We four, Subir da, Sen Kaku, Aravind, and I, from our residential complex and Gautam Basu, a close friend, and classmate of Subir da (batch of 1990, Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University) went out for Susunia, Chhatna block area of Bankura district with some plans in mind on last Saturday (2nd July) morning and we had a plan to return back on Sunday late evening. We took Gautam da’s Swift Desire and a trunk full of stuff and started close to 7.30 am in the morning. 

It was all good until we just crossed Singur on Durgapur Expressway / NH 2 and we got a hit with a truck. A misfortune happened, like all other road accidents. Thanks to God, we are all saved, no one seriously got hurt apart from small injuries that do not even count compare to what could have happened. We just got our life back, and mixed feelings followed. We were a bit scared and happy at the same time.

Anyway, after that, we decided we won’t return back to Kolkata and would do what we had set out for. We contacted a nearby garage (car repairing workshop) and kept our damaged car over there and rented a Tata Sumo for 2 days. And after that, it was all fun-filled events.

On our arrival, the locals of Susunia have arranged a friendly football match between two villages – Susunia and Agaya gram. Agaya won the match, but Susunia played the game throughout well. At the very last moment, Agaya got a winning goal. It was a warm welcome for us. Gautam da distributed 3 footballs and jerseys before the game and they played the match wearing those. And our team distributed pencils to the local kids.

Then we met local people, they told us their stories and issues, we spent time with them and went to an artist’s house thereafter. His name is Nimai Dutta, he received Rashtrapati Award twice, and we saw his picture with Dr. APJ Abdulkalam hanging on the wall of his sitting-room. The house is more like an ashram where he teaches his sculpture-making art to his students.

We stayed at Maruth Baha Eco Park (please note, in Santali language Maruth means Palash and Baha means flower) for the night. It’s a Govt. own property but managed by a private organization. Food was decent, nothing to complain about.

The next day, we went to Chandra gram, Chhatna block to a house where they gathered all the local kids for a friendly examination and they asked us to review how they are learning. We were amazed to see that even after not much Govt. help, they are learning for some people’s special interest and encouragement. Deepak Bit is a primary school teacher and he is one of them for teaching the kids outside his duty hours and without any personal gain.

We had biscuit packets, soaps, notebooks, and pens with us, and we distributed those to them. Soon after, we went to Nedkalna gram to see a similar setup. Mampi Pramanick, a class 9 student teaches local kids outside a school where there is no teacher alongside her own study. It was a remarkable experience. I started to believe our root is not weak; we have people and personalities that are always active for real development without personal benefit.

Our very close friend Gautam da, a 1990 Mechanical Engineer from Jadavpur University is a dedicated soul for the development on those areas, he is visiting the place for last 6-7 years and he goes there almost every month, sometimes twice/thrice in a month. We have seen how local people accepted him and consider him a dear friend. He took us with him to visualize the area and how is their livelihood in general.

We returned safely on Sunday evening, but the memories will stay with us. I hope I will visit the area again in near future.