Ghogha (Bhagalpur)
Believe it or not. Bhagalpur, which has been famous for its deadliest communal riots in 1999, has now emerged as perfect example of communal harmony.
Suresh Bhagat, 65, a resident of Amapur, 20 km from Bhagalpur, has been taking care of a shrine since 1999 after it was abandoned by last of Muslim survivors of the riot.
He has left his family with a hope to reinstate Hindu-Muslim solidarity, shaken and challenged after the 1989 Bhagalpur riot killing over 2,000 people.
He has been keeping up shrine and solidarity.
He sleeps on a machaan, elevated platform supported by bamboo sticks on four sides, to guard the Pir dargah, adjacent to a cremation site at Ganga bank.
“No sense of fear and weird thoughts crossed my dreams even once in last seven years”, says Bhagat.
The 300-year-old Bazid Khan Pahalwan dargarh has been attracting Hindu and Muslim devotees alike. Last of Muslim families at Amapur, Ghogha moved to Bhagalpur for a living and to escape “tantrums of dominant Hindus”.
Pakkisarai panchayat asked for a willing caretaker after Kamo Miyan, the last Muslim care taker of dargah, shifted to Bhagalpur in 1999.
Bhagat was ready. There was surely initial resistance from Bhagat’s wife and three sons but Bhagat had his way.
Amapur villagers said “of 12 Muslim families, seven families were killed in 1989 riots”. The surviving families moved to Bhagalpur and Colgong in subsequent years.
Bhagat does not know how to follow Muslim rituals. He only knows to put chadar (sheets) on mazaar. He offers the burnt remains of incense sticks, called bhasm, to Hindu and Muslim devotees who throng from neighbouring Ekchari, Bhagalpur, Ghogha and at times from Kolkata and Lucknow as well.
An illiterate Bhagat wishes he could offer namaz. But he prefers to “internalize” his respect for Islam. “Though I do not know nitty-gritty of any religion, every religion surely talks of love and peace,” says the Hindu keeper.
Bhagalpur administration, however, is not aware of “good example being set by Bhagat”. The Bhagalpur district magistrate Bipin Kumar told “I did not know this. It is a great example of communal harmony”.
Colgong JD (U) MLA Ajay Mandal had promised to renovate the dargah before he successfully contested the last Assembly election. Mandal, however, has not yet fulfilled his promise. Mandal could not be contacted.
It is evening. Bhagat’s son, Anil, who plies a rickshaw, comes to see his father at the shrine. He gives a disapproving look at his father and hands over a tiffin-box to him, who spends 24X7 at dargah.
Bhagat just smiles and rides atop the elevated bamboo platform with his dinner pack to say “Kaash aesi bhi muhabbat ho apne desh mein, jab tere ghar upwaas ho, mere ghar ramzan ho (I wish there is such love when Hindu fasting and Ramzan fall on the same day”.
February 18, 2007
A Bhagalpur institute sends 57 “uncouth” Biharis to NIFT in four years
Son of a Bhagalpur confectioner has designed a prize-wining pair of shoes, to be displayed soon at Italy’s Linea Pple, an international design fair.
The pair of shoes is among top 20 shoes chosen by the Council of Leather Experts, from among 73 pairs designed by students and industry professions from India and Japan two months ago.
The shoes designed by Akash Kumar won him second prize. The final year textile design student at the National Institute of Fashion and Technology, Chennai, now looks up to work with some big leather brand.
But three years ago, this shy small-town boy could not dream big. After his 12th from Mount Assissi School Bhagalpur, Akash only wanted to do something “different”. But he did not know how.
It was JS Education that brought all the “difference” to Akash and 56 others over last four years.
The coaching institute is being run by Rajiv Kant Mishra, a History gold medalist who quit a manager job at the Central government’s Hindustan Vegetable Oil Corporation in 1999 to start an institute from Bhagalpur that can prepare students for competitive objective exams.
“As Biharis and fashion generally do not go together, preparing students for NIFT entrance was the last thing in my mind initially”, said the JS Education director Mishra, 45.
When he finally decided for NIFT entrance coaching in 2002, people laughed at him. His institute’s initial JS (originally named after Jyoti, his grandmother and grand father Smiriti Kant Mishra) would be “expanded by Jeevan Saathi” by passers-by.
“Hamare bachchon ko bigad dega (the institute will spoil our children” said a parent.
The hurt in Mishra was deep. He anyhow managed eight girls and two boys to prepare them for 2003-07 NIFT session in early 2002.
He got creative writers, painters and psychoanalysts to help the “not-so-sure” students. The institute charges Rs 7,500 for a 10-month course and Rs 9,000 for a year-course in NIFT entrance preparation. The NIFT is under Union Ministry of Textiles.
The final merit list had all his 10 students. He did not believe it. But Bhagalpur did and soon eat its words of disdain for Mishra.
The next three coaching batches had nine, 15 and 23 students getting admission into either of seven NIFT centres in the country. Of 57 students, 34 are girls.
Most of them – belonging to Bhagalpur, Purnea, Araria, Muzaffarpur and Katihar, have come from very modest background. At least, five are sons of farmers.
Mishra said those who thought of making their children civil servants, doctors, engineers and bank officers were forced to include NIFT in their list.
Mishra wanted to break the image that Biharis know little of fashion. “Now my students can dream of rubbing shoulders with Manish Malhotras and Ritu Beris and can dream of designing dresses and accessories for Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee,” said the proud institute director.
Speaking to The Telegraph from Chennai, Akash Kumar said “JS Education gave me the right kind of push, yet unheard in a small city”. He said “Seven students from Bihar at NIFT, Chennai have made their presence felt”.
Neha Pragya, a 2004-08 session student at NIFT, Kolkata, had scored 10 out of 10 in a paper, an all-India record, in semester four.
She said though she came from a businessman Agarwal family at Bhagalpur, she never thought she could make it to the NIFT entrance from being at Bhagalpur.
Back to JS Education’s current NIFT hopefuls, all are brimming with confidence. Eighty students, divided in four batches, have been taking the entrance two-tier entrance test seriously.
Brajesh Kumar, a Bhagalpur resident and son of a teacher, said “only IIM and IIT are not the end of the world. Boys are also learning to take up scissors to cut it to perfection”.
Tulika said the institute engages them in intension creative skill, sketching, colouring and designing sessions”.
Manish Jha, son of an advocate, and Shilpi, daughter of a bank officer, have already thought of designing dresses for Tall Dark Handsome guys “Cargo pant and a T-shirt will suit them most”, said Shilpi with a chirp while others say dress designing has to be “simple, yet dignified”.
by Santosh Singh
The pair of shoes is among top 20 shoes chosen by the Council of Leather Experts, from among 73 pairs designed by students and industry professions from India and Japan two months ago.
The shoes designed by Akash Kumar won him second prize. The final year textile design student at the National Institute of Fashion and Technology, Chennai, now looks up to work with some big leather brand.
But three years ago, this shy small-town boy could not dream big. After his 12th from Mount Assissi School Bhagalpur, Akash only wanted to do something “different”. But he did not know how.
It was JS Education that brought all the “difference” to Akash and 56 others over last four years.
The coaching institute is being run by Rajiv Kant Mishra, a History gold medalist who quit a manager job at the Central government’s Hindustan Vegetable Oil Corporation in 1999 to start an institute from Bhagalpur that can prepare students for competitive objective exams.
“As Biharis and fashion generally do not go together, preparing students for NIFT entrance was the last thing in my mind initially”, said the JS Education director Mishra, 45.
When he finally decided for NIFT entrance coaching in 2002, people laughed at him. His institute’s initial JS (originally named after Jyoti, his grandmother and grand father Smiriti Kant Mishra) would be “expanded by Jeevan Saathi” by passers-by.
“Hamare bachchon ko bigad dega (the institute will spoil our children” said a parent.
The hurt in Mishra was deep. He anyhow managed eight girls and two boys to prepare them for 2003-07 NIFT session in early 2002.
He got creative writers, painters and psychoanalysts to help the “not-so-sure” students. The institute charges Rs 7,500 for a 10-month course and Rs 9,000 for a year-course in NIFT entrance preparation. The NIFT is under Union Ministry of Textiles.
The final merit list had all his 10 students. He did not believe it. But Bhagalpur did and soon eat its words of disdain for Mishra.
The next three coaching batches had nine, 15 and 23 students getting admission into either of seven NIFT centres in the country. Of 57 students, 34 are girls.
Most of them – belonging to Bhagalpur, Purnea, Araria, Muzaffarpur and Katihar, have come from very modest background. At least, five are sons of farmers.
Mishra said those who thought of making their children civil servants, doctors, engineers and bank officers were forced to include NIFT in their list.
Mishra wanted to break the image that Biharis know little of fashion. “Now my students can dream of rubbing shoulders with Manish Malhotras and Ritu Beris and can dream of designing dresses and accessories for Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee,” said the proud institute director.
Speaking to The Telegraph from Chennai, Akash Kumar said “JS Education gave me the right kind of push, yet unheard in a small city”. He said “Seven students from Bihar at NIFT, Chennai have made their presence felt”.
Neha Pragya, a 2004-08 session student at NIFT, Kolkata, had scored 10 out of 10 in a paper, an all-India record, in semester four.
She said though she came from a businessman Agarwal family at Bhagalpur, she never thought she could make it to the NIFT entrance from being at Bhagalpur.
Back to JS Education’s current NIFT hopefuls, all are brimming with confidence. Eighty students, divided in four batches, have been taking the entrance two-tier entrance test seriously.
Brajesh Kumar, a Bhagalpur resident and son of a teacher, said “only IIM and IIT are not the end of the world. Boys are also learning to take up scissors to cut it to perfection”.
Tulika said the institute engages them in intension creative skill, sketching, colouring and designing sessions”.
Manish Jha, son of an advocate, and Shilpi, daughter of a bank officer, have already thought of designing dresses for Tall Dark Handsome guys “Cargo pant and a T-shirt will suit them most”, said Shilpi with a chirp while others say dress designing has to be “simple, yet dignified”.
by Santosh Singh
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