Binod Bihari Verma

Binod Bihari Verma(1937 - 2003) was a Maithili literateur by soul, medical doctor by profession and a defence officer by career. He was born on 3 Dec 1937 in the village Baur, by the river Kamla Balan, in Madhubani District (then undivided Darbhanga District) of Bihar. He was the second son in a maithil Karna kayastha landlord family of three sons and two daughters. His father, Rameshwar Lal Das, was a freedom fighter, a prominent Gandhian and tireless worker for the upliftment of the poor, and he inculcated these values in his children as well. These values are also reflected in the writings of Dr. Verma. He had command over a number of languages including Urdu, Sanskrit, Oriya, Assamese and Bengali and scripts of various Indian languages viz. old Maithili, Assamese, Gurmukhi, Oriya and Nepali.

Biography
After finishing his primary school, which was at the Rasiyari village (across the mighty Kamla Balan) - there being no primary school in his village, he moved with his father and uncle to various places in South Bihar (now Jharkhand) who were trying to spread Gandhiji's message of achieving freedom through self reliance and nonviolence in the remote tribal areas of Chaibasa, Ranchi, and Singhbhum areas of South Bihar. He developed a close bonding with the tribal children of these places which gave him a rare understanding of the lot of the poor and the underprivileged and which is depicted so picturesquely in his writings. His sojourn in the villages and the tribal areas also gave him an insight into the diversities of human nature which was reflected in his writings. He initially studied at the District School, Chaibasa.He finished his secondary schooling at the missionary school of St. John's at Ranchi.He studied his senior secondary school at Langat Singh College, Muzaffarpur. Subsequently he joined the Darbhanga Medical College and graduated in 1962. Those were the heady days of Chinese invasion (Sino-Indian War) and he joined the Indian Army and was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in 1963. The service life gave him ample opportunity to visit remote far flung border areas and gave him a rare insight into the lives of the people of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab, Assam and Goa among others. He was in effect, a life long student of the culture and language of all the various peoples he came in contact with. He tried to understand their language and read their folk tales and poetry. All these issues are vividly imbibed in his writings. He took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka in 1988-1990, where he commanded the 404 Field Ambulance at Vavuniya. His dynamic leadership and clinical skills in these conflicts won him respect both from the men he commanded and from his seniors. He was greatly admired for his integrity and honesty. He took premature retirement from active army service in 1990, partly disillusioned with the war in Sri Lanka. He settled in Bhubaneswar where he started his clinical practice and undertook literary tasks with renewed vigour. Post 1990 was his most prolific literary phase with regular publishing of novels, biographies, and contributions to Maithili magazines.He taught Biochemistry in a Dental College in Bhubaneswar during this period. He died on 09 November 2003 at Bangalore, fighting a long battle with cancer.

Pen Names

 * Vinod
 * Vinod Gopal

Marriage & Children

 * Married to Pratibha Verma at Patori Village (Saharsa Distt), Bihar on 4 July 1965 in a traditional Maithil wedding
 * Children: Three daughters and Two sons
 * Archana Verma:Daughter
 * Sharad Verma:Son
 * Varuna Verma:Daughter
 * Savita Verma:Daughter
 * Rohit Verma:Son

Major Influences

 * George Abraham Grierson - British administrator of Darbhanga in 19th century, lover of maithili folklore and literature, writer of grammar of modern maithili
 * Radha Krishna Choudhary - Noted historian, president of ICHR, leftist thinker, and Maithili writer
 * Shriram Sharma Acharya - Saint and yogi based at Haridwar, spread the message of Gayatri Mantra
 * Brij Kishore Verma "Manipadma" - Maithili literateur, winner of Sahitya Akademi award

Life time interests and Researches

 * Life and works of Sir George Abraham Grierson
 * Folklore of Dalits and other backward castes and their contribution to modern maithili
 * Buddhist Studies with the special relation of Ancient Mithila with Tibet
 * Astrology
 * Mithila Painting and depiction of modern village life in Mithila Paintings
 * Study of Maithili Literature

Places where posted while in Army

 * Panjim/Goa: Medical Officer, Military Hospital Panjim (See images at Arts Ideas)
 * Ambala,Haryana: Medical Officer, Military Hospital Ambala
 * Shimla, Himachal Pradesh :Arts Ideas on Google Pages and Images of Shimla at Arts Ideas
 * Sugar Sector, Himachal Pradesh (Indo - China Border)
 * Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh: Regimental Medical Officer, Remount Vetererinary Corps Centre
 * Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh: Recruiting Medical Officer, Branch Recruiting Office Allahabad
 * Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
 * North Sikkim
 * Varanasi(Second Tenure), Uttar Pradesh
 * Kapurthala, Punjab: Medical Officer, Section Hospital Kapurthala
 * Jalandhar, Punjab: Medical Officer, Military Hospital Jalandhar
 * Tezpur, Assam: Officer Commanding, 56 Field Medical Stores Depot
 * Vavuniya, Srilanka: Commanding Officer, 404 Field Ambulance

Places where stayed in civilian life

 * Darbhanga
 * Chaibasa
 * Ranchi
 * Saharsa
 * Bhubaneswar

Major works

 * [[Image:Panjik_Sarvekshan.jpg|none|25px|left]] Maithili Karna Kayasthak Panjik Sarvekshan - a Survey of the Panjis of the Karan Kayasthas of Mithila. 1973.Madhubani.


 * [[Image:Nayanmani.JPG|none|25px|left]] Nayanmani A novel describing the rural scene in Post Independence bihar.Initially published in parts in "Mithila Mihir" from February 1968 to April 1968.1997.Bhubaneswar.


 * [[Image:Balaanak_Bonihar_o_Pallavi.JPG|none|25px|left]] Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi - Short Story collection on the village life of Mithila on the banks of the Kosi River and its tributaries.1994.Bhubaneswar.


 * [[Image:Tapsa_vai_Ganga.JPG|none|25px|left]]Tapasa vai Ganga - Biography of renowned historian Prof. Radha Krishna Choudhary.1995.Bhubaneswar.


 * [[Image:Adim_Purkha.jpg|none|25px|left]]Adim Purkha - Translation of Sahitya Akademi award winner oriya novelist Gopinath Mohanty's work "Dadi Burha".2001.Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.


 * [[Image:SriRam_Sharma_Acharya.JPG|none|25px|left]]Vedmurti Taponishth SriRam Sharma Acharya - Biography of Shriram Sharma Acharya.2005.Bhubaneswar.

Articles

 * Maithili Language:An Introduction
 * Tradition of music in Mithilia
 * Maharsi Sri Aurobindo on Vidyapati
 * Life and Works of Acharya Surendra Jha 'Suman"
 * Concerns in 2002 as Current Concerns
 * The Festival Of Bata Savitri
 * Folk Songs
 * Book Reviews written in 2002