I'm going to spare you the gruesome story of my salmonella (I know, it's rare for me not to jump at the chance to discuss diarrhea) and instead grace you with a boring discussion of Bihari politics.
Last week I met up with Vincent, an old friend of mine from Pondicherry University. We hadn't seen each since 2007 (5 years!!) so it was really great to catch up with him. Vincent is a journalist working the Jharkhand beat for The Telegraph, a Kolkata-based newspaper (but he doesn't actually live in Jharkhand; he is based in Delhi). Being a journalist, he's way more knowledgeable about Indian politics than I could ever dream to be. Of course, that's why I love talking to him!
I mentioned to Vincent that I would really love to work in Bihar, because there seems to be great opportunity for impact. Bihar is near the bottom on pretty much every count (education, health, income, etc) like their neighboring states, but governance in the state has been rapidly improving thanks to the efforts of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has earned the nickname "Mr. Clean" for cracking down on corruption. Surely there is greater opportunity for impact than in horrendously corrupt Jharkhand, I thought. Vincent's response? Bakwaas. (Bullshit.) Bihar has not improved nearly at the rate advertised--key word: advertised. Apparently Kumar has a very good PR team and some friends in the media.
But what about all those articles in The New York Times lauding Kumar's work in the state? (See here, here, and here). Vincent counters with a recent, more critical article by Outlook India here. (Sorry I'm being lazy and referring you to news articles rather than explaining things myself.)
Now I'm confused and don't know what to believe. How effective have Kumar's initiatives really been? What is the state of the State of Bihar?
I recently met with the founder of an agricultural NGO that works in the Hindi belt, and I asked her about the state of the state. She told me that Kumar is, in fact, making serious progress in Bihar--but admitted that Bihar is still quite corrupt, there is still plenty of work to do, and "some may disagree with Nitish's approach."
Nothing is ever simple or straightforward in India.
(In any case, I don't have any contacts in Bihar, so I most likely won't be working there anyway.)
Last week I met up with Vincent, an old friend of mine from Pondicherry University. We hadn't seen each since 2007 (5 years!!) so it was really great to catch up with him. Vincent is a journalist working the Jharkhand beat for The Telegraph, a Kolkata-based newspaper (but he doesn't actually live in Jharkhand; he is based in Delhi). Being a journalist, he's way more knowledgeable about Indian politics than I could ever dream to be. Of course, that's why I love talking to him!
I mentioned to Vincent that I would really love to work in Bihar, because there seems to be great opportunity for impact. Bihar is near the bottom on pretty much every count (education, health, income, etc) like their neighboring states, but governance in the state has been rapidly improving thanks to the efforts of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has earned the nickname "Mr. Clean" for cracking down on corruption. Surely there is greater opportunity for impact than in horrendously corrupt Jharkhand, I thought. Vincent's response? Bakwaas. (Bullshit.) Bihar has not improved nearly at the rate advertised--key word: advertised. Apparently Kumar has a very good PR team and some friends in the media.
But what about all those articles in The New York Times lauding Kumar's work in the state? (See here, here, and here). Vincent counters with a recent, more critical article by Outlook India here. (Sorry I'm being lazy and referring you to news articles rather than explaining things myself.)
Now I'm confused and don't know what to believe. How effective have Kumar's initiatives really been? What is the state of the State of Bihar?
I recently met with the founder of an agricultural NGO that works in the Hindi belt, and I asked her about the state of the state. She told me that Kumar is, in fact, making serious progress in Bihar--but admitted that Bihar is still quite corrupt, there is still plenty of work to do, and "some may disagree with Nitish's approach."
Nothing is ever simple or straightforward in India.
(In any case, I don't have any contacts in Bihar, so I most likely won't be working there anyway.)
:)
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