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Bonphool: Chapter 3 - Soshan, the Business Advisor

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In the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, nature creates one of its sweetest gifts—Sundarban honey. Harvested amidst crocodiles, tigers, and challenging conditions, every drop tells a story of courage and tradition. Yet, the story of our honey initiative began not in the forest, but with an unlikely guide whose practical wisdom shaped our journey. The idea of promoting honey-based livelihoods in the Sundarbans came from Pranab Mondal. Inspired by his vision, I started conducting meetings with my departmental staff and villagers to explore the possibilities. WWF-India, along with Shri Prabir Garain of Ramkrishna Nimpith Krishi Vigyan Kendra, had earlier experimented with sustainable apiary practices in the Sundarbans. Their experience offered a valuable starting point. To begin with, we organized a meeting with honey gatherers in Jharkhali. Prabir Garain, an excellent scientist with extensive knowledge of apiary, patiently explained the benefits of scientific beekeeping. Avoiding s...
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Bonphool: Chapter 2 – Genesis of an Idea

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After serving in different regions of West Bengal, I was posted as the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), South 24 Parganas. Soon after taking charge on 14th August 2018, I began touring the division extensively. Unlike any other place I had worked before, the field of work in this division extended across both on land and water. Reaching many forest-fringe villages in Sundarbans required hours of travel by road followed by long journeys through rivers and creeks by boat. Life here revolved around the tides, and so did the work of the Forest Department. The Sundarbans attracts tourists from across the world who come to experience its unique mangrove forests and catch a glimpse of the Royal Bengal Tiger. During one of my field visits, I discovered that tourist boats were entering a restricted area where tourism was not permitted. Local groups were collecting entry fees from tourists without any authorization from the Forest Department. When I stopped the activity, the reaction was immedia...
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Bonphool: Chapter 1 - The long incubation of an idea

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  [Today Bonphool is very popular honey brand at the national level. It was created six years back in 2020. I never spoke openly claiming on its success. The entire journey of success has been long and result of contribution from many individuals. I will be sharing the entire journey in series.] (This Picture was taken on my office desk)                                 I grew up in a rural environment where financial struggles were part of everyday life. Watching my parents and the people around me work hard just to sustain their livelihoods, shaped my perspective early on and instilled in me a strong desire to work on improving the lives of the most vulnerable. My keen interest in wildlife led me to pursue a degree in forestry, followed by a Master’s from the College of Forestry in Kodagu, Karnataka—a region known for its coffee plantations with abundant forest full of elephant all around it. ...
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Life deep inside the creeks of Sundarbans

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(This is one story etched in my memory from a field day in Sundarbans on 17th December, 2019).  It was a winter day in the Sundarbans. A quiet chill from the sea drifted through the whispering mangrove forest, carrying the scent of salt, mud, and stillness. Murali Sir (Senior IFS officer) and I were returning to Jharkhali from Bonnie Camp. Leaving the wide expanse of the Bidya River, our boat turned left into the narrow embrace of the Suryamukhi Creek—one of those creeks that holds life in abundance and danger in equal measure. The tide was low. Vast stretches of muddy creek bed lay exposed, glistening under the pale winter sun. This brief window of retreating water invited life to emerge. Spotted deers were stepping cautiously along the banks, wild boars rummaged through the mud, whistling ducks dotted the shallows, and countless birds and animals revealed themselves, as if the forest had momentarily lifted its veil. Midway through the creek, we spotted a small wooden boat—humble ...
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Barn Visitors

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Its been nearly three years, I wrote my last blog. Lot has happened in this gap. Got transferred twice during this time. There are many ups and down in official and personal front. My friend Kajari biswas has been constantly prodding me to write. Finally, I am able to write that too about bird which belongs to the same order which Sparrow belongs. All pictures used in this writing are taken from Samsung S6 mobile. Here are the chippings of Gubbi....  I thank the medical shop owners Rudra Narayan Agarwala, Shiva Kumar Agarwala and Viresh Agarwala for allowing to take pictures of Barn swallow and providing information about the bird. After transferred from Birbhum, I settled down in Dow-hill as a Director of a century old training institute. Dow-hill is small place situated in the midst of cloud on top of a mountain in Eastern Himalayas. The place well known for evil spirits and listed as most haunted place in India. For marketing I had come down to...
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Encounter with mammoth....

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In childhood I have heard many stories of close encounter and near escape from a fight with sloth bear. As I grew up have seen many such encounters with Lions, Elephants etc.  on Discovery and National Geographic Channel. After I started to wander in wild, I have heard many such stories. Today, I will be narrating one such encounter of mine with one of the surviving mammoth on earth, The Rhinoceros . Novermber 2012; to check the progress of preparation for wildlife day celebration, I went to Falakata from Madarihat. After progress was checked Instead of direct road to Madarihat, I chose the jungle road. I decided to drive the vehicle. On the way back two of my range officers Buddhadeb and Ranjan Talukdar were narrating me the story of Rhino attacking the vehicle of Assistant Wildlife Warden long back. Listening to stories, I drove into tall dense grassland of Moyurdanga. Moyurdanga as name says, derived its name from mayur (peacock). Fertile alluvial soil of Torsa has made the...
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