
Last year for the first time I went into the flood hit Western part of Bihar, the devastation was caused by the conglomerated of Gandak, B

Ironically, I attended a State Level workshop on 10th August at 1 Anne Marg, Patna, called by the state disaster management cell and attended by all big names in the world of development, Oxfam GB, Oxfam Hongkong, CRS, CRY, Save the Children, Medicins sans Frontiers (Doctors without boundary, got noble prize in 1999) , GTZ …….. list goes on. In that meeting I raised the issue of embankment of rivers and but those “brokers” of poverty stopped me from speaking and said “we should focus on relief work”. The country director of CRS, (a foreigner lady) very enthusiastically and proudly said, “we are distributing high protein biscuits for the children”, I said her, even if there is no flood more than half of the children in Bihar are malnutritious, so you continue this project till all the children comes in grade-I list.
With deep frustration and anger,


If she is in India, she must have realized the apathy of life of bihari people who have accepted to fight with death.
Have any one realized that lots of suicide took place in Vidarbha, Karnataka, and AP, but not a single suicide case reported from Bihar. Their whole world has been accumulated into a “dolchi” (box made of plastic wire, commonly found in bihar) and a “lalten” (lantern).
You might be thinking when the water recedes, they will get their land back, I am sorry to say that, rivers take their land too, making them wait for next flood so that they will get their land back from the rivers. I salute to the spirit of Bihari People for their will to survive.
Ask any school going boy/ girl in Bihar “Bihar ka shok kise kahte hain?” (What is the sorrow of Bihar called?) , Unanimously the answer will be : “KOSI"...