About two weeks back, travelling through Northern Bihar on my annual sojourn, something struck me like a tonn of bricks. No, this was not any spicy news items that the media loves to pick up and showcase about my homestate ( good, bad or ugly - that's another point), but a subtle yet powerful change that is transforming the social landscape of Bihar :
As I boarded a noisy auto rickshaw at Darbhanga Bus stand for a trip to Station Road, the driver was looking to fill in all seats as soon as possible. I egged him on by saying, "Jaldi Chalo, Aage savari mil jayegi". To my utter surprise, the guy agreed and we zoomed ahead, as Anwar weaved his way thru a maze of buses, fellow autos, rickshaws, tongas, fruit vendors, pedestrians of all shapes & sizes.....Whew !! No sooner had we reached Bela More, that the vehicle came to a screeching halt. Anwar had his next passanger waiting......
"Hospital Jaoge.......Andar Tak Jana Hoga"......asked the young lady, as she waited for Anwar's reply in that hot, scorching mid-day Sun. Our Ferrari ka driver thought for a few seconds, and then decided to bargain. "Paanch rupaya extra lagega.....Nahin to gadi reserve kar lijiye." But our lady was in no mood to give in. She was already inside the auto saying,
"Hum toh jitna paisa dete hain utna hi mein jayenge..........aur tum bhi jaoge."
Without arguing a single word, Anwar moved on silently in search of next passanger, while I was too shocked to react.
Why was I shocked? Afterall, there was nothing abnormal happening !! To an outsider, who has not lived in & grown up in the small towns of Bihar, probably Yes. But for people like me, it was nothing less than a Paradigm Shift.
And here is why : Till my last visit in 2010, I had not seen this kind of assertiveness which I saw this time around among young,educated girl chidren(both school & college going). There is a sense of confidence amongst these young ladies , which I found across Bihar, that they can take on the World.
