Thats Patna

Thats Patna

Ah… feels good to be blogging after a long time. Few weeks back I read an article I found somewhere on the internet. It was about how Patna has improved in last few years and how things are changing so drastically. Well to be frank I don’t fully agree with that article. Not that I am saying stay scared of Patna its still a hell. What I mean to say is whatever good things the author stated in the article have been persisting for I don’t know how long. At least I have found Patna equally safe as any other place ever since I have known it.

Yesterday I saw on TV that UP has surpassed Bihar in kidnappings. Doesn’t mean you’d think a hundred times before landing in Lucknow. Doesn’t even mean you’d expect blood bath happening when you walk down the streets of Varanasi.

A number of my friends who have never been to Patna say that they dread putting their foot in Patna. Some have even asked me how you live there, isn’t it scary out there. In one such conversation when a friend said how his friend had come out of a hell like situation where people were behind whole of his family and if he were there, he would have got killed. The story drove me into thoughts when another friend of mine who also is from Patna asked him. Should I tell you stories from Chambal Valley, would you mark the whole state of MP as equally difficult state to live in. And I found it very true. I mean you don’t need to prove it to me that Bihar has the naxal problem. And so has Andhra. Doesn’t mean Hyderabad can’t prosper.

And this time when I landed in Patna after eight months, I felt as homely and safe as I have ever felt. Changes… well yes, Patna has changed and is changing. Though I was disappointed to see the same old buildings all through my way to home, yet there were things I had to notice and appreciate. My father showed me the new Vishal Megamart store in Patna, a huge air-conditioned two-storey department store. Well, I would have appreciated more if it were built in a state of art structure with glass tiles exterior. But at least it’s a good thing to start with. I had to laugh at the way people were stopping in the middle of the road to see the store easily spot-able in the range of fraser road buildings because of flashy lights. Later when I went to the store, I was happy at the way crowd turned up there to buy things and not just walk around in the air condition amidst the hot and sultry august of Patna. We sure need a lot more such stores in Patna.

Within days, I saw HSBC branch, funky bhojpuri movie posters, improvement in the ganga ghats, new fundoo food joint in S P Verma Road, a sprawling new flyover near railway station and a lot more. Patna has a lot new details to offer. I say details because in first look you’d find the place same. There still are dirty roadsides, old buildings, bad roads etc. But details have changed. Municipal Corporation was not on strike and roads were much cleaner than before. All the wastes were taken away daily. Good new restaurants, MNC banks, showrooms and stores have opened up in the old buildings. Mom told me that the roads had been built before monsoons within no time. Perhaps they need the contractors of Bangalore and ideas of Karnataka government for good roads.

And when today I was going back to Patna Airport, I got a feeling that all Patna needs is a break. We need an entry of MNCs to set the ball rolling. Employment in Patna will retain the talent and people like me will not need to go out to find jobs. MNC class salary will enhance the purchasing power of Patanites and it will create a market for the investors. Retail chains are anyways needed in Patna. Government will get money in form of tax revenues to enhance the infrastructure. The tallest building in Patna well perhaps whole Bihar, the 14 storey Software Technology Park will do justice to its name.

It sounds so spontaneous doesn’t it? But to trigger all this, government needs to improve the Patna Airport. Boy its very very small. I had a feeling that they built it just for the sake of it. With a well build airport, the connectivity will improve and companies will start looking at Patna as a land of opportunity.

Perhaps things have just started to take off. I heard that a new IIT will be built in Patna. I was thrilled to hear that. A lot has started to get shape and people outside are yet to notice it all. As for the friends who are scared of putting their foot in Patna, I’ll just stay silent and wait for the day when all these small details take a good huge shape without any prior hype and surprise people.

I’ll just wait…. Perhaps the wait won’t be long.