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Journalism of Courage
It was Laloo Prasad Yadav in full flow. In a freewheeling interaction with some reporters at his Rail Bhavan office, a relaxed Laloo unveiled his wisdom 8212; backed by an array of rustic Bhojpuri proverbs 8212; on a range of issues
Bihar: It is God8217;s own country. There can never be any pollution there because clean and pure air 8212; laden with the goodness of herbs 8212; comes from forests of Nepal. Places like Delhi are crying for rains but look at Bihar. There is so much water.
Floods: At least there is water in Bihar. It gives the poor people a chance to eat fish. At other times they cannot afford to eat fish but during floods, they find fish inside their house.
Monsoons: The meteorological department does not know anything about monsoons. In Bihar, if there is a delay, the women sing and pray to the rain gods bursts into a Bhojpuri song. And the rains come.
Vegetarianism: I was a big meat and fish eater and could eat any amount of non-vegetarian food. One night, Shankar Bhagwan Lord Shiva spoke to me in my dream and told me to stop eating meat and fish. From that moment I gave it up. And a month later, I also gave up eating eggs after I saw Shankar Bhagwan8217;s image on my omelette. I have lost my paunch and have become fitter since then.
Godhra: My inquiry into the Godhra train carnage has scared the BJP and the Gujarat government. That is why they expanded the scope of the Nanavati-Shah Commission 8212; which is already probing the incident 8212; and allowed it to question even Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Probably Arun Jaitley advised them to do so. They think, this way they will escape from the ambit of my inquiry.
River Inter-linking: This is the most absurd and impractical project initiated by the last government. How can you link Brahmaputra to Cauvery? You cannot make dams and displace thousands of villages. And from where will the huge amount of money come?
God: I have full faith in God. He points to various idols and photographs of gods in his office 8212; Lords Vishwakarma, Shiva and Krishna. Whatever Rabri Devi, my children and I went through, when the case was registered against me and I was hounded 8212; it was only by God8217;s grace and blessings that we came out of it unscathed. In fact, stronger than ever.
