Heroes are often found in the unlikeliest of places, and while doing a stint to encourage journalists to report more proactively on child issues, I literally stumbled across this guy at an emergency shelter run by People First, a Gaya based NGO. People First is the brainchild of Nick Hanson, a Brit who fell in […]
PJ Abdul Kalam was buried today. He died in action. Contributing towards education with his last breath, in a manner of speaking. He led a remarkable life. From an ordinary, poor Muslim household, he educated himself to become a well known engineer, beloved of the hawks, who christened him with the nickname, ‘The missile man’ […]
Bodh Gaya on a late July evening is balmy with the evening breeze, fresh washed with monsoon showers, but there’s more action here than what meets the off-season tourist’s eye. A new vegetarian restaurant called Magadh has sprung up opposite the Thai temple, and they serve surprisingly good vegetarian Chinese and south east Asian fare […]
Let’s get all gooey eyed over ‘the future of the nation’ once more. The buzz on some English language TV channels this weekend has been about the sudden realisation that India has forgotten about planning for children in the urban slums. Children living in city slums are far more vulnerable and at risk than kids […]
Wake up folks and smell the cocaine! Come sundown, at least 20 persons not yet 18 years old somewhere, someplace in Bihar have got their virgin ‘fix’ out of a hypodermic needle. That’s a ballpark figure thrown out by Jojo Bimal, a chap with an NGO working with IDUs or intravenous drug users in Bihar. […]
About three years ago, representatives of civil society, especially those connected with education, archeology, design, and media were invited to a quiet gathering organized by the Bihar Museum Society, where a team of young experts unveiled a plan to energize the moth eaten Patna Museum into an engaging, exciting venue for education. The questions and […]
What does a common cop do to ensure his police station has ‘contributed’ to International Day against Drug Abuse? How does he show that they are all very serious about the ‘War on Drugs’? The big drug cartels are too powerful and far away. The local drug peddler is a continuous source of ‘income’ for […]
Are the doddering agents of patriarchy conniving to put a padlock on the Women Studies department of Patna University? The intrepid lady professors of the Department of Women’s Studies took umbrage at a report ‘planted’ in a local daily that seemed to suggest that the Master of Arts and Post graduate Diploma Courses in Women’s […]
When did Bihar become the corn belt of India? When did the mandi at Gulab Bagh near Purnia become India’s largest maize market? A quiet economic revolution has been taking place in Bihar, and this is fuelled by a collaboration between the private sector and the humble cultivator. “Rather than being despondent after the state […]
The North East of India has been a troubled region long before I was born. Grandparents in the region tell us of the 1950s when India literally waged a war against the tribal areas, using all kinds of tactics to consolidate their power after the British left. Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Aruncahal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and recently […]
The great wedding season is in progress, and for the socially mobile there’s a wedding or two to attend every other day. The lights, the decorations and the guests are part of the scene, and the lucky bride and bridegroom, dressed up to the nines, are usually the cynosure of all eyes. Darting in and […]
Women’s groups in rural Bihar have been active ever since the Bihar Mahila Samakhya took shape as part of the Bihar Education Project way back in 1992. Over two decades later, Mahila Samakhya touches all areas that affect and influence the lives and livelihood of women: literacy and education, income and savings, maternity and health, […]
