Words of Praise for “The Sea of Poppies”

The Economist reviews The Sea of Poppies. The reviewer seems to be mighty impressed by the book and cannot find any flaw in it except the fact that it ends abruptly and readers have to wait for two more years for the second part of the promised trilogy.

Check here

Chapra (Bihar): The Sea of Poppies, the Land of Gunpowder and the Home of Girmitiyas

Amitava Ghosh has written a new book: The Sea of Poppies. Like his other books, this one also seems to be based on a lot of historical research. I have not read the book; i have only read excerpts here.

He makes an interesting claim in the book: “The Ghazipur (in eastern UP) and Patna opium factories between them produced the wealth of Britain. It is astonishing to think of it but the Empire was really founded on opium”. A lot of opium came from the bhojpuri speaking areas of Bihar, including Chapra, my maternal home.

I did not know that Amitava Ghosh has his roots in Chapra. His ancestors left East Bengal in 1656, and after much wandering they settled in Chhapra and remained there for the next 150 years. His father grew up speaking Bhojpuri. This is such a pleasant surprise. He also happens to be uncle of one of my best friends in America. Now I am beginning to believe in the “six degrees of separation” idea:-).

Ghosh says that opium was the major economic activity in that region in 19th century when his family settled there. I thought Saran was also a major source of Saltpeter (Potassium Nitrate)–the main ingredient of gunpowder before synthetic sources were invented. Saltpeter was much in demand in 18th and 19th century Europe in all the great wars–The Seven Years’ and the Thirty Years’ and the Napoleanic Wars– being waged to decide the supremacy over the continent and the world.

Besides gunpowder, opium and indigo, Chapra and its neighboring districts were also THE source of indentured labor, the girmitiya mazdoors, who were taken to distant lands of Mauritius, the Carribeans and Surinam to work on plantations. This book is about them.

Talking about these laborers, Ghosh says “for me what was so hard to imagine, so incredibly poignant, was the moment of departure. What did it mean for them? They were farmers, the most rooted people. The courage it took at that time for a Bihari to set out across the kala pani is something you and I can barely conceive of. I felt so moved by that, such admiration for them in a way that I wanted to write about it. I wanted to think about it in detail, what was it really like, the actual moment of departure when you see everything you know disappearing behind you. What these people endure is unbelievable, nothing magical could equal it”.

I agree! It is incredibly poignant. Like my friend Rahul, I also love books that try to reconstruct lives of common people in historical times. Amitava Ghosh makes it even more interesting by mixing facts with fiction and fantasia. I cannot wait to start this book. It is definitely on the top of my summer reading list now.

Harbhajan aur thappad ki goonj

A couple of days ago I talked about Harbhajan’s thappad ki goonj . Well the echo (goonj) does not seem to be dying down. Now he has been banned for 5 one-days also and he will completely miss the Bangladesh tour. This means loss of a lot more money and  loss of opportunity to add to his wickets tally on sub-continental pitches against a team people play to build and shatter records.

My sense is that this is not it for him. There is more to come. Remember is goonj ki goonj part of Dr. Dang’s threat. Harbhajan will also hear echoes of the echo. Next time when he travels to Australia, Aussies will try to target him and provoke him into doing something silly again.  He is vulnerable because he is a history-sheeter now. Even his minor mistakes will attract severe penalties and reproach from the guardians of the game and the press. Aussies and other competitors would love to exploit this weakness.

He will need tremendous self-control in days to come.  Good luck to the third highest wicket taker of India.

Bas tumhaare liye Sar jhukata raha…

 Anubhuti.org has a small collection (5/6) of Nepali’s poems. Back home, I have one or two more in my old diary. One is his the famous call to the country when China invaded India in 1962 : “Shankar-puri mein Cheen sena ko utara, Chalis karoron ko himalaya ne pukara” . This is my favorite of many amazing poems written around that time.

The scond gem in my collections is: ”Door jakar na koi bisara kare, man dubara tibaara pukara kare“.  It is an absolute beauty.

Both these poems are not on anubhuti.org or any other website on the internet. I promise to post them here as soon as i am home.

Meanwhile, enjoy another beautiful poem by Nepali that is available on the internet.

मुसकुराती रही कामना

तुम जलाकर दिये, मुँह छुपाते रहे, जगमगाती रही कल्पना
रात जाती रही, भोर आती रही, मुसकुराती रही कामना

चाँद घूँघट घटा का उठाता रहा
द्वार घर का पवन खटखटाता रहा
पास आते हुए तुम कहीं छुप गए
गीत हमको पपीहा रटाता रहा

तुम कहीं रह गये, हम कहीं रह गए, गुनगुनाती रही वेदना
रात जाती रही, भोर आती रही, मुसकुराती रही कामना

तुम न आए, हमें ही बुलाना पड़ा
मंदिरों में सुबह-शाम जाना पड़ा
लाख बातें कहीं मूर्तियाँ चुप रहीं
बस तुम्हारे लिए सर झुकाता रहा

प्यार लेकिन वहाँ एकतरफ़ा रहा, लौट आती रही प्रार्थना
रात जाती रही, भोर आती रही, मुसकुराती रही कामना

शाम को तुम सितारे सजाते चले
रात को मुँह सुबह का दिखाते चले
पर दिया प्यार का, काँपता रह गया
तुम बुझाते चले, हम जलाते चले

दुख यही है हमें तुम रहे सामने, पर न होता रहा सामना
रात जाती रही, भोर आती रही, मुसकुराती रही कामना

From http://www.anubhuti-hindi.org 

Tujh saa Lehron Mein Beh Leta, to Main bhi Satta Gah Leta

Here is another very famous poem by Gopal Singh Nepali. Every poet/writer would like to claim ki …

मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

राजा बैठे सिंहासन पर, यह ताजों पर आसीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

जिसने तलवार शिवा को दी
रोशनी उधार दिवा को दी
पतवार थमा दी लहरों को
खंजर की धार हवा को दी
अग-जग के उसी विधाता ने, कर दी मेरे आधीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

रस-गंगा लहरा देती है
मस्ती-ध्वज फहरा देती है
चालीस करोड़ों की भोली
किस्मत पर पहरा देती है
संग्राम-क्रांति का बिगुल यही है, यही प्यार की बीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

कोई जनता को क्या लूटे
कोई दुखियों पर क्या टूटे
कोई भी लाख प्रचार करे
सच्चा बनकर झूठे-झूठे
अनमोल सत्य का रत्नहार, लाती चोरों से छीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

बस मेरे पास हृदय-भर है
यह भी जग को न्योछावर है
लिखता हूँ तो मेरे आगे
सारा ब्रह्मांड विषय-भर है
रँगती चलती संसार-पटी, यह सपनों की रंगीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

लिखता हूँ अपनी मर्ज़ी से
बचता हूँ कैंची-दर्ज़ी से
आदत न रही कुछ लिखने की
निंदा-वंदन खुदगर्ज़ी से
कोई छेड़े तो तन जाती, बन जाती है संगीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

तुझ-सा लहरों में बह लेता
तो मैं भी सत्ता गह लेता
ईमान बेचता चलता तो
मैं भी महलों में रह लेता
हर दिल पर झुकती चली मगर, आँसू वाली नमकीन कलम
मेरा धन है स्वाधीन कलम

From http://www.anubhuti-hindi.org/

Second Edition of Swaminomics on Tushaar’s Book

Here is the second edition of Swaminomics on Tushaar’s forthcoming book. In his first column, Aiyar summarized Tushaar’s perspective on India’s irrigation challenge. In this one, he looks at two possible solutions proposed in the book.

I was worried if the book’s message will reach a wide Indian audience. With these two pieces, it has reached a much wider audience than i ever imagined or hoped for.

बदनाम रहे बटमार-गोपाल सिंह नेपाली (1911-1963)

Gopal Singh Nepali is one of my favorite hindi poets. His poems are lyrical. One can sing them. My dad attended many kavi-sammelans during his college days. He tells me that Nepalijee, Bachan and Janki Ballabh Shashtri were hindi poets with most beautiful voices. Not surprisingly, all three of them wrote lyrical poems. Nepali also composed lyrics for bollywood movies. He often teamed up with Chitragupta. Many in Bihar believe that Nepali, and not Rajendra Krishan, wrote Man dole, mera tan dole and other superhit songs of film Nagin. I don’t know the truth but i do know that he was a wonderful poet. Everytime I am in India, I try to get his poems. But i have not had much success. He died young. Many of his best poems remained unpublished and even his published works have been out of print for decades now. His one poem that i have been particularly looking for is:

“Babul tum bagiya ke taruvar, ham taruvar ki chidiya re

dana chug ke ud jayengi, piya milan ki ghadiyaan re”

fir beech ki panktiyaan hain…..

“pahunche jo sauraal to dekha wo duniya hi nyari thi

fuulon ka tha sez magar, kaanton ki fulwaari thi”

……

“kehne ko sab apne hain, par din-dopahar ke sapne hain”

He recited this poem in a kavi sammelan hosted by Mahanta Darshan in Maniyaari, Muzaffarpur. (Mahanta Darshan Das was the founder of MDDM college, Muzaffarpur). My father tells me that by the time Nepali had finished his recitation, everyone in audience was in tears.  All the great hindi poets of his time were in that kavi-sammelan but Nepali stole the show with this beauiful poem and his amazing rendition.

Too bad, i do not have this poem, but i share another one. I will post a few more of his poems over next few days.  

 

बदनाम रहे बटमार

बदनाम रहे बटमार मगर, घर तो रखवालों ने लूटा
मेरी दुल्हन-सी रातों को, नौ लाख सितारों ने लूटा

दो दिन के रैन बसेरे की,
हर चीज़ चुराई जाती है
दीपक तो अपना जलता है,
पर रात पराई होती है
गलियों से नैन चुरा लाए
तस्वीर किसी के मुखड़े की
रह गए खुले भर रात नयन, दिल तो दिलदारों नर लूटा
मेरी दुल्हन-सी रातों को, नौ लाख सितारों ने लूटा

शबनम-सा बचपन उतरा था,
तारों की गुमसुम गलियों में
थी प्रीति-रीति की समझ नहीं,
तो प्यार मिला था छलियों से
बचपन का संग जब छूटा तो
नयनों से मिले सजल नयना
नादान नये दो नयनों को, नित नये बजारों ने लूटा
मेरी दुल्हन-सी रातों को, नौ लाख सितारों ने लूटा

हर शाम गगन में चिपका दी,
तारों के अक्षर की पाती
किसने लिक्खी, किसको लिक्खी,
देखी तो पढ़ी नहीं जाती
कहते हैं यह तो किस्मत है
धरती के रहनेवालों की
पर मेरी किस्मत को तो इन, ठंडे अंगारों ने लूटा
मेरी दुल्हन-सी रातों को, नौ लाख सितारों ने लूटा

अब जाना कितना अंतर है,
नज़रों के झुकने-झुकने में
हो जाती है कितनी दूरी,
थोड़ा-सी रुकने-रुकने में
मुझ पर जग की जो नज़र झुकी
वह ढाल बनी मेरे आगे
मैंने जब नज़र झुकाई तो, फिर मुझे हज़ारों ने लूटा
मेरी दुल्हन-सी रातों को नौ लाख सितारों ने लूटा

From http://www.anubhuti-hindi.org 

Swaminomics on Tushaar’s Book

Couple of days ago I strongly recommended everyone to read Tushaar Shah’s forthcoming book: Taming the Anarchy. Today the commendation comes from Swaminathan Aiyar, the editor of Economic Times and writer of India’s most widely read economic column Swaminomics. And this is praise in its sincerest form: he devotes a full column to the book, this week and the next week.

I think this is huge. I mean it is a book on irrigation, it is not Freakonomics, and yet a popular weekly columnist devotes two issues to present its ideas at a time when there is no dearth of interesting attention-grabbing economic issues to write about. This tells something about how compelling, how interesting and how important this book is.

Food Crisis: “A Passing Difficulty can Leave a Permanent Scar”, Says Esther Duflo

Many argue that rising food prices, if managed well, should not last too long and in fact offers an opportunity to reduce poverty since most of the world’s poorest are in rural areas and work in the farm sector. There are disagreements over what governments should and should not do to make sure that this happens. The disagreements are familiar: more market or more public intervention, more trade vs. more protection and so on.

However, what everybody agrees with is that the transition phase will be painful. In a recent cover story, The Economist reported: “middle classes in poor countries are giving up health care and cutting out meat so they can eat three meals a day. The middling poor, those on $2 a day, are pulling children from school and cutting back on vegetables so they can still afford rice. Those on $1 a day are cutting back on meat, vegetables and one or two meals, so they can afford one bowl. The desperate—those on 50 cents a day—face disaster”.  

MIT economist, Esther Duflo worries worries that these coping mechanisms can have long term negative effects on the affected communities. She cites (and e-links to) some rigorous studies that show some of the long-term effects of this deprivation in this article. The study showing the effect on the girl child mortality is striking.

The Extent of Landlessness in Bihar (some new data added)

For last three decades food was available for cheap–the cheapest ever in known human history. But that seems to be changing. Price of rice and wheat have almost doubled over the last one year in the international market. Some Facts and Figures on food prices from BBC.

Rising food prices help net sellers and hurt net buyers of food.  I was wondering what percentage of people in Bihar–the most rural, the most agricultural and the poorest state of India–are net buyers of food? I could not find the answer on the internet or in published NSS reports. So, I did this rough estimation from land distribution data I found in a 2002 NSS survey (see the table).  

There were 11.7 million rural households in Bihar in 2002-03. 29% (~3.4 million HHs) of them did not cultivate any land–own or leased– in 2002-03. Another 15% (1.8 million HHs) operated holdings smaller than 400 sq. meters.  Altogether, seventy-five percent of rural households in Bihar did not cultivate any land or cultivated holdings smaller than 0.5 hectares. 

Operational Landholding Pattern in Bihar
Size (ha)	# (‘000)	% of total HHs	% operating HHs
nil	33824	28.95
<0.002	2024	1.7	2.4
0.002-0.005	5588	4.8	6.7
0.005-0.04	9387	8.0	11.3
0.04-0.5	36730	31.4	44.2
0.5-1.0	15646	13.4	18.8
Total	116853
Source: TableN-E NSS Report# 492, 2002-03, p.176

Please note that the extent of landlessness (in terms of land ownership) is most probably higher than these numbers suggest because here we are counting sharecroppers as operational holders even if they do not own any land and many of them do not. According to a World Bank survey in 1998, “nearly 25% of cultivated land in Bihar was leased-in. For small landholders (0.2-0.4 ha), leased-in land was as much as half the size of their average cultivable land; for SC/ST households around 80% of cultivated land was leased-in”.

I must say that I am shocked by these numbers.

Moving on from land ownership to subsistence status of rural Biharis. An average Bihari villager consumes about 150 kg of cereals per year; an average Bihari family of 5 needs about 750 kg/year. Per hectare crop yield of the rice-wheat system is about 2400 kg/ha of NSA (net sown area) in the state. This means that a typical farmer requires 0.33 ha of land to grow that much food. If he is a sharecropper, he needs to operate on twice as much land (0.66ha) to have 750 kg of food for his family consumption. We saw above that 75% of all rural households in Bihar operate no land or landholdings smaller than 0.5 ha. The incidence of extreme poverty is 46 to 56% among those who own less than 0.4 ha of land against the state average of 40%. These rough estimates show that 8.75 million of Bihar’s 11.7 million rural households are net buyers of food; they are the poorest and they will suffer heavily from the recent spike in food prices, at least in the short-run. [It does not help matters that Bihar has the most leaky public distribution system in India. ]

Part of the problem is the low crop yields and low cropping intensity in a high population density region. Bihar’s population grew faster in 1990s (by 28%) than in 1980s and there are signs that it is not slowing down even in the new millenium. The problem is that the increasing population density has not led to increase in land-use intensification. The prognosis of Malthus, not Boserup, is turning out to be true in Bihar and that is Bihar’s tragedy.