, however Alexander Cunningham was led to recommend excavations after his visit in 1861.

The initial excavations were led by Major Mead, but no report was ever published and today the papers whereabouts are unknown.

It was in 1880 that the Governor of Bengal appointed J.D. Beglar to restore the temple in conjunction with the Burmese. This restoration was based on earlier models of the temple found in the local area.

Some say that this sadly destroyed much of the original nature of the temple by rebuilding the front pavilion and four corner towers and covering the arched doorway despite the physical evidence these existed at an earlier stage.

[source:A Brief History of the Mahabodhi Temple ]

SYMBOL FOR BIHAR

While looking for 'symbols' for Bihar, what we most commonly see is that colossal farce made by the British in the 1700's :The Gol Ghar.

Or it's the Ashokan Pillar at Vaishali.

Or its the 'martyrs' memorial near the Patna Secretariat.

Or it's the rather recent colossal Buddha statue in Bodh Gaya.

Sher Shah Suri , a warrior Mughal emperor and the buildrer of the grand Trunk Road lies in a stately masoleum at Sasaram, built in red sandstone.

Why is it that this remarkable edifice has never featured as one of the heritage symbols of Bihar.

I visited this place a few days ago, and was impressed that it's being maintained very well.

Here's another symbol for Brand Bihar. How about using it?