<B>Bhojpuri : Language and culture</B>

Bhojpuri was successively preceded as a language by Abbhransh, Maghdi, Pali and Sanskrit. However, it is being used before Hindi. The vocabulary of Hindi has been much influenced by it. Still popular, Bhojpuri even constitutes a distinct culture. It mostly prevails in North India.

Today, specially with the migration of the inhabitants of these areas that constitute the Bhojpuri belt, Bhojpuri is widely spoken not only in such neighbouring cities as Allahabad and Patna, in addition to Varanasi, but also in the metropolitan agglomerations of Delhi and Mumbai. As based on the Linguistic Survey of India conducted in 1921 and mentioned by Sir Georges Abraham Gierson in his work, UP Hindi Sansthan (1959), there were then only in North India 179 languages and 544 dialects.

Bhojpuri, as a culture (food, custom and dress) and language, which is specially colourful and vivid, is much alive, though with slight differences, not only in the places already mentioned in India but also in other countries, though on a lesser scale, where Indians emigrated from them. The first freedom fighter, Mangal Pandey, the hero of the First War of Independence in 1857, King Kunwar Singh (1782-1858), the gallant warrior who bravely fought against the British, Jayprakash Narayan (1902-1979), the famous veteran politician, and Chandra Shekhar, who died recently and was the only Bhojpuri Indian Prime Minister (1990-1991), were all natives of, or much associated with, Ballia. A famous cradle of Bhojpuri, Ballia, lying in eastern UP and bordering western Bihar, is also reputed in both ancient history and Hindu mythology or religion, let alone as the abode of renowned astrologers, both past and present.

<B>Chit DUKHIRA</B>

<B>What is Mauritian money actually worth ? </B>

The BBC announced that the Indian rupee coin was disappearing fast from that country as billions of coins were being smuggled over to Bangladesh, smelted down for that metal hungry country at 25 times the cost of a rupee.

Why are we waiting? Instead of our local robbers cutting down the iron legs of historical seats, or pulling up the Telecom Lines over hundreds of meters to the factory of my friend Maurice Vigier de Latour, in Riviere du Rempart, (5 times over the past few months) at the cost to the MT subscriber, lets us just hand over our coins at a higher value, thus avoiding the inflation of these days and we will all be ?entrepreneurs?.

<B>Peter CRAIG</B>

<B>Une loi contre les bicyclettes ! </B>

J?avais déjà préparé un article sur la loi à venir concernant les bicyclettes quand j?ai lu celui publie dans l?express du 19 juillet dans la rubrique ?Un bien grand coup de pédale? sous la signature de W. Raleigh. Il va dans le même sens et comme je suis de la même trempe que Raymond Poulidor j?accepte la défaite !!!

Je félicite l?auteur pour cet article qui est tout a fait remarquable et plein d?humour tout en évoquant la réalité. Il est par contre regrettable de votre part d?avoir oublie une sixième suggestion qui est la suivante : Je suggère aussi que les chiens errants fassent partie de la liste afin qu?ils puissent être protéges quotidiennement et plus particulièrement durant leurs noces ! Pour terminer, en sus de vos suggestions il ne faut pas oublier le permis a points qui sera en vigueur très bientôt.

<B>B.DERAILLEUR</B>