In Bihar..Lakhi Sarai to Nevada
A trip to Bihar came up. The place I wanted to visit so much for personal and work related reasons! Lakhisarai city would be my base camp. From where I would move to places of relevance. The very first morning it was decided to go to a small village in Nevada (and you think Americans are original) district to meet an important person.
A Maruti van would be the mode of transport. It is by far the favorite here because of its high ground clearance on roads, which lot of times provide off-roading experience. Got to eat alloo, mutter and lithi paranthas, with chatni, pickles and tea. Have to admit I did over eat a bit.
I sat on the front passenger seat, with a camera in my hand, accompanied by the respectable hosts, without whom this trip would not have happened. Lakhisarai city, with its crowded, narrow roads offering bumpy ride took half an hour to pass. The route was a state highway, which are on lower priority as compared to the national highways.
It was such a good change from the urban landscape of Mumbai. With farms surrounding the road and trees standing tall on both sides. The car was going on a brisk pace on a good stretch, when I saw an animal pass in front of the car, with great speed. Can you believe it was a fox! It was too fast for a photo shoot. Foxes are not too rare here. They are normally afraid of humans but some incidents of human attacks have taken place.
A few Kilometers down a stretch of mud roads in bad condition came. Trucks were standing on left side of the road, with the engines off. One would guess they were loading. Our car passed them from the other lane. The line of trucks did not seem to end. A passer by told that it’s a traffic jam. Kind of amazing to experience a rural jam! It surprised me what kind of jam is this with one lane open and trucks not even started.
What stood out was the patience of people. None of the drivers seemed to be in hurry. A little further came the two lanes of big vehicles. The road was big enough for two heavy vehicles and a light vehicle. Our car found the way between the big trucks, but the joy was short lived. Now we could not go back or forward. The cause of the jam was failure of two trucks side by side, which blocked the movement of trucks.
What to do? How about a real off roading experience? The car entered the neighboring vacant field, covered may be 30 yards, came on road again seeing an opening, went for few yards and was stuck again. Now the problem was few tractor-trolleys coming from the opposite side in the wrong side. We got down to see. There was a way out if one of the trucks would move little bit in front paving way for one of the trolleys to go in between. Then there were two other tractors behind, which would have to be taken in reverse to a point where the road is wide and cars would pass. We approached the truck driver to move. He was having lunch. He had set up his kitchen inside the truck. Some truck drivers were even bathing. They were stuck for more than 24 hours. After lunch he moved the truck. The trolleys moved. I stopped the other tractors eager to come seeing the vacant space. The car passed the block. We were still seeing the trucks in line while we moved ahead. Luckily there wasn’t another jam. After few kilometers the queue of trucks ended. Such a relief!
Our car passed two kids around 10 years of age, covered with blankets, walking barefooted.
Wanting to take their picture, I got down, started clicking. The boy started crying and saying, “ I didn’t do anything” in local tongue. The girl on the other hand was cool. The other gentleman with me came out and gave 10 rupee note to the boy. He was still crying and even offered the money back. I also took some coins from my pocket and gave them. Their eyes were so intense. It made me feel awkward.
Finally reached the destination, which was 60 km away. Normally it takes 3 hrs to reach but because of the jam it took additional 1.5 hrs. Was pleased to see the person, we had come to meet. The conversation started. It went on for few hours. By the time it was over, it was dark. There was no electricity. I asked when the electricity went off. They said that it has being more than a month, when it last came!
Spent the night there under a roof made up of bamboos and leaves, with no doors and wide open space. A fox could easily come if he wanted.
We returned early in the morning. Reached the village where the jam was. We could still see the line of trucks. The alternate route was 100 km longer so had no choice but to go this way. On reaching the block, we asked how bad it was to a passer by. He replied,” You should be able to pass the block like you did yesterday”! He was so true!!
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It’s Nawada bhai, not Nevada. Magar kya twist hai:)
@ Manjeet …where r u ?
Hi Manjeet,
I discovered PFC a few days back and have been hooked to it, cinema being my childhood love but me too followed the nerd mentality to go to US (currently settled in CA bay area). but just found you on PFC. read your earlier blogs too. liked ur thoughts. ur post about cinematography reminds me of the lighting course I took 2 years back to learn the film craft. Before the course, I had just been thematically watching films, but after the course, now I always look for the light shapes in the eyes of the characters and also try to predict where the light sources were placed during the shot.
and yes, Americans are actually not original at naming. even within California’s bay area, i see names of streets being repeated, probably bec they dont have much of a history to fall back to for help. California has small towns named after all the big cities of the world (including new delhi, paris, et al).
pl read and critic my TZP site (incl my review): http://www.taarezameepar.com
my other reviews are at: http://www.sanjitdang.com
good to see u find ur foot into bollywood,
will keep in touch,
-sanjit
Manjeetay…so tera rural tourism kaisa chal raha hai?? ;-)) kab laut raha hai…hopefully u gt what u wanted.
if i dare write..
i see the kids are from the scene where the fingers get chopped off.. and the small hut being their home. .
good luck!!
Manjeet - you seem to be having fun out there. Thanks for sharing. I remember once getting stuck in a video coach (as they were called) for a day due to floods. They kept playing the same Mithun movie called Numbri Aadmi throughout.
now bihar’s buses are no longer video coaches..they have taken an extra leap of innovation…and hold your breath…are called “home theatre” coaches…one of my friends saw this name..n was thrilled to pieces..
jai ho bihari innovation ki..!!
Manjeet
am really curious about the kind of work that beckons you to Bihar?
would love to do what you are doing.
very fond of the state having read Bihar by Vijay Nambisan and it intrigues me …..
Joyjeet, Oz..The pronunciation differs little bit. In Bihar maps its spelled the same.
Sanjit got the point I was trying to make on a lighter note:)
Playback I m right now in Punjab in my pind (village)!
Sanjit, Can’t agree with you more..Once you are exposed to the art n craft of film making..you start noticing minute things and the learning process really starts and never ends:)
Somen babu, Kya kahein bahut majhedar experiences hain..pehle Bihar ke gaon aur ab Punjab ke:) Ek aad hafte mein lautun ga..phone karta hoon pahunch kar
Hemant ssshhhh! These are just random stills..
Subrat, Can imagine your experience on that day..sometimes these kind of happenings can be quite a delight.
Kavita will mail you in a week’s time, what I m trying to do. Never read the book you mentioned. What does it say about Bihar?
@ Manjeet ! …lemme know when u r back in Mumbai ! Cheers !
Manjeet:
Vijay Nambisan is a journalist who lived in Bihar for
a year while his wife Kaveri Nambisan -Doctor and Author was posted there at a rural hospital.
This book is an account of his life and observations of Bihar - very affectionate and appreciative, lovingly critical too.
Plus have loads of Bihari dosts so…….
Do mail
Ciao
Guidelines for a film Review :
1. Never bring up older works of the film maker or compare. The film deserves to be judged on its own as an individual creative work…and you arent judging the film-maker.
2. Never bring up real life issues the film rides piggy back on,…cos then your review does the same. And that way,…it would have been better off as a documentary.
3. Never derive comparisions with other work. Every film stands for itself …or crumbles down by itself !
Ideally film analysis is objective, …not comparative,…though the latter is easier.
Cheers !
Acha hai….. But…….LAKHISARAI TO NAWADA
Manjeet! I want to visit Punjaaab!
Kavita, pls check ur mail.
Playback I m back in Mumbai!
Thanks Vishwa!
Amit will let u know the next time i m visiting punjab:)
@ Manjeet ! … email me about ur schedule at playback2007@gmail.com… thanks
What a read, Lakhisari also happens to be the home of Litti Choka and Pani.
Bihar is great.