Chhath, champaran meat, changing mindsets: Quiet reclamation of the image of Bihar and Bihari

New Delhi: As attention swivels to Bihar in this season of elections and thousands return home to cast their vote, the spotlight is shining on Bihari migrants -- the men and women who travel far to make a living and keep many a wheel going in their adopted states.

Though the two-phase Bihar Assembly elections end on Tuesday, the results are rippling nationwide and paving the way for a new state government, it is not just about politics. Biharis away from home are asserting their identity. And reconfiguring the bracket they were slotted in.

“Bihari” was an identity that carried baggage, but somewhere in the last decade, that word began to glow again, said Anup Sharma, a Gurugram-based strategic communications advisor who was born and grew up in Bihar.

Politics isn’t the only thing to be credited for this transformation. “Chhath Puja, for instance, was once a quiet, region-specific festival. Today, its imagery of women offering arghya to the setting sun, families singing traditional songs travels across continents through social media,” Sharma said. “You’ll see it trending on Instagram from Mauritius, Mumbai, Delhi Yamuna banks to New Jersey alike. That’s not politics; that’s belonging going global. What was once a riverbank ritual has become a bridge between generations and geographies.”

In his view, the deeper story is that of recognition. “When parties organise ghats or make arrangements for devotees in cities like Mumbai or Delhi, they aren’t just courting votes they’re acknowledging presence. Migrants who once lived on the margins are now seen as as cultural torchbearers.”

The Chhath fever sweeps through large swathes of India a week after Diwali. It’s when a sort of “homecoming” happens for hundreds of thousands of Biharis who return home for their biggest festival.

Over the last few years, those who could not return home have been embraced with fanfare by state governments, including in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.

Other prominent markers of Bihar’s culture and lifestyle have increasingly found acceptance outside the state – from shops selling Champaran meat and “litti chokha” to social media creators showing hidden gems of Bihar and stand-up comedians cracking self-aware jokes.

Does this point to a paradigm shift in the image of Bihar and its people? How integral are they now to India’s growth? Has the term “Bihari” outgrown its connotation and become as acceptable as say, Punjabi, Marathi, or Bengali?

There is no absolute answer to these questions but the Bihari diaspora feels there is a change in the air, a sweet smell of broken stereotypes, and a future that looks different, if not entirely positive, from a grim past once riddled with stigma, poverty, and lack of opportunities and acceptance. According to the 2011 census, there are more than 74.5 lakh migrants from Bihar across the rest of India.