Stay updated with breaking news from Debesh mondal. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Seated on an earthen dam under the scorching sun with his two grandsons, 70-year-old Robin Koyal of Patlikhanpur village in North 24-Parganas’ Hingalganj stares at the sky. The elderly farm labour is apprehending a “Kal Baisakhi” in the last fortnight of the Bengali calendar year. “ Roder tej barlei jhorer bhoy hoi. Gato bachoro tai hoyechilo (whenever the sun beats down, we apprehend a storm),” he tells this correspondent with a vacant look, referring to last year’s Cyclone Amphan that wreaked havoc and rendered him homeless. Ten months after Amphan, when political parties are making promises galore to woo voters ahead of elections, impoverished Patlikhanpur village in the Sunderbans is no exception. ....