Books on Bihar That You Must Read: Bihar the land of wisdom, knowledge, Gurus and greens is one of the oldest and most interesting states of India. The state of Bihar has seen drastic highs and lows unlike any state. This beautiful state has seen glory which is parallel to none and has also faced problems and lows like no other state in India. Here are a few book recommendations on Bihar that will give some insight about Bihar’s culture, its glory, downfall and its hope of becoming glorious again.
Greatest Folk Tales of Bihar
Who doesn’t like Folklores and that too when it comes from the land of mystiques & mysteries. Folklores of every region, culture, language have their own charm. There are endless English Folklores and even other languages have a lot of Folklores in the mainstream media & literature but Bihari Folklore barely gets its due.
However, we do have a Folklore Book for Bihar written by the veteran journalist Nalin Verma. The experienced journalist and author brings to us Folk Tales from the villages of Bihar. The author himself hails from a village where there were tales about every second tree, taalab (pond) and every old thing had a tale to tell. These tales were words of wisdom sent down by elders, myths, mythologies, local legends which also became the source of entertainment back then. The book beautifully captures the heart of Bhojpuri and Maithili speaking people and their folk tales.
Bihar Diaries
Next book on our list is Bihar Diaries by Amit Lodha. In the Book Lodha shares his experience as an IPS officer in Bihar and thrilling tales. The book also got its fair share of national attention after the recent Netflix show “Khakee” which is based on Lodha’s book made headlines. The Show was a huge hit and so is the book.
Bihar Diaries the true story of how Bihar’s most dangerous criminal was caught tells the tale of the Young Urban IPS who’s posted to a small town in Bihar where he faces the challenge of one of Bihar’s most dangerous and notorious Ganglord Samant Pratap. The non-fiction is an exciting thriller with lot of twists and turns.
Madam Sir: The Story of Bihar’s First Lady IPS Officer
Women empowerment and female representation has been a big issue in India especially in states like Bihar, UP or Haryana. The male dominated society had little to no say of women in the work field, especially in the early 80’s and 90’s. And sectors like the Police force barely recognized women as incharges or leaders. Manjari Jaruhar became one of the first female officers of the country and first in the state of Bihar.
In her book “Madam Sir: The Story of Bihar’s First Lady IPS Officer” Jaruhar sheds light on women’s condition back then. The IPS officer also mentions her challenges back in the day because of her gender and situation back then in Bihar. The book explores hardships a woman has to face in a society or field that isn’t used to female leadership. Madam Sir also showcases the work and troubles an IPS officer has to face in political & unstable situations.
Broken Promises: Caste, Crime and Politics in Bihar
Sharma’s book “Broken Promises: Caste, Crime and Politics in Bihar” talks about 90’s Bihar which is often termed as the worst phase of Bihar by many. This phase was termed as the “Jungle Raj” by a renowned media house. This term is hailed as one of the worst terms in modern day independent India. Things like corruption, crime, poverty and violence were at peak in this period which was backed by casteism, politics and religion.
The author “Mrityunjay Sharma” was born in the undivided Bihar and has an engineering degree from BIT Mesra, Ranchi and an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur (both cities now a part of Jharkhand). Post his studies Sharma worked for few reputed brands before starting his startup at his hometown “Ranchi”. In his book Mrityunjay talks about the unimaginable state of once a power center “Bihar”. He mentions how corruption, politics, casteism made Bihar the most backward and dangerous India State of the 90’s era.
A Doctor’s Experiments in Bihar
Travelling teaches you. But travelling and working to transform a place is something very few people may have thought about. The book “A Doctor’s Experiments in Bihar” by Dr Taru Jindal, a Gynaecologist from the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Medical College. A Doctor’s Experiments in Bihar is an inspiring and insightful book which tells us that by moving out of our comfort zone we can do wonders for the unprivileged.
This book is about the lady doctor’s will and intent to bring change in Bihar which back then had the highest rate of infant and maternal mortality in the country. Dr Taru’s motivation to bring about change and how her hard work, commitment and expertise & experiments brought change in the mentality of the mothers, health workers and in general in the medial circuit is something we all need to read about. This book is an inspiration that how even small steps and few individuals can bring about huge positive change in the society.
