As I start on a journey of putting my thoughts into words & sharing them with you, it is just befitting that I start from the very beginning. The beginning of me!

I hail from a small town in Bihar (India) called Jamalpur. And, I wouldn’t blame it on you for not having heard of it earlier. I would start with describing it for you as the most beautiful town ever, picturesque, full with its share of hills, lakes & waterfalls. It is best known for hosting India’s first & the largest Railway workshop. It also boasts of churning out in its foothills, the most revered Special Class Railway Apprentices, better understood as the Indian Railways’ top brass, its mighty officers. Thanks to the Railways, Jamalpur has always had a very cosmopolitan feel.

Everything about this town is special… where on the one hand it has that oh-so rustic feel, on the other, its people display such broad-mindedness that could put into shells many of our metropolitan-denizens. It is a town as self-sufficient as could be. After having widely traveled the length & breadth of the country, I still maintain that I have not seen a school as mighty as Notre Dame Academy. This school has some of the greatest teachers who everyday play a very crucial role in churning out an enviable alumni list! You could say I am biased, but I say I have been fortunate to have spent my school years in this wonderful institution. And, I say so after having studied in some of the finest & highly prestigious colleges later in life. Alumni of this school have stormed the world & excelled beyond narration!

Everything about this place, small and big is special. The tinned Workshop boundary with long entwined black pipes welcome you as your train enters Jamalpur Junction. The majestic spread of the Workshop can leave great architects spellbound. As you enter this small town, be ready to appreciate the warmth that its people & buildings have to offer. The Kali pahaad defines the skyline of the town. Climb up and you get to see the Water Works and the ancient Kali temple. Come monsoon and the sparkling waterfalls would be ready to wash down the hills.

No description of this town is complete without mentioning the very famous Golf Ground. I could even go on to say (& not get challenged) that no kid in this Railway township would have attained puberty without having tried a hand at golf. Or swimming. Or tennis. Or billiards. The Officers’ Club has all of these and much more within a 10-minute walking distance; things you would end up spending a couple of grands & traveling tens of kilometers in a city like Delhi or Mumbai or Bangalore. Right from the years of British slavery, people of Jamalpur have been interested in sports & we do have those white men to thank for establishing the JSA Ground (stadium). Not to forget the Gymkhana, the Railway Institute & the Central Institute (CI) all of which gave cultural entertainment an all new scope & definition. The pandal at Children’s Park during Durga Puja would become the hub of all action, boasting of the Who’s Who of Jamalpur & nearby towns.

Jamalpur is also known for some exquisite delicacies. Who would have sampled anywhere else on this planet, Mughlai Parantha the way Cooking House and Madras Coffee House prepared it & served so uniquely with a South Indian sambhar! And, that chicken curry at Hotel Yatrik, would leave behind preparations by the greatest of chefs in our star hotels.

Move a few kilometers ahead and you would reach Munger, Jamalpur’s twin town. The Bihar School of Yoga, established as the headquarters of the International Yoga Fellowship has catapulted this town onto the world map. The Ganga flows serenely through this mystical town, washing away all sins & sorrows, which is why it is aptly called the Kashtharni. This town is also said to have great historical and mythological significance as being ruled by Karna during Mahabharata. The Fort ruins are still an indication of the might it would have commanded centuries earlier.

Having spent half my life in Jamalpur, I migrated to Delhi to fulfill my professional dreams. Today, when I visit my hometown, it embraces me with the same warmth as it did when I was younger. It feels great to fly the world with wings of freedom, but I never forget that my roots are still very firmly planted in the soils of Jamalpur!

(All photographs posted here have been provided by my friend Rajnikant.)/

Source: http://richa-sinha.blogspot.com/2010/02/jamalpur-beauty-of-small-town-as-i.html

Dada Jitendriya

Meditating by the lakeside tamarind tree.

Dada has just completed his 3-year training to be a monk, meditation teacher and social service volunteer. He is now starting his work in Brazil.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dharmasphere/86297502/

Baba's Birthplace

This site is the birthplace of the social activist and spiritualist Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (spiritual name Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, or simply ‘Baba’). He was born on the full moon in May 1921.

The building in this photo is new and is used for practising meditation. The sign for “Abha Seva Sadhan” is a service project giving free medicine to the poor. The sign “Baba Naam Kevalam” is a mantra meaning ‘Everything is an expression of one infinite, loving Consciousness’.

Baba’s orginal house was to the right of this photo. The building is no more. Instead, a garden of many flowers and plants is being nurtured in its place.

Death Valley, Jamalpur

Death Valley is so-called for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because its formerly dense jungle harboured many dangerous animals and secondly because a Mughal king used one of the hills as an execution point for his enemies – he would order them to be walked to the top thrown off the edge.

The nature here is very beautiful. The lake and the well-known tamarind tree are beautiful spots for self-reflection and meditation.

Sadly, the idyllic beauty is being destroyed by the practice of dynamite blasting and chiselling of local rock for building material. The practice is officially illegal, but government corruption (i.e. taking bribes from dynamite users) allows the exploiters to continue without intervention. If no action is taken, Death Valley’s beauty will be lost forever.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dharmasphere/84391856/

Tiger's Grave, Jamalpur, India

Tiger’s Grave, Jamalpur, India

In a lonely field on the outskirts of Jamalpur – a small town, insignificant but for the presence of its railway workshop – lies the Tiger’s Grave. A few feet away rests the grave of the Englishman – the soldier who shot the tiger and was, in turn, fatally injured by the beast.

The field was later cleared and prepared as a golf course, for the frivolities of the ruling British, but the project was abandoned and never completed.

In this lonely field, in the dead of night, Tiger’s Grave became the chosen spot for many sittings with spiritual master Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (known also by the spiritual name, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti).

He gave lessons and demonstrations of mysticism and meditation to small groups of spiritual practitioners. He dictated many books and scriptures by the light of a lantern. Such seminal works as Ananda Sutram, Guide to Human Conduct and Elementary Philosophy were given here.

Spiritual aspirants still come from around the world to see and meditate on the grave – much to the bewilderment of many locals, who have but the slightest idea of the incredible spiritual heritage that was born in their homeland.

Jamalpur, Bihar state, India

Jamalpur, Bihar state, India

This tree has a story. Apparently, in its previous life it was a human being. It was a man who asked to borrow money from his father. When the father refused, the son was so angry that he took an axe and killed him.

As a way to exhaust the mental reaction created by this axe-murder, the son was reborn as a tree with a cleave down its middle.

It has been around as a tree for several decades now. The monkeys seem to enjoy its company.

Jamalpur, Bihar state, India

The killings have triggered large scale migration of Bengali families from this area. According to local BBA secretary Mani Kumar Roy, more than 200 Bengali employees in the railway workshop have obtained transfer orders in the last two months. Altogether 37 people were transferred to West Bengal on April 10 and another 50 Bengali rail employees are scheduled to leave Jamalpur in coming months. “These families, who settled here due to the employment of their one or another member, are a frightened lot and they feel insecure,” said Ujjwal Chatterjee, convenor of BBA here. According to him, more than 1,000 Bengalis have migrated from here in the last one year.

Earlier, the local BBA had organised a meeting of its members on the Durgabari premises. The participants expressed serious concern over the mass exodus of their brethren from the area. The association members urged the local administration to ensure security to the frightened Bengalis. Otherwise, they too would leave the place as was done by the Sikhs, Sindhis and Marwaris earlier, they said.
Whereas the Bengalis were relieved of their ancestral properties by the vested interests which led to their migration from many places of eastern Bihar, the scenario in Jamalpur is somewhat different. “Some local unemployed youths do not like the Bengalis who are in majority at the Jamalpur railway workshop. At times, such elements force the outsiders to leave the place,” said Lakhani Lal Prasad, a local businessman.

The murder of the couple was not an isolated case of atrocity on the linguistic minorities by the local goons. A few years ago, close associates of a former state minister and former MP allegedly sexually abused all the female members of a Bengali railway employee in the Rampur railway colony. The wife of a Bengali supervisor was stabbed recently.

“But the local administration never provided a helping hand to the community members who are spending agonising moments for quite sometime now,” rued a local Bengali citizen.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/37863049.cms