Bihar.... The reality... Too many entrance tests to get into professional courses...

Ranchi.. Its a big city... Our medical student's father took us for a city ride.. Visited Rock garden and Rajendra institute of medical sciences.. Its a government college with a hospital.. Hospital is huge.. Though its a government hospital its wel maintained. They have a AC nephrology and Orthopaedics unit. Imagine a government hospital for common people with AC rooms.. But roads are narrow.. We had typical Bihari lunch in his place and it was delicious. Their hospitality was very good...

We left Ranchi for Patna and reached at 8 PM.. I had heard lots of stories about Bihar and its image and now time had arrived to ascertain the facts...

Everyone here admits outrightly that Bihar is progressing well under Nitesh Rule.. 15 years of Lalu Rule had put the entire state in shambles and locals say it will take atleast 10 years to clean up this mess and Nitish Kumar has begun the task in right earnest. We could see lot of flyovers under construction and road work. Nobody knew what development was during Lalus rule but now they realise that Lalu took them for a ride. But will this translate into votes for Nitish who is focussing his campaign on the development agenda. Bihar politics is highly polarised on the basis of caste and i get a feeling this will play a majo role than the development. If Nitish Kumar happens to sweep the Loksabha elections then it would be the real victory for Indian Democracy and for the people of the state... Verdict will be out on the counting day..

At the educaiton fair: We had vrey good number of enquiries for many courses from our trust. There are very few medical and engineering colleges in Bihar and Jharkand and hence lot of students move out of their state to pursue professional courses. Invariable students take a break for an year after +2 (II PUC) to prepare for entrance exams. We found many students who had dropped two years to prepare for entrance exams. Is very strange. In Karnataka, everyone prepares simultaneously for II PU and entrance exam and get into professional courses immediately. But in Bihar around 80 % drop a year to prepare for entrance exams.

Regarding entrance exams: My god, there are too many entrance exams.. AIEEE, State entrance, Maharashtra entrance, Bengal entrance, Jharkand entrance, COMEDK entrance, deemed universities like Manipal entrance, VIT entrance, SRM entrance, Kalinga and the list is endless.. Students find it difficult to to identify which entrance to take. Too many considerations. Getting a train ticket to Bangalore to write COMEDK is also a consideration. Centre has to do something for this. There is a proposal to conduct a common entrance for all deemed universities next year and effort should be put in to ensure this happens. So many applications to fill in, so many centres. Its a huge burden for students, parents and also universities.

A single entrance exam will go a long way in resolving this problem.

The journey begins... Mumbai, Ranchi, Patna and Kolkata..

I love traveling and visiting places. I do feel that you learn a lot by travelling. It gives an exposure to the world when u interact with all kinds of people which helps u in understanding others in a much better way...

Right now i am in Ranchi attending an educational exhibition as representative from Nitte education trust. I am accompanied by the registrar of NET Dr Rajashekar Sir.

We are done with our work in Ranchi and will be heading towards Patna today evening. Two days we have work in Patna and then we move to Kolkata ( City of Joy). Have two days break at Kolkata before the exhibition begins and then we will be leaving on 21 st to Managalore via Mumbai. Will reach Mangalore by 21st 8 PM...

Let me begin with Mumbai. We stayed in Mumbai overnight en route to Ranchi.. Rajashekar Sir had stayed in Mumbai in 1990s for a period of 8 years. He gave a perfect picture of Mumbai and its cosmopolitan nature.. We were staying near the airport (Santa Cruz). Went by Mumbai metro to Churchgate.. Got a glimpse of life by seeing people at Metro.. Metro is the lifeline of Mumbai.. Everybody commutes to their work places by metro.. The city is so fast paced.. U can see people walking at a brisk pace in Metro stations... Everybody is in their own world... Saw a guy reading bhagawadgita aloud in train, a group singing bhajan, headphones plugged in were tuned to FM...

We got down at Churchgate and had Vada Pav... i guess the bread and butter of Mumbai... It was good.. Then we headed towards marine drive.. took a long walk.. Sir showed some landmark places... Sittng and enjoying the sea breeze is a real pressure after a tired days work... Its jus amazing... Family, friends, couples, teenagers, skaters... Its a stunning view...

On our way back sir asked me to have Dukes lime soda... the local flavor of Mumbai and it tested great...

Earlier we had Idli at a Udupi restaurant.. It was far better than what we get in our place though we are in Udupi...We reached Vila parle at 1030.. Went to
a Gujarati restaurant.. Had dinner.. Then on our way back had different flavors of Kulfi from a UP wala... It was too good.. especially the mango flavor.. Then we reached Hotel at around 1130 and slept.. The city is truly cosmolitan...

Morning we boarded flight to Ranchi via Delhi... Around 3 hours jouney with a stop over at delhi for 45 minutes...

Ranchi... The capital of Jharkand.. The state is under President's rule.. A state where an independent candidate became a Chief Minister.. A state which reflects aayarams and gayarams of politics.. Morning u are supporting one party and overnight it changes.. Anybody can dream of becoming a Chief Minister.:-)

Food... We explored all kinds of items and being a veggie is indeed a limitation sometimes :-) :-) The city doesnt sound like a capital city to be frank.. One reason locals say for this is its creation.. It was carved out of Bihar in 1998 and for me it sounds absurd that even after 11 years the city is like this.. Speaks about politicians of Jharkand..

Cycle Rickshaw ride was good.. U have autos and tempo (extended autos) ... Ranchi is famous for its largest mental hospital in India.. Its a 600 bed hospital...

Today one of the parent of a medical student at Deralakatte will take us for a round.. He is a doctor at Ranchi... Looking forward to this visit...

Rest in my next...