A handful of flattened rice, soaked in water for a few minutes (not more, else it loses its texture), a bowl of curd (mix water if it’s thick), and a spoonful of pickle. This is the standard recipe for dahi chooda, sometimes taken as comfort food, and on occasion, to mark a ceremony. But in Bihar, it signals something far more complex than its simple recipe. It marks political ruptures and new intimacies, and silent transitions. RJD supremo Lalu........

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