
Bit by bit, Sushanta Giri’s mother wasted away, as the deadly liver ailment progressed. The family, who live in the remote Baikunthapur village in the Sundarbans in West Bengal, had no means to take her to the nearest subdivisional hospital at Joynagar, 49 km away, for treatment. Giri’s eyes well up as he recalls those nights when his mother suffered acute pain, and how he frantically did the rounds of village quacks for some palliative. Giri’s mother passed away the day he wrote the final paper of his school-leaving board exam. Back from the funeral, the 18-year-old resolved to help improve the living condition of the people who live in these coastal backwaters—the very margins both geographically and socio-economically—so that they could access the basic needs of life.
For thousands of underprivileged villagers in the Sundarbans, life is not just about coping with poverty and the absence of healthcare, education and roads and communication, it is also fraught by a constant struggle with nature—cyclones, flash floods, farmland laid waste by saline water from the sea, and land erosion.
Giri embarked on a comprehensive plan of community development and self-sufficiency, so that villagers could send their children to schools and share in the possibilities of a rapidly digitising world.
This story is from the January 16, 2023 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 16, 2023 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In

THE MYSTIC GAZE
Photographer Bandeep Singh's exhibition Bhasmang in Delhi delves deep into the lives of the Naga sadhus

Fresh Method, Fresh Space
After Mumbai, Method opens its third gallery in Delhi, expanding its mission to showcase emerging artists while embracing sustainable design innovations

SPORTING SPIRIT
Jemimah Rodrigues is one of the cricketers to watch in the ongoing season of the Women's Premier League

STEALTHY ARROWHEADS
The US offer to co-produce Stryker combat vehicles and Javelin anti-tank missiles reinforces defence ties. But the sudden arrival of F-35 fighters in the mix has everyone talking

Puppet Play
The Ishara International Puppet Theatre Festival 2025 features a rich variety of acts from around the world

THREAT OF THE FAKE ALPHONSO
Imposters are sullying the fair name and reputation of the famed Alphonso mango grown in the Konkan, forcing its cultivators to stamp their product with a unique encrypted identity

A POTATO BLIGHT IN BENGAL
Ashish Ghosh, a 48-year-old farmer from Paschim Medinipur district, had spent Rs 50,000 on his 2.5 bighas to cultivate potatoes.

REALITY CHECK
Sujit Saraf's new novel, Island, chronicles a dystopian attempt to evangelise the inhabitants of North Sentinel Island

Fresh Face for a Big Agenda
It took the Bharatiya Janata Party 27 years to come back to power in national capital Delhi, so they could be forgiven for taking their time—11 days to be exact—to zero in on their chief ministerial face. The party high command's choice followed its recent template of picking near-obscure or first-time legislators to lead state governments. Rookie MLA Rekha

MOHAN'S MAKE-IN-MP PITCH
It was former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan who first took to the idea of transforming Madhya Pradesh from an agri-based economy to a manufacturing-based one. Now 15 months into the job, his successor Mohan Yadav has the challenging job of taking the project forward. As part of this, on February 24 and 25, the state is hosting the 8th edition of the biennial Global Investor Summit (GIS) in Bhopal, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the event.