Something about Rabri

My Journalist friend Shri Manoj Chaurasia written book is going to be great hit - have more look on this :-
By Abhay Kumar

Though the book is not essentially her biography, the author has made a sincere attempt to shed some light on the making of Rabri Devi.

Want to know why RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's wife and former Chief Minister of Bihar is called Rabri Devi? Or how old Rabri was when she tied the nuptial knot with Lalu in 1973? Or for that matter, would you like to know the education qualifications of the first woman Chief Minister of Bihar who was dragged from kitchen to politics under extra-ordinary circumstances? Just browse Rabri Devi: Lalu's masterstroke. Written by Manoj Chaurasia, a Patna-based journalist, who makes his debut as an author— the book provides a comprehensive insight into the lives and turmoils of the first family of Bihar politics. Though the 274-page book, brought out by Vitasta Publishing Private Limited, New Delhi, is not essentially her biography, the author has made a sincere attempt to shed some light into the making of Rabri Devi. The narrative moves gradually from Rabri's childhood days to the circumstances which pushed her into the spotlight and on to the throne of the Chief Minister of Bihar. Had it not been the mother of all scams— the fodder scam— Rabri would have remained a non-entity, as the shy and low-profile woman was content being the wife of Lalu Prasad. But once this semi-literate woman (she has studied up to Std V) emerged from the shadows, she created a history of sorts by ruling the caste-ridden State for nearly eight years. Rabri might have been a gungi-gudiya (dumb-doll) to the outside world, but once in power, she too showed how Bihar could be ruled. Though Rabri's opponents have dubbed her as the worst Chief Minister the State ever had, Chaurasia dwells at length on how the ruling couple were 'framed'. In one of the 14 chapters, he tells the world how CBI joint director U N Biswas, who had requisitioned the army's help to arrest Lalu for his involvement in the fodder scam, met an inglorious end when his (Biswas's) house in Kolkata had become a 'beehive' of drug peddlers. In another chapter, he deals with the former CBI judge S K Lal, who had denied Lalu bail when he was arrested for the first time. The judge was eventually caught in an act of moral turpitude when a female colleague, Sushma Kashyap, a judicial magistrate, levelled charges of sexual exploitation against him. In a no-holds-barred mood, the author vividly describes how even 12 years after the fodder scam was unearthed, no substantial charge against Lalu has been made out, even though the Bihar strongman had to undergo imprisonment five times. The book provides some lighter moments too, when it deals with Lalu's dowry demand. (He had asked for Rs 5,000 in cash and a few cows and calves to save his family from penury in 1973, before entering into wedlock with 14-year-old Rabri). But jokes and controversies apart, read the book if you want to know about the initial years of newly-wed Rabri when she moved into a one-room chaprasi (peon) quarters of the Patna Veterinary College in the 70s, which housed her husband, his elder brother and wife, and more than half-a-dozen children. Rabri Devi: Lalu's masterstroke Manoj Chaurasia Vitasta Publishing Pvt Ltd pp 274, Rs 325