India Behind The Lens (News Centre)

Monday, May 2, 2011 | After having eagerly waited for this day ,it was a relief when it did come, may be because I am not very good at anticipating!! So here were, all three of us (Me, Arya & Khanabadosh) all just waiting to get going…. It started at 1500 hrs on 29 April and we took NH2 which was really a smooth ride although it did have a few bumps here and there giving me a subtle suggestion that though NHAI is a central body, it does get affected by the “mahaul” in the state. The photograph below was taken just as we were starting.

We took NH2 and headed for Mohania from where I had decided to take NH30 to Patna, but one of my friends called to tell me that there was some disturbance at Ara which made me reconsider going to Patna. After Mohania I saw some people who were loading some grains. Something made me interact with them and I was really aghast at hearing the depressed voices. They were not feeling very good about having to pay a bribe to SELL the grains. This did not come as a shock because I knew such things are being practiced but listening to it from someone who was actually facing it along with the emotions of despair & helplessness were enough to make my blood boil. May be I am partial to farmers but should not such people be tried for murder. A farmer works in the sun, bears everything alone and cultivates things which land up on our dining tables. Shouldn’t we be grateful to them?? Some of you may be of the opinion that he/she does this for MONEY, so for those of my august friends who have this line of thinking, there are ex farmers who have sold off their lands and taken to menial jobs in cities & have given up farming. These jobs give the “security” of regular salary and a comfortable life style (much better than that of our wretched farmer).  It takes courage to be a farmer & even more to continue as one.

I decided upon continuing on NH2 and headed for Sasaram . There was a Army guy whose daughter was kidnapped a few months back, some of our fellow tweeps had raised this matter very indulgently. But I was not able to locate his house, may be due to the night, or my looks L they were not very forthcoming with any information. I decided to move on towards Aurangabad & take a halt at Dehri but Arya was in no mood to stop and kept telling me to keep going-“Kya Papa… Thak gaye kya ?” I had made one small contraption so that he could sleep on the bike itself. These five words time and again kept me going J.It was really an experience, and I just could not stop myself from thanking all those involved in maintaining the NH2, which made it a blissful experience. The discipline observed by the truck drivers was exceptional and it was totally contrary to the popular belief. Riding became an even more blissful experience as it was cool,the breeze that went past me smelt of soil as it had rained a bit. That loneliness coupled with the darkness of night was an experience in itself and I was really amazed at the thoughts that kept crossing, the songs that kept coming to my mind. If you are riding alone and you feel like singing a song after 200 kms you can safely assume that you are in an OK shape. I have nothing negative to express here and the beauty I saw in whatever that passed, made me so proud of being a Bhartiya … the beauty was really surreal. Khanabadosh was also very happy as despite going at above 70 kmph the engine was warm (& not hot) and the friendly thumping (sound) that emanated, conveyed Khanabadosh’s willingness & eagerness to keep going.



In Jharkhand there was remarkable police presence on the check posts but NO WHERE else did I pass them (except a stray jeep at times). I saw carts carrying wood from the jungles & it was definitely not a “few” tribal’s getting wood for their homes. This was a very well run “enterprise”, and the way the wood was “sliced” in different lengths also conveyed that it was not the work of “crude tools” of tribal’s. The stacks were dropped at various places by the roadside to be picked by trucks. I won’t go deeper in this for now.

It was about 0130 hrs on 30 April now, and Arya wanted to have something to eat, so we stopped at a place called Siyarkoni before Chouparan (not Champaran) in Jharkhand. We decided to have something to eat at Maa Gangotri “Hotel” ;-) run by brothers Bijay Singh & Niranjan Singh. They came across as nice guys (don’t go by their looks please).

The menu was totally desi and Arya had two roti’s with “Aloo Patal” sabji and I had salad & chana with gur. Wanted Arya to take some rest so made him lie on one of the cots and Khanabadosh was also “parked’ nearby, while I talked with these people who were awake at 0200 and all prepared to serve hot food to any passerby who cared to stop. We stayed there for about 02 hours & strangely I was not feeling sleepy at all (almost 23 hours since I last slept). Arya caught up with his sleep in this time & I was really amazed at his coping up.

We left Siyarkoni at about 0330 hrs and kept going, stopping only once when I saw a group of people, visibly tribals, by the roadside. I came to know that they are going to work where they get paid Rs 25 a day for a 0700 to 0500 job!! I am not going to say a word about this as I am sure that many of you are appalled!!

Daybreak and it was getting brighter, this is when Khanabadosh decided that I could do without the headlight & it was gone!! Since it was not needed at that moment I kept going. Reached Dhanbad, where there was curfew for past two days. May be they knew I was coming so they relaxed it for 12 hours so that I could meet Dr Madhup Thakur, and it was really an inspiring meeting for me as he was overflowing with youthfulness, energy, he was composed, honest and I did not for a second feel that it was for the first time that I was meeting him. Arya was one step further, he was TOTALLY at home. I had to move on to Asansol and unluckily I could not spend much time with him. We left after having a great breakfast of Parathas (I broke the resolution of not having grains during journey) which was enjoyed by Arya too. Arya could not have been happier as there was not a single pocket of his which was not overflowing with chocolates J.

I could not help noticing the people when they negotiated all that muck & overflowing sewers during peak hours in day (at Dhanbad). They wait for Govt to do something, and Govt waits for the people to do something to make govt do it!! In the end it’s the people who suffer , what a cycle!! I would rather take a shovel and get on the job my self.

From Dhanbad I proceeded further & met some students at Asansol to explain them about Alakh 2011 & the vision behind. They made me proud & hopeful with their responses. I could clearly see a youth with vision and substance here, it is different matter that there was need of a direction they could take when it came to executive action.

From Asansol I kept going on, not stopping anywhere, as I had all the intentions to reach Kolkata. It was getting darker so I thought of getting the headlight repaired. This needed getting “in” Bardhmaan city, and I am not a very good communicator in Bengali, but somehow I did manage to “extract” directions and reached the shop of Manik located at Biratta in Bardhmaan. While he repaired the light I couldn’t help noticing the charged up atmosphere and SO MANY sabha’s. It did give a subtle hint of some upcoming festival. Anyways, I did enjoy the top of the voice, passionate shouting by the speakers on the stage (they must be calling them speeches). All I could make out were the words “CPI” and strangely all of the meetings were by TMC. Most of the banners were of TMC, surely someone has loads of money to spend here J. Now that the headlight was repaired I moved on.

All through the journey, the three of us kept stopping at times to take a breather & straighten ourselves which really did wonders for us, else it is very painful to keep goingJ. From Bardhaman we kept going & stopped at Shaktigarh, to buy some “Lanchas” , a famous delicacy , maybe I don’t have that taste, but to me they were more like elliptical Gulabjamuns J. Pardon me for bringing this out of context but I could not help noticing the number of toll posts in Bengal, I lost count but I will surely keep a track in future.  This was uncommon coz I really did not see that many in Bihar or Jharkhand, or was I mistaken?

Starting from Kolkata – 667 Kms, I had reached the milestone reading Kolkata – 9 Kms and the glow sign that showed an arrow pointing straight , reading KOLKATA and obviously I took that. It was just then that Khanabadosh’s headlight decided to take a break, so here were we, confused and lead astray by those signboards which took me everywhere but to Kolkata (I was looking for Kona Expressway). There were no people around to ask so it was becoming a bit much to keep going on & on. Then I decided to take the other road that read KHARAGPUR…And here I was, right on track, and In Kolkata …. This brought to an end, the first Leg of ALAKH 2011. During which I was lucky enough to gather some names, some stories of Unsung Heroes. I will post them after confirming a few facts about them. I will soon be starting on next leg which will take me through Odisha, AP and this time I will be more “Proper” in details. For now it is servicing for Khanabadosh , some rest for me and also meeting some Tweeps. Continued at In Kolkata - The City of Joy (?) but surely city of Survivors! : ALAKH 2011

Vandemataram