Bhagalpur-Bangalore EXP from March?

Here is shocking news for all those who had been eagerly waiting for early starting of Bhagalpur-Yeshvantpur Express, first direct train linking Ang Pradesh to the Southern India , it will start from March next year. The person, who have sent this shock wave is none other than the General Manager of Eastern Railway M K Verma, who said it in a press conference in Bhagalpur.

READ COMPLETE NEWS REPORT ON : http://www.angvani.com/

Bhagalpurites come forward to help flood victims

To read about them visit www.angvani.com

Bhagalpur flood situation

Read all updates on Bhagalpur on www.angvani.com

Bhagalpur fears repeat of last year's flood

Hundreds of villages across Bihar feared a repeat of last year’s devastating floods following breaches in barrages and embankments, official sources said Tuesday.A breach developed Tuesday in the Khairpur embankment in Bhagalpur that forced hundreds of people to flee from submerged villages, official sources said.

read full report on http://www.angvani.com/

angvani completes its first year...

The First Online Newspaper of Bhagalpur http://www.angvani.com/ completed its first year on 15th August. Several noted city personalities have expressed their warm wishes and congratulation to angvani for its successfully raising issues including airport and other major issues touching common man's life.

angvani was launched on 15th August 2007. The web portal has been successfully updating the lakhs of Bhagalpurites living across the world with the latest happenings in their ancient and historic city of Bhagalpur, considered second capital of eastern Indian state of Bihar. The website is the brainchild of a young local journalist,who continuously updates the portal with latest upadets about the city.

You can also visit www.angvani.com (First Online Newspaper of Bhagalpur) for latest updates on Bhagalpur.

After 18 years of Bhagalpur riot

Bhagalpur, 18 years later

The law has caught up with some of the perpetrators of the 1989 Bhagalpur riots. Fourteen of the 32 accused have been convicted. While the nightmare may have come to an end for the victims, it could just be starting for the families of the accused...

Witness for the prosecution

BIBI SHAKINA’s 53-year-old eyes have dimmed with age. But she can still see the murderous look on the face of the men who killed her husband 18 years ago. She has tried to erase the traumatic memory of that October day in 1989, but images seared into the psyche are not easy to remove—and she has lived with her nightmares all these years.

She lived a happy life, prosperous in comparison to the poverty of her village Logain—until the communal frenzy of 1989 destroyed much of what she lived for. Her house was the first to be attacked by the marauders in Logain. She saw her husband, father-in-law, brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law being butchered by the mob. She and her five children ran to the paddy fields, hid themselves and held their breath. The mob failed to notice them. She cannot decide now whether she should thank God for saving their lives or it would have been better for them to have perished then.

She should have been triumphant on Monday, therefore, when the Bhagalpur Additional District and Sessions Judge held 14 persons guilty for the massacre of 116 Muslims from Logain. But the smile is not there. All these years she has lived in fear with the killers continuously threatening her. “Don’t identify us in court,” she was told umpteen times. But an inner strength egged her on to remain the key witness in the rioting case. “How could I forget those faces? They haunted me in my dreams. The face of the policeman who kept urging us not to leave Logain, assuring us he would protect us, then himself joining the rioters to butcher my family. I would rather die than keep mum,” says Shakina.

Of the 32 accused, 14 stand convicted. Six died during trial and the rest were acquitted. She wants nothing less than death for those pronounced guilty, among them the renegade policeman. She will find out on June 27 when the court announces the penalties.

Raising five children without support from the government was not an easy task. The riots stuck to her being, even came in the way of her son’s education. “After matriculation, my elder son got admission in Bhagalpur Muslim College. The accused threatened to kill him if I did not turn hostile in court. My son had to discontinue his studies. Today he is unemployed,” she says.

It was a calamitous change of circumstances for Bibi Shakina. From the biggest landed family of Logain, she became a refugee in Babura village, 6 km away. Having evaded the rioters, Shakina and her children had crossed a river and walked for hours to reach the Muslim-dominated Babura.

“My little daughter was just nine months old and the others were aged between 2 and 6 years. I can’t imagine how I mustered the courage to flee with my children with the attackers running amok. For months I remained almost unconscious. The villagers here fed and looked after my children,” she recalls.

Since then Babura has become home. Despite assurances by government agencies, she never mustered the courage to return to Logain. For 18 years now she has not tasted the mango from her orchard. And she yearns for the taste of fish from her pond. She built a house for her family and purchased some farm land by selling a piece of her property in Logain. She has married off two of her three daughters and a son. The community came to her help in the weddings and she did not have to give dowry.

In Logain, there is virtually no trace of her earlier existence. Her two-storey house has been razed to the ground. Her farmland of more than 40 bighas has been forcibly captured by the family of Sadanand Singh, former mukhiya of the neighbouring Damuchak village. The usurper, Shakina swears, was one of those who had led the rioters. Singh was an accused in the case but died a few years ago. But his death has not helped Shakina’s cause—Singh’s sons continue to till the occupied land.

“I ran from pillar to post, petitioned the district magistrate, the police superintendent, many others, but no one has done anything to free my land. Once my son went to claim a portion of crops harvested from my land but Sadanand’s sons said they would kill him if he returned,” she says resignedly.

Land grabbing was the motive of the rioters, according to then DIG Ajit Dutt, the police officer who recovered the bodies buried in a field nearly two months after the massacre. The attack achieved its objective. Most of the Muslims, who owned more land in Logain than Hindus, were either compelled to sell their plots at throwaway prices or were forced to yield their fields to the locals. Brothers Mohammad Amir, Sohail and Samir each owned two bighas of land. A few years after the riots, life had become so difficult in Logain that they sold their land at a price of Rs 25,000 per bigha. Today they have small plots provided by the Imarat-e-Sharia in Pithna village and earn a living as daily-wage labourers.

A few Muslims families refused to turn witnesses and managed to hold on to their land. But they have paid the price for it—people like Shakina Bibi will have nothing to do with them. Sins of the fathers How was 19-year-old Rakesh Mandal to know that intimidation can cut both ways? He has lived a fairly normal life these past years though he knew his father and his uncle were accused of involvement in the rioting that took a toll of 116 lives in his village. But if for the survivors of the bloodbath the nightmare began 18 years ago, for Rakesh it may have just begun. The First Year BCom student, the eldest son of Shivlal Mandal, has rushed home from Bhagalpur town, 25 km away. The Additional District and Sessions Court of Bhagalpur has just convicted his 50-year-old father of massacring Muslims in Logain on October 27, 1989. It is suddenly the Mandals who are the fearful party. Rakesh’s future is uncertain and he may have to abandon his studies since his father is the only earning member of the family. His prospects of financial support from other relatives in the village appear bleak. His uncle Ajablal Mandal and his grand uncle, Ajablal’s father Ramdev Mandal, too have been convicted. What lies ahead will depend to a large extent on the quantum of punishment that will be pronounced by the court on June 27. “I don’t know what will happen? My mother has fallen sick from the day the court held my father guilty and had him remanded in jail. I have to support her and my two young brothers,” says Rakesh. “Being the eldest son, it is my duty to support my family in this hour of crisis. If my father gets a long jail term, then I will have to remain in the village and look after farming. In that case it will be very difficult to pursue studies,” he adds. Rakesh has no memory of the madness of that October day. He was then around a year old. But he has heard stories about it from his father and others. “My father is innocent. His name was not there in the initial FIR. He has told me that he did not kill any Muslim. It was all done by outsiders who came in thousands and attacked the village,” he says. The teenager says he belongs to a family that owns just one bigha of land and earns a living through share-cropping.

“When I reached college, it became necessary to stay in Bhagalpur town to study. It was difficult for my father to bear the cost. So I began to work as a private tutor to meet my expenses. But how can I do that if I am forced to stay in the village?” he wonders. Rakesh may be mature enough to understand the implication of the court’s conclusions. But Sanjeev Kumar, just a 13-year-old like any other, doesn’t know his family’s luck may have turned. His father Kuldip Mandal (40) and grandfather Sukhdev Mandal (87) have been convicted in the case. Ask him about their involvement in the massacre and the boy has a deadpan reply: “I don’t know what happened.” Rakesh and Sanjeev belong to the backward-caste Koiris, dominant in Logain. The Koiris are regarded as a docile community, but the dynamics of agricultural economics can play strange games with people. Most of the Koiris in Logain are petty farmers with very small land holdings. The Muslims had bigger lands and the Koiris used to work their fields as sharecroppers. Their resentment, if any, came to the fore with the riots triggered by the Ram Shila procession in Bhagalpur organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Kameshwar Yadav. The clashes spread from the urban areas to rural hamlets and among the worst hit was Logain village. There Hindu fanatics incited the Koiris against the Muslims. One villager, who refused to join in the carnage, recalls being taunted by the riot leaders: “You people are a curse on Hinduism. You work as labourers on the fields of Muslims who eat beef. Is this Pakistan?” Soon after the violence, the Congress government fell and Lalu Prasad Yadav rode to power, backed by the backwards and the Muslims who worried about their safety and security. But the way the case has meandered on for almost two decades has a lot of people fuming about vote-bank politics. They say the RJD did not want to risk angering the backwards and so chose the middle path—that while Lalu Yadav talked about empowering backwards, he promised Muslims safety and security by not allowing riots to take place. From that juncture, however, the communally sensitive Bhagalpur has moved ahead. This was evident during the Lok Sabha bypoll in the constituency in November 2006. Annoyed by the RJD’s infructuous promises, Muslims, including those severely affected by the riots, voted for the BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain, giving him victory by a significant margin. Today, the GenNext of both Hindus and Muslims feels it is time of talk of the future, not of vengeance. “I don’t know what happened then. The communal riot has destroyed both Hindus and Muslims,” says Rakesh. “We should now fight for education and employment.” It is a sentiment echoed by the children from the Muslim families affected by the riots. “For me securing a source of earning is more urgent. The Government must free our land or give me a job so that I can look after my family,” says Mohammad Ansar, Bibi Shakina’s son. Perhaps the past 18 years have taught life’s lessons to a lot of people.


Source : Indian Express

Nitish's Bhagalpur panel in coma

Promising justice and compensation to the victims of the 1989 Bhagalpur riots, the Nitish Kumar Government constituted a judicial inquiry commission on February 26 last year for a re-investigation into one of the worst communal riots in the country. On its third extension now, the commission still does not have the basic infrastructure to do its job.

A sprawling bungalow has been allotted for the commission but other basics are missing. "An invoice was submitted by Godrej for furniture 10 days back and we are waiting for clearance from the treasury," said B N Shahi, secretary of the commission.

After taking charge in late 2005, the Chief Minister charged the previous RJD regime of denying justice to the victims of the riots by closing many cases despite evidence. The one-member Justice N N Singh Commission was set up to inquire the whole gamut of the riots, fix responsibility on erring police officers and suggest ways to extend relief and rehabilitation to the victims.

The commission was given six months to submit an interim report. However, it failed and has so far been given three extensions.

For the first year, the commission remained a non-starter, saying it was not getting the cooperation of state government officials. The panel took the first step on May 31 when it landed in Bhagalpur and held its first sitting. According to Shahi, they were just "preliminary" discussions to chart out the mode of the probe.

Shahi told The Indian Express that without help from the state, it would be difficult for the commission to take the probe to its logical end. "All kinds of basic material needed for the probe like case diaries will reach us only through the advocates but despite repeated reminders, the state has not appointed them yet," he said.

Opposition parties here allege that a re-probe and the setting up of a commission was nothing but a political ploy by the Nitish Kumar government to attract the vote of Muslims, who form about 14% of the state's population.

SOURCE : THE INDIAN EXPRESS, http://www.indianexpress.com/story/33991.html

Bhagalpur Logai riot verdict : 14 convicting for killing 116

Verdict delivered after 17 years

The 116 people, including women and children, were killed on the night of October 27, 1989 at Logai village under Jagdishpur police station of the district

The victims were buried in a mass grave, promptly camouflaged by a cauliflower plantation.
Among those convicted are the then officer-in-charge of Jagdishpur police station, Ramchandra Singh, and chowkidar Thakur Paswan.

Though there were 24 accused in the case, six died during the trial, while four never turned up, prompting the court to proclaim them absconders and order attachment of property.

Of the 14 convicted, the order against Jaiprakash Mandal was passed in absentia as he did not turn up. This made the court issue a warrant of arrest against him.

Nearly a year after the Logai village massacre, the investigation was handed over to then DIG Ajit Dutt on December 3, 1990. "Within a week, 90 bodies were recovered and by December 15, altogether 105 were dug out. The rest had decomposed," Dutt told The Indian Express.

Before the riots, there were 45 Muslim families in Logai village; in 1990, only two remained. The status remains the same even today.

Mayor determined to make the city a "Model City"

Newly elected City Mayor Dr Veena Yadav has said that Bhagalpur will the best city in the state terms of development and civic amentities in days to come. Her emphasis will be on the efforts to make the Silk City a Model town.

Speaking at the city Bhagalpur Municipal Corporation (BMC) office after assuming her charge, she said that she would need support from all the newly elected corporators for the development of the city.

Bhagalpur Air-service in doldrums, courtesy credit war

Once again the credit war has started casting its shadow over various development related works in the city, which is considered to be second capital of the city. The credit war between Local MLA and state Urban Devlopment minister Ashwini Choubey and MP Shahnawz Hussain has pushed the dreams of bhagalpuris bringing their city on the air-route into uncertainty.

A team of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), visiting the site (Bhagalpur Airport) yesterday, left the city immediately after protest from local residents fearing the demolition of their houses for the project.

And to top it all, Local MLA and state Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who had gone to the site to pacify the agitated residents, said that “Jahaj Udega to mere sine par se”.

It has been reported that he has taken this populist stand just to take the credit away from the MP Shahnwaj Hussain, considered instrumental behind the project. This incident reminds us of twenty years back when several development related projects had to be shunned because of the Credit war between Bhagwat Jha Azad and Shivchandra Jha.

Bhagalpur Bling Bling

Think high fashion and you most definitely don't think Bhagalpur or Muzaffarpur. Well, think again. Small-town India has sashayed on to the runway, thanks to a handful of designers bringing a fresh, unrehearsed ethnicity to fashion. Take Shubhra Chaudhary, for instance.

In the mad rush of the just-concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, this designer from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, stood out—no make-up, deglamorised attire. So did her creations. The sequins-crystal regime was dumped; instead she used hand stitches on clothes and hand-printed some others.

Some of the surface treatments were derived from time spent with her grandparents in villages in Bihar. There were the obvious connections too. "When I go to Dilli Haat, I see people going gaga over simple Madhubani paintings. Back home that's so commonplace," she laughs, adding: "I want to bring Madhubani painting into mainstream fashion."

Samant Chauhan has made a similar crossover. Chauhan's father worked in the eastern railway services as a cleaner and expected his son to move on to bigger things once his high school education was over. Instead, the shy 26-year-old from Bhagalpur wanted to get into fashion designing. Today, he stands vindicated.

His collection Kamasutra, showcased at WIFW, was one of the best seen on the runway at this year's event. Chauhan worked with Bhagalpuri raw silk to create Western streetwear.

"When growing up, I'd only find people using the material for home furnishing. I thought it would be interesting to do it on clothes," he says. Lots of texturing, interlacing and knits produced a layered look on a palette that was mostly pastel. Images from Vatsayayan's classic and Khajuraho were printed on the clothes. "He is going to be another (Rajesh) Pratap, See how he uses Bhagalpuri silk with digital prints. That's quite ingenious," noted buyer Sunil Sethi.
After the show, Tiziana Chardini of La Rinascente, an Italian brand, was seen hunting for Chauhan. "It's the first show where I saw such great use of indigenous craftsmanship on Western silhouettes," she said.

In some ways, these new kids on the block are following the big names of Indian fashion. Sabyasachi Mukherjee made a splash when he brought old world colonial Kolkata into his clothes. Meera and Muzaffar Ali brought Lucknowi handiwork into the drawing rooms of the rich and the famous. Or take Rajesh Pratap Singh.

His Rajasthan comes in to play through his careful jaliwork that intersperses his otherwise austere look. The references are not always autobiographical but they draw on individual experience and oblique cultural ties. Nikhil and Shantanu Mehra' Nihang collection, inspired by their Sikh roots and considered one of their best ever, came about when they heard singer Rabbi's album in 2005. "We are half-Sikh and when we went to the Golden Temple for research, it was also about tracing the traditions the religion offered," says Nikhil Mehra.

Before Chauhan and Chaudhary, another Bhagalpuri had made his mark. When Samar Firdos, 25, showed his collection at Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, buyers from Brown were amazed at the way he had threaded together divergent influences. Having studied at NIFT Chennai, Firdos had worked with leather workers there. So he got weavers from Bhagalpur, where his family runs a silk export industry, to weave together leather and tussar silk to come up with a new fabric. Called 'highbrow organic', the collection gave an interesting tweak to the country's already rich textile tradition.

There are others who want to break out from the instantly recognisable traditions of their state. Take Zubair Kirmani. There was not a hint of embroidery that his native hometown, Srinagar, is famous for. "That's so clichéd" he says. But Kashmir is woven into his work. His label is called Bounipun, which means chinar leaves. If you look closely at his white and black palette, you see shapes of the leaves being repeated. "If it's my state I am trying to put forward, I might as well do it well," he smiles.

So, the next time you hear anyone gripe about Indian fashion industry being a rip-off of the West, send him to the backwaters of Bihar.

Indian Express

Recruitment scam in Bhagalpur

Bhagalpur:

A scam has surfaced in the recruitment of teachers here.Several aspirants for the job have alleged foul play in the recruitment process.

Interestingly, several candidates have furnished B.Ed certificates to get the job.

Officials have assured action in the matter.

Special Central Jail being converted into High security Prison

Popularly known as Camp Jail, the Special Central Jail in Bhagalpur is being converted into High security prison where convicted dreaded criminals and gangsters will be lodged from other jails.

Preparatory arrangements are on and work is expected to be completed by the mid of the next year making space for 3,5000 prisoners at the special jail. Security arrangements are being tightened in and around the jail in view of the it going to house dreaded criminals.

As per security arrangements plan, even no helicopter would be able to uplift a prisoner from the jail. For this purpose, a net is being used to cover the jail to foil any such attempt of jail-break from upside of the jail.

It may be reminded here that the Simranjit Singh Man was lodged here before he was transferred to Tihar Jail after arrangements like at Bhagalpur special jail were made at Tihar.

FIRST TEST TUBE BABY IN BHAGALPUR

Bhagalpur is going to join the club of few selected cities, which have advanced medical technology in our country , in the month of August this year when a lady from Begusarai gives birth to the first test tube Baby of the Silk city at Healing Touch Centre through Invitro fertilisation acility (IVF).

As per a news report published in Dainik Jagran, the lady belongs to Begusarai and has been transplanted the testtube baby in the month of December last year. Doctors at the abovementioned clinic said that the everything is normal as of now and tests are being done regularly.

Being it the first case at the clinic and in the district as well, the medical staff including doctors are very cautious and taking no chance in taking care of the lady.

Now, BGP farmers refuse to give land for Textile Park

The flames of farmers' anger against land acquisition for SEZ and projects in neighbouring state West Bengal has reached Bhagalpur as well. Farmers of Jayatipur, site for the proposed textile park in Bhagalpur, refused to give their lands for the park fearing that they might get displaced after land acquisition.

In a meeting called by the SDM Dhananjay Thakur on Sunday to discuss the issue with the farmers and businessmen, the farmers declined to accept the government formula to acquire land as they didnt have much land. They would go to any extent to protect their lands if any attempts are made to acquire land forcibly from them.

After the refusal, the SDM has asked his subordinates to talk to farmers to solve the matter.

Bhagalpur to be developed as regional airport between Patna & Kolkata

Bhagalpur :

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that his government is doing all what is necessary to make the dream of the bhagalpurwalon true by starting small service (low capacity) flights from Bhagalpur as soon as possible. In this regard, the government has already sanctioned the fund for the fencing work and work is on progress like other developmental works in the city.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with his two cabinet colleagues (elected from the city) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials visited the Bhagalpur Airport to take stock of the ongoing fencing work. Plan is to develop Bhagalpur airport as regional airport between Patna and Kolkata.

After surveying, the AAI offcials said that a airport needed 4,000 feet run way space to start any kind of flight while the Bhagalpur airport has only 3,600 feet runway space. In this regard, the CM instructed the district offcials the concerned department officials to make arrangements for increasing the runway space.

Plans are also to start similar services from three other distrcit headquarters as well. Those districts are Munger, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga.

Most parts of Bhagalpur cut from world, courtesy Telecom officials & Pvt operators

Don't get disturbed if you fail to get any response from your family members when you try to reach out them through the Government telecom service provider BSNL landline phone in most parts of the Silk City.

Telephones lines have fallen dead for the last 10 –15 days. Courtesy to the nexus between the BSNL officials and private telecom operators, who have recently started spreading their base in the district. "The department has been trying to rectify the problem and it will be done soon", says a BSNL officer when contacted by me.

When asked about the situation, PA to the TDM said "ask the Collector who is not taking any action against the private players, who deliberately cut the phone lines while laying their telephone lines."

Surprisingly, no BSNL official is ready say the exact date by which the restoration of telephone services can be expected.

Angered residents, who feel cut from their near and dear ones, blame directly the BSNL officials and Private operators for this problem. The city has been witnessing this problem after every ten or fifteen days making the residents believe that they must go for private services for uninterrupted telecom services.

Chandan Kumar

Saints turn radio jockey in Bhagalpur

People across the country tune in to FM radios to catch popular music. But in a remote corner of Bihar, people have become ardent listeners to spiritual teachings, broadcast not from radio station, but a poverty-stricken saint community that vows to enlighten the society.

In Bhagalpur, Bihar, Sant Gyanmukh Ashhram through its makeshift FM station broadcasts programs on spirituality and even spearheads an anti-dowry campaign.

“The holy men here broadcast good programmes. They tell us about good deeds and positive thoughts,” says Pappu, a local villager who begins his day by listening to this local FM channel.

Though the channel doesn’t have a license, it has become immensely popular among the locals. “They sing about the evils of dowry system. Everybody listens to the programmes with joy. We learn a lot,” says Yogendra Prasad, villager.

The ashram authorities say they are trying to enlighten the locals. “Our elected representatives look for a chance to take advantage of people. We educate people about their rights and duties to protect them from harm,” said Yogesh Gyan Swarup, Saint.

With this local initiative, the ashram plans to catch up with big-time saints like Asha Ram Bapu. And for the locals, it’s good music to the ears.

Setting it right (riot): Hindu priest keeping a mazaar abandoned after Bhagalpur riots

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”.

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