You've eaten 5 star chocolate. Ever tried 3 star?
It's common...if one product/concept works, you'll definitely have a few clones, but some go a step ahead. I was in Bihar in December and took my wife around the ruins of what was once Nalanda University (one of the first and the largest in the world and a great centre for learning). The trip around the entire structure was as usual great (my house is just 9 kms from there and I've seen Nalanda many times). I was happy that Raavi (she's from Delhi) for once appreciated something belonging to Bihar. At one of the stalls outside the University I came across this rather amusing (name for a) chocolate toffee.For decades now, Cadbury's 5 star has been one of the most popular chocolates across India. Some local company had come up with a smaller size and an apt 'smaller' name- 3 star! My wife says this can happen only in Bihar. Incidentally, some years back, at Patna Junction, I asked a vendor for a pack of Uncle Chips. Guess what he gave me - a pack of Chacha Chips! ('Chacha' is the hindi for 'uncle'). Pictures of Nalanda University:
Comments
Comments: 12 |
Add a Comment
Ganesh Dutta says :
It not happens only in Bihar.
This is Nalanda University. In ancient times it was a world renowned place for gaining knowledge, a knowledge centre par excellence, situated in Bihar. Bihar needs to be understood in its true perspective.
By the way, good to see a nice pair at just the Great place.
Posted on: 15 April 2008 - 11:54am
vikas kumar says :
Thanks Ganesh! Of course, everything happens almost everywhere, its just that over the years, Bihar has built a reputation of its own (unfortunately). The pictures here are very few but if you see the entire expanse you realise how great a place this must have been. Its sad that whereas once students from different parts of the world arrived here, now, anyone who can afford to (and that includes me), goes to another state for studies.
Posted on: 15 April 2008 - 5:38pm
AnjaliD says :
Wonder when I will get to visit this place. I have been to so many places around the globe but unfortunately I haven't seen much of my own beautiful India.
Thanks for sharing these pics with us.
Posted on: 15 April 2008 - 1:02pm
vikas kumar says :
Nalanda, Rajgir, Pawapuri and Bodh Gaya are small places with huge importance and a lot of relevance, specially to people following Jainism and Buddhism. Unfortunately, the govts of Bihar have not done enough to exploit these places as tourist destinations and one still gets to see mainly local visitors.
Posted on: 15 April 2008 - 5:42pm
khau_khan says :
i have had fake limca, coke, pepsi in siwan, bihar! we surely do rock.
btw - great pics of nalanda univ - you really got the colors very well
Posted on: 18 April 2008 - 12:51am
chintan says :
GO NALANDA U! Thanks Vikas for the sharing the pics.
Seriously guys.. people outside Bihar dont know much abt these gems inside.. I think we have to learn a lesson here from Americans.. they have less than 300 yrs of history and they have attached all this historical importance to stupid things.. and they market it like anything
Posted on: 18 April 2008 - 1:13am
khau_khan says :
lot more history here too http://www.ifood.tv/blog/delhi_udaipur_amedabad_mumbai_day_1
Posted on: 18 April 2008 - 1:27am
count of monte . . . says :
Great pics vikas. This is my maiden (v....n) comment, so hello all. I have had 'Twinkle Chipps' in nearby UP. Hmmm, very interesting about Nalanda being a pioneer learning university. Perhaps it was the lack of integration with the world that led to its untimely demise. You see, other pioneer (albeit younger) institutes of learning like St Andrews university in Scotland have communicated their learning with the world. This helped them survive 'lean periods'. Our (Bharat) stubbornness in not documenting who we are, our feudal parochial outlook and lack of global outlook has wiped out our golden age. But it is not all lost. Our youth in India and abroad are creating a new golden age. I have hope
Posted on: 18 April 2008 - 12:56pm
Snigdha says :
"Perhaps it was the lack of integration with the world that led to its untimely demise"
HUH...I wonder (Mr. Count of Monte) what made you say that.
According to History and many other sources.....In 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by Muslim armies under Bakhtiyar Khilji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The Muslim invaders cared nothing for the university and the fact that it was a leading learning center. They also cared nothing for the numerous historic texts and scrolls in the university. It is said that the only thing Khilji asked was if there was a copy of the Koran at Nalanda before he sacked it. The Persian historian Minhaz, in his chronicle the Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded and the burning of the library continÂued for several months and "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills." When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa (Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197 - 1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90 year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about seventy students, apparently with the support of a local Brahmin.
Posted on: 21 April 2008 - 11:39pm
vikas kumar says :
Thanks Snigdha for the info. Indeed, it was Bakhtiyar Khilji who was responsible for a lot of destruction around the area - Nalanda, Rajgir and Bihar Sharif.
Posted on: 27 April 2008 - 12:36pm
.jpg)
