Busting The Bihari Stereotype

India is a land of stereotypes. It’s easy for us to break rules instead of ludicrous stereotypes. Some people have developed prejudices against people from different states whether it’s people from the North East or Jharkhand. It’s deeply rooted in their brains. It’ll be futile to knock some sense into them.

A few years back, Bihar was tainted in topper scam and ended up in a humiliating situation. Without any second thoughts, people and media started thrashing the reputation of the state and since then it hasn’t been easy for Bihar to amend its mistakes. No doubt the state lags in development and I will blame the government for the same. Since forever we have been taught to look at the brighter side of every situation but unfortunately, we are Indians. We are so jobless that we criticize everyone at every point of time even if it is not necessary. It will take a lot of success for Bihar to cover up a single mistake. And there is only one reason behind it. Bihar has become a stereotype.

Bihar is occupied by ‘homo sapiens’. Yeah, that’s right. They are human beings just like us. Shocked? Also, they lead normal lives like us; they have a normal job like us and are not criminals for sure. Since every state has its own language and guess what? Bhojpuri isn’t their official language it’s Hindi. The state follows different languages-Magahi, Maithili, Bajjika, Angika, Hindi, Urdu, Awadhi and Bhojpuri. Bhojpuri is a local dialect and speaking that language isn’t a big deal. If we never criticized Haryanvi or Marathi languages then I’m afraid we are no one to judge Bhojpuri as a local dialect. It makes sense when a person is called Bihari because simply he belongs to that state. But if Bihari is used to offend someone then I guess you might have crossed your line there.

It is ridiculous on our part to make fun of the attire and accent of the state. They are human beings just like us and maybe far more intelligent than us. Our shallow perspectives have made us think that Biharis are illiterate, uneducated and uncivilized. Am I wrong to say that our first president Dr. Rajendra Prasad was from Bihar? I guess he turned out to be a successful personality. Didn’t he? Anand Kumar, known for his Super 30 program, was born in Patna and is an educationalist and a mathematician. Oh god! He turned out to be educated and moreover a recognized personality. Bollywood industry paid a tribute to him by producing a film ‘Super 30’ which is based on his life. Sri Manas Bihari Verma is known to be the mind behind the aircraft Tejas. Bhawna Kant, also from Bihar, is one of the first female pilots in India. To redifine the lost glory of Bihar, a Patna based startup 'PatnaBeats' was founded. Check the site http://www.patnabeats.com/. You will be introduced to a new face of Bihar.

When people talk about Bihar as a state which is non-revivable or a disgrace to the country, I feel pity for them. Even after being in headlines due to corrupted officials, criminals and topper scam, there is a brighter side of the state which we tend to overlook. Treat a person for his individuality and not for his background. Because of such people, India remains socially backward. Next time before you humiliate a Bihari for belonging to that state, think twice.