Bihar is India’s poorest state, and there is no evidence, anywhere yet, that it is participating in the current development of the Indian economy. There are no international advertisements, no signs of globalisation: not a single Nokia or Vodaphone advertisement. I discount the fact that there is a little more asphalt on the roads, more western dress, less evidence of malnutrition, more clean water, than there were thirty years ago. Thankfully this is the case, but much of the rest of India has gone much, much further towards modernisation. The foreign temples have erected a countable number of Buddha images. There is even one in the Gaya International airport, which also plays continuously a tape-loop of the Buddhist Going for Refuge Mantra. Hearing this on arrival is an intensely moving experience for overseas pilgrims, but it
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