The title is scary!
If you run the crazy run that we have been running since the opening of the mango season, from Andhra Pradesh to Malda, via Tuni district and Poranpur, you would either brand us as completely mad or love us forever.
So much so, my daughter, all of three years and seven months, is always packing her bag and claims to be going to Malda to get mangoes!
The story is wierd; here it is...
...Malda, in the upper layers of Bengal, 385 kilometres from Calcutta has always been known by its prodigal politician Ghani Khan Choudhury and the unending orchards of mangoes all around.
When we began the weekly run of trucks from handpicked orchards, to Calcutta, we did not anticipate the eventuality. Today, when we are on the last mile of the mango-run, we realised, we could be, perhaps, the biggest distributor of mangoes in the wholesale market of Bablu Kolay, popularly known as Kolay market in Calcutta.
More importantly, I am informed, we have been branded as the best quality supplier by many traders, who have been our regular customers either from our depot or at the wholesale market.
The tragedy is, I am sad to say this, people love chemically ripened mangoes and most traders do not want to sell naturally ripened mangoes because they are not so pretty to look at!
Just think, how crazy this sounds!
In fact, one of our customers is a large format retail chain which goes around selling "affordable life style" as its brand-promise and this retailer did not push far healthier, far-better-tasting naturally ripened mangoes, beyond the free box that we gave them as a sample.
The badge of the highest-distributor makes me worried because the volume, if you ask me, is next-to-nothing! It only goes to show how the wholesale market in Sealdah is shrinking in size and the imminent danger of its closure.
A heartfelt gratitude is essential here; a 63 year old man, Komol Dey by name, President of the 75 vendors' associations across Bengal and the P.R.O. of Kolay market stood by us, like a rock all this while. The more I spent time with this extremely knowlegable man, the more I thanked him for his guidance, vision and energy. Thank you Komol-babu for everything! I hope we have a wonderful innings together.
There is no electricity at our farm. Laptops run on battery, lanterns on kerosene. Food is basic. The house is made of earth.Egg-tray smoke is the the mosquito repellant. Fireflies & cricket are our evening companions. Rogue elephants threaten our life often. Mobile phones dont work when you want the most. Welcome to Bhoomi Life!
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Journey of Bhoomi Crop
Bhoomi Crop is the first limited liability organised farming and distribution company in Bengal. Four CXO level friends put this together. We have no formal training in the art and science of farming and everyday, I, Kaushik Mukherji, learn a new lesson at the farm. Illiterate farmers in the villages, the closeby IIT (Kharagpur) are my teachers and supporters. We are extremely bullish on this business opportunity, which is already making a social difference too.
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