A soft spoken smiling man with gold chains flashing under a bright shirt. That is how I remember Madhu Koda from the summer of 2006.
Koda was the Minister of Mines in Jharkhand. I was meeting him for an interview on the state’s mining policy. The interview dragged on for half an hour, but did not produce one coherent response. Koda was far too inarticulate. But the greater problem: on concerns like transparency, environment and the social impact of mining, he was clueless. This itself did not alarm. Most ministers in India are clueless or close to it. But what if the minister in question was overseeing almost half of India’s mineral resources?
Why would a politician turn cheerleader for those trying to dig dirt against the men and women who form the final but vital link in his political supply chain – the sarpanches or village heads?
Outsiders to Kutch may be quick to pick up these shifts of faith but the Langhas themselves remain rather unselfconscious about their religious eclecticism.
The ban on Jaswant Singh’s book had come and gone. But the men who had petitioned the High Court against it were neither to be seen nor heard – except in a mandatory newspaper quote.
Despite their differences, it is safe to presume Gujarat’s lawyers turned freedom crusaders – Gandhi, Sardar and Jinnah – would be glad to see the law come to the rescue of freedom.
My forays into these 'Naxal affected' areas did not happen out of design - I didn't go there to chase Naxals, or to report on bloodshed and deaths. I went there to look at issues of life and livelihood. But in some parts of the country, as I found, it is impossible to separate the two.
On the morning of counting day, driving through rain and the blossoms of Laburnum and Gulmohar in Patna, I was surprised to find that the road outside Nitish's residence deserted. For a moment I assumed the other news channels had decided to skip the early morning slightly pointless pre results dispatches, till I walked a few steps away to the next lane. Sure enough, the entire media cavalcade of cameras and broadcast vans was parked right there - outside the home of Rabri devi, Lalu's wife and the proxy Leader of Opposition.
Supriya Sharma is a roving reporter who, in the last six years, has moved base from Mumbai, to Bihar, and recently Delhi. She is now based in Ahmedabad.
Supriya Sharma is a roving reporter who, in the last six years, has moved base from Mumbai, to Bihar, and recently Delhi. She is now based in Ahmedabad.
