United States of Bihar

Hi, I am writing this post just to express my experience and feelings regarding the comments that I hear, the looks that I get, the understatements that I am exposed to for being a Bihari. Some of the statements may look offensive but they are not. Please, read along and feel free to drop any suggestion or comment that you feel is right.
I am just sharing my experience of past six years.

Well most of the readers know me pretty well. But, for those who are reading my blog for the first time,
Hi, I am Sandeep Jain, A Digamber Jain, From Patna(Bihar). And I do not know any language from Bihar thou I have that accent. That's the twist of the story.

I did my schooling & +2 from Patna Only. As long as I was in Patna, I never thought people would be so inconsiderate towards Biharis. When I got selected in BIT-NOIDA, there were many who were giving suggestions.

Dare to know what my relatives, neighbours n friends told me, rather warned me:
“Don't trust Delhites, they are mere exploiters.”
“Selfishness flows in their blood.”
“Beta Delhi me kisi par bharosa mat karna, Specially Punjabi logo par, unse zyada matlabi koi nai hota.”
I met my dearest friend and she said, "Stay away from Delhi Girls. They are heartless creatures. And you are too fragile to handle them. They will break you down"
This was the first time I saw a girl warning me against other girls.
I was amazed at what she was telling me, my reply was full of confidence, "Don't worry, you know me, right? I respect all of them but don't give a damn about them."

Well, I came to Delhi, with a lot of fear. Biharis are disrespected everywhere. They are objects of laughter. They are humiliated, ignored, tortured etc.
My first day of college, exposed me to my first ragging experience.
When I told the seniors I was from Patna, I got strange welcome, "Aao bhai Bihariyo ka hi college hai". I felt insulted, it felt as if it was a crime to belong to that state. Thou it took me a month to understand that my senior saw the fear in my eyes and was just trying to make me
comfortable.
Then within a month I got a hostel, Ganga Hostel in Laxmi Nagar, the landlord inquired me for the usual details. I got the same reaction, mentioning ‘Patna’. “Tum Bihar se ho? Par tum to Jain ho? Bihar me Jain bhi hote hain?”
I was confused, whether to laugh or be angry at his lack of awareness. He was putting me with two roommates one was a Jaat from Haryana, & other was a Punjabi from U.P. He also made me an offer, that if I ever wanted to shift he’d gladly put me with some fellow Biharis. Then I met my roommates, the Punjabi, Vijay Sir, was an year old CA. Would you like to guess his reaction? “Tum Bihari ho?(with eyes wide open) Magar tum to gore ho? Punjabi dikhte ho. Bihar me gore log bhi hote hai.”
My landlord was a truck driver who saved money and started this hostel, his un-awareness was acceptable. What bout the CA? It was this hostel where I learned that I belonged to U.S.B. United States of Bihar. I met people from Jharkhand, who were Proud to call themselves Non-Biharis rather than Jharkhandis. Did you forget that you were a part of us? It sounds more like an India-Pakistan division. It was in this hostel where I learned how to distinguish people with their surnames, their accent, their cast, their state.

It was then that I made up my mind to be a topper, to be the best. To make sure that my classmates will look upto me. And yes, I proudly say that I achieved my aim upto a great extent. My classmates shared a different opinion of Biharis, Biharis are extremely hard working, they are damn intelligent. The girls of my class, used to tell me that the Bihari boys have far more respect for women than the so called cultured Delhi people.
I never uttered a Maa-Behan while in Patna, and here these abuses were mere adjectives, the so called helping words. I met girls who abused their boy-friends as if they themselves had no respect for their own mom or sis, may be not even for them selves. I met girls who smoked more than any of their guy-friends. No offence, friends, but I found the so called Dilwalo ki Delhi, a city where selfish ones had outnumbered the generous ones.
It was during graduation that I made good friends, really good friends. My opinion about Delhi changed. I understood that it’s the either the orthodox community or the illiterate ones who actually think that “Every Bihari is just another rickshaw puller.” My friend Parag told me how his grandpa used to tell him how lucky he was to be born in Delhi and not in UP/Bihar. “Beta you will combat the world in a better way, because you are not a sentimental fool like the UP/Bihar people. Beta the people here won’t bother even if you were dying, as long as it helped their motives.” Wait a sec, that’s a new one, a Delhite telling me how to survive in Delhi. That’s the end of Graduation; I had many friends, many to respect me, my knowledge and none were bothered by me being a Bihari. I was proud to be from U.S.B.

Then came Post-Graduation, MCA from Delhi University. The most happening, energetic, high classed university in India. I’ll start with the ragging experience. It was Anuj Sir from final year. When I told him that I was from Patna, his reaction was normal. I felt like any other fresher. He then asked if I originally belonged to Bihar, I said, "No, our roots are in Rajasthan, we are Marwadi." Now was the shocker. “No need to be ashamed Sandeep, if you are from Bihar, say it. No need to lie.” I wonder why he thought that I was ashamed of it. He asked a question & I answered, it’s that simple.
This place, Delhi University, was supposed to be full of educated and modern people. Well, my opinion about Delhites changed once again. I met the educated lot who had problems with Biharis, who treated Biharis as inferior, who could not digest if a Bihari was better than them in any manner. I heard statements, “How can a Bihari be a Topper?” It reminds me of “How can a Slum dog be a Millionaire?”
I have a classmate, who himself is found begging for pennies most of the time, and is always the first to abuse Biharis. How can people be so literate and yet so uneducated?
For them, you are a Bihari, if you are poor, illiterate, if you look ugly, if you look dirty, or if you have a dark complexion, or if you don’t get good marks. You are a Bihari if you try to save money, if you cannot afford PVR, if you wear ordinary shirts & trousers. It doesn’t matter, if you actually are from Bihar or not. What matters is whether you have one or more of these characteristics. I used to think that girls are the only ones who look down to Biharis, I always thought guys can adjust with anyone, anywhere. But I have met people with vice versa nature.

I faced small incidents that I would like to share with you people.
I was proposed by a girl, who started ignoring me completely after knowing that I was from Bihar.
Once, some of my friends and I took out juniors for a small magi treat. It was me and one more friend left with around fifteen juniors. The rest backed out intentionally to make a fool out of us. My friend asked me to call other guys as this it will better if we had more wallets. I asked him to just chill and relax. Then came a statement banging on my ego.
“Abe Bihari kyon paise kharch kar raha hai” I know it wasn't to insult me but his tone was pinching. I was furious, had a simple reply “Bihari hoon, bhuka nanga nai. I can pay your share too so just enjoy the treat.”

One of my classmates gave her cash to me, and asked to manage the expenses of her birthday treat. While making the payments, when it was open to everyone that I was holding to her cash, was another statement dropped. Again it was the same friend as the previous one, “Tu to badi pagal hai, ek Bihari ko paise diye hai.” I am an extremely short tempered person and this was enough to make me loose my temper. I reacted then n there, “Agar Bihari hone ka matlab chor or baimaan hona hota hai, to main surat se Bihari hoon aur tu seerat se.”

Once I had a discussion with a co-passenger about the crime in Patna. I met him while coming from Kolkata. I said, “The politicians are the ones responsible for such under-development & crime. Patna is still better than Delhi as far as safety for women is concerned. Eve teasing and rape cases are negligible here compared to our National Capital.” I was shocked to hear his reply & I still don’t believe it. He said, “Bihar me mard honge tab to kuch karenge.” I had no other choice but to end the discussion then n there as it was pretty clear how broad minded he was. By the way that guy belonged to Kolkata and worked in some IT company in Gurgaon.

My sister did her internship from Delhi. Once one of her friends got sick so she asked her office senior(quiet an aged one) to help them out. She was persistent in using the words, "Uncle ji"
That "Uncle ji" replied, "Aap log aise hi baat karte hain, acha aap Bihar se ho isiliye aise baat karte ho". My sister had already complained me about this guy to be a pervert. She was bit upset on hearing his words, the way he spoke it was taunting. I told her next time reply, "Uncle, we are from Bihar that's why respect you. Otherwise even you know how your grandchildren treat their elders"

I agree that we have high poverty in Bihar, which in turn raises illiteracy and thus un-employment. Hence, a higher crime rate also. I never denied the truth.
We are under-developed not only because of the government. All of us are responsible, I even consider myself responsible because as soon as we get rich or educated, we leave the place. It is like we are putting Bihar to tremendous brain drain, as well as wealth drain.

For those who treat the word “Bihari” as a “Gaali” rather call it “Gaali number 1” You should watch your mouth before you utter a word. You never know, when you will be punished for your words. When you will be working under a Bihari, when you will pleading infornt of a Bihari IAS/IPS.

I would like to conclude by saying, that the Bihar you look down to was once called Magadh, ruled by Samrat Asoka. The city Patna, where I belong to, once called Patliputra, was the nation’s capital. I believe, with such a history and with the speed it is growing, One day I will proudly say that I belong to “United States of Bihar”