Mauritian magician of Indian origin, who is in Bihar to trace his roots, dreams of “bringing” the Indian Ocean country to his state and vice versa.

“My dream is to build a mini Mauritius in Bihar and a mini Bihar in Mauritius. I will try for it soon,” said Gurudutt Singh, whose father Sudarshan Singh is a farmer in Mauritius and son Jilesh Singh is a professional magician like him. “The visit was overdue for decades, I have at last made it,” added Singh, who has plans to build a unique museum in memory of his forefathers in Bihar as well as one in Mauritius.

During his stay in Patna, Singh will meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Industry Minister Gautam Singh and top government officials. He has also shown keen interest to invest in development projects of the state.

Last year, a few Indian-origin people managed to trace their family roots in Bihar, thanks to the efforts of the ministry of overseas Indian affairs. A large number of people from Bihar migrated to Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad, Suriname, South Africa and other countries in the 19th century to serve as indentured labourers on sugarcane and rubber plantations. Many descendants are now eager to locate the families of their forefathers in India.

Last year, the Bihar government launched a special tourism package called ‘Root Tourism’ aimed at helping people of Bihar origin wanting to visit their native villages. Mauritius is home to 700,000 PIOs. The state last month installed a life-size statue in Patna of former Mauritius prime minister Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who originally hailed from Bihar.

Gauravshali Bihari was launched by our Deputy Chief Minister, Sri S.K.Modi ji on 19th January at Hotel Maurya during the recently concluded NRB meet at Patna. Also we got Gauravshali Bihar T-shirt launched with the rich legacy of Bihar graphically printed in the form of the bodhi tree, deeply rooted in the soil and psyche of Bihar. The T shirt is based on the design from Mayank Krishna Ji..and has beautifully depicted what Bihar is all about.


We would like you all to read the book...and wear the T-shirt. The book contains articles on the people who brought glory to the state of Bihar and have enriched the live of millions across the globe. It covers the time span of almost 3000 years, from Viswamitra to Satendra Dubey.



The book was written by 21 eminent authors at various places in the country. And in order to support the economy of Bihar, this world class book was also printed in Patna (we were very determined about this). The book is dedicated to one and only example of undying human spirit & courage, conviction and resilience of Bihar in the form of Sri Dasrath Manjhi who cut open a 350 meters long mountain to make road thru it.

We have tried to bring together the hero's of our beloved state in this small effort of ours. We want us to know our history, our heritage, our legacy. Things that we had started to forget.We want to rekindle our sub-nationalism, to be proud to be a Bihari.

It has been a memorable journey for us, researching about our mother land, and we feel nice that we could complete what we had set out to do.


But the real satisfaction will come only after you have read this book, and send us suggestions about how we can improve upon what we have just finished. We do look forward for your feedback, its invaluable to us,. to improve upon and polish what is our baby step towards highlighting the positives of this great state of ours...and along the way making the world aware of Bihar's contributions to the human society on a whole.

You can order the book & the T shirt by sending us a mail at order.gauravshalibihar@gmail.com, or by calling (91) (612) (6450916), out Patna Office number.

The Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) chairman Y. C. Deveshwar, on the second day of the Global Bihar Meet in Patna on Saturday, announced the company's decision to invest Rs. 300 crore in various schemes, including primary education and health care in Munger district.

On the second day of the conclave, guests from nearly ten countries put forth their views on "Overview of Challenges, Opportunities, and Development Strategy of Bihar".

"We are adopting Munger for developmental purpose and we encourage others to take similar steps for their own home town or village. If we all adopted a town or a village, there is no reason why we could not turn Bihar into a highly developed state within a short period of time," Deveshwar said adding he had long relationship with Munger and therefore his interest in the district.

In another development Chairman of the Special Task Force on Bihar, S C Jha, on Sunday gave a clarion call to the people to transform Bihar into a granary of India. Addressing a session on "Main Conclusions of the Meet" on the concluding day of the three-day "Global Meet for a Resurgent Bihar", Jha said, "Transform Bihar into India's granary, a tourist hub, a leading producer of fruits and vegetables, a major centre for IT and a regional coordinator and supply line for adjoining areas." It is time for "real action", he said.

In a year or two, more roads will be built in the larger interest of the institutions, he added.Noted film-maker Prakash Jha told visiting NRIs, "We do not need charity. We need entrepreneurship. Think of Bihar as a land of opportunities". Eminent panelists agreed that the global meet this time was different from similar meets organised here in the past. "There was no blame game about the past and there was a positive vibration on what could be done," remarked eminent economists and director of the Institute of Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi, T S Papola.