Thumbs up and thumbs down in Nitishland

Instead of writing a travelogue i've decided to pen down the the good things and bad things saw in Bihar. Simple.

Thumbs up

Nalanda- is one of the most beautiful sights i've ever seen. I know a lot of people might differ on that. The place is huge and the university with its classrooms and assembly halls and temples and two story dormitories, wells and ovens and drainage and sky light..all built somewhere around 6th century BC. For a sucker of old buildings this was Valhalla. One thought.. Looking at the well preserved walls and rooms and pillars standing for over 3000 years and built without any modern contraption or technical knowhow, I wonder why the CWG foot bridge couldn't stand for more than a week

Bodh Gaya- an island in itself. Just 20 kms or so from Gaya town and you feel like you've left Bihar. The temple is just breathtaking and the bodhi tree still stands. I am not into a lot of energy vortexes but there was a sense of peace in that place. Its well maintained and considerably neat

Ginger Pancakes- yep, i had those in Bodh Gaya at a dhaba called Om and highly recommended by Lonely Planet. Its damn cheap and the pancakes are just amazing.

Litti Choka- I hope i've spelled it right. Its something like the Rajasthani baati with sattu stuffing and choka is a chutney made of roasted brinjals, potataoes, green chillies, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic mashed together with raw mustard oil. It tastes heavenly and for all those mallus who hate mustard oil...aundy and ungle you eat, drink, sleep coconut oil which is the king of all flavored aromatic oils, so widen your horizons

Green Bihar- Everywhere you look its trees and banana plantains, date trees, mango groves. Fertile soil, plenty of water..why are the people so poor when the state is so resource rich

Ganga ji- You can't ignore her. I think she is at her grandest in Patna.

Honest and helpful people

Thumbs down

Kshatigrast bridges- This isn't an exaggeration. Since Bihar has a lot of rivers small and big and we traveled almost the entire stretch we had to cross a lot of bridges. I think 9 out 10 where damaged either in parts or just plain rickety. A fact that is displayed proudly on yellow boards by the government before every bridge in Bihar. You can however see a merry traffic of trucks and buses going to and forth on these bridges. This is not an exaggeration; one was so kshatigrast that the bridge was shaking on its hinges every time a vehicle passed through. I must say the people of Bihar are very resilient and brave.

Everyone here also has a hearing problem coz the decibel levels are high enough to be heard from the moon, be it the honking trucks or mobile phone users

'Jerking' Roads (lovingly called by the locals)- ridden with potholes. after an 11 hour journey from Madhubani to Purnea i was sure Bihar was a part of an RAW plan to find an underground way to China or US of A.

Paneer and Aloo-Gobhi- I don't know if you've noticed but in regional cuisine in North India has been taken over by Punjabi food, prominently by paneer and aloo-gobhi. Everywhere I went they gave me aloo-gobi, I didn't know Gobi was the state vegetable of Bihar. Coming a close second was Paneer, anywhere you go you get Paneer and it is considered a substitute for green vegetables, pulses, sweets and even heaven for vegetarians. Well all I can say is that I pressed my fast forward remote whenever the menu is read out and reach the naan-bhej section.

Lastly a thought that went through my head all the while i heard auto drivers, taxi drivers, tea shop owners, dhaba owners, NGO people, journalists praise Nitish..."Whoever thought that the humble non motorized two wheeler could elect a Chief Minister. I wonder if the lack of cycles where the only reason for poor female literacy…I have a lot to learn about the mechanics of the education system"

Do visit Bihar, its beautiful and steeped in history