#IamBrandBihar: Biharis Unite to Re-Write Their Narrative

Here’s how Biharis are re-scripting history by building #BrandBihar.

Biharis are a force to be reckoned with, here’s why. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/#IamBrandBihar)

What comes to your mind when one talks about Bihar? Downtrodden, corrupt officials; jungleraj; lawlessness; underdevelopment; the list is endless. The stereotypes unfortunately get perpetuated via popular culture more than by personal experiences.

Swati Kumar, the author of PatnaBeats, an online journal, has dedicated her online activity to demystifying cliches associated with the Bihari community.

I have seen many people from Bihar residing in other states with a reputed white-collar job, they feel ashamed of being recognised or introducing themselves as a Bihari. They forget that living in a different state for their whole lives also couldn’t change the land of their origin.

Swati Kumar writes in <a href="http://www.patnabeats.com/never-forget-who-you-are-brand-bihar/">PatnaBeats</a>

Kumar has corroborated her journal with an online campaign, #IamBrandBihar to engage with both Bihari and non-Bihari millennials and build a non-judgmental, stereotype-busting narrative.

She states that it is disappointing to be looked at through the prism of backwardness for a state that has harboured evolved minds from Gautama Buddha to Chanakya to the first President of independent India, Dr Rajendra Prasad.

She voices her displeasure at one section of people being seen as representative of the state and at limiting the cultural fabric of the state to that of a skewed, underdeveloped, impoverished identity.

Here’s how social media backed the campaign: