Wait for the right mahurat

The new Bihar director-general of police Abhayanand appears to be a firm believer in stars and “auspicious” moments. On Wednesday, when he assumed office, he arrived at the police headquarters around 5.30pm to take charge. “But he remained evasive for more than half-an-hour and took charge from the outgoing DGP Neel Mani a little after 6.05pm. It appeared he had consulted the astrologers before taking charge,” said a police official. o grudge on wanting to take charge on the right time. “He needs to get everything right to restore the faith of the people in the police,” remarked the official on the man who apart from being a police officer has earned the respect of the students as a teacher of physics. Moreover, Abhayanand is not alone on depending on “accurate timing” to take charge. The chief minister, ministers and even several officials are known to have consulted the astrologers before taking charge. The “shubh mahurat” appears to be integral part of duty.

Effigy burning pastime

Effigy burning appears to be a favourite pastime for various organisations. While Anna Hazare was on fast in Delhi, student organisations owing alliance to the BJP and JD(U) burnt effigies of PM Manmohan Singh, Kapil Sibal and Sonia Gandhi. Now when things have settled down, their target appears to be chief minister Nitish Kumar and his ministers. On Thursday, a section of students burnt the effigy of human resource development minister P.K. Shahi. The politicians appear to be unperturbed by the activities of the students. “Burning effigies and showing black flags to us are good signs and it means that we are politically alive and kicking,” remarked a senior JD(U) MLA. Incidentally, RJD chief Lalu Prasad when he was in power had his effigies burnt umpteen times and black flags shown to him by various student organisations. He used to dismiss it saying that these were auspicious signs and meant that he would rule longer.

Painful dramatics

The day Anna Hazare broke his fast in Delhi, his supporters in Patna (including lensmen) wanted the event to “capture the spirit” of the moment. They caught hold of a theatre artist called Suresh Kumar Ajju and asked him to pose as Mahatma Gandhi in the victory procession. The theatre artist was initially reluctant, pointing out that he would have to shave his hair to pose as Gandhi. However, the supporters declared that he would make it to the front page of newspapers. The theatre artist agreed and did shave his head to pose as Gandhi and his photograph did appear in a few newspapers. “But it’s unlikely he will get another role to play in dramas staged here till his hair returns to normalcy,” remarked another theatre artist.

 

Neel Mani chacha

On the day of his retirement, former DGP was addressed as chacha (uncle) by an assistant director general-ranked officer A.C. Verma. In the farewell, Verma remarked that when he joined the Bihar cadre as an IPS officer, he did not know anyone. “But then I got a chacha and chachi in the form of Neel Maniji and his wife. They have helped me a lot,” he remarked, sending titters among those who were present at the farewell party. “It’s not surprising that one should be called chacha after retirement. But one wonders why Verma waited to establish a relationship with Neel Mani on the day of his retirement,” remarked an IPS officer. However, a section of police officers remarked that Neelmani must have played the role of a chacha-cum-godfather to Verma. “Neel Mani has been a high-profile police officer who held key posts both during the Lalu regime and the Nitish Kumar era. It’s not a coincidence that Verma remained in Patna except for a brief period when he was shifted to Darbhanga,” mused another police official.