Ikaran Socialaid Science Foundation

We are out in Vill-Raghabpur, which is near Khantura in North Parganas. The office is located at Arun Karmakar’s house. It is a bit of a drive if you are coming all the way from the city. We do a mix of different things here. It is social aid, but we also look at science stuff. We try to apply what we know to the real-life problems we see in the village. We are not some big research center with millions in funding. It is just us with a few basic tools and some ideas we have. We spend a lot of our time out in the fields or talking to people about their daily troubles. Raghabpur is a quiet place and we like it that way. We do not have a big team at all. It is just a few of us who grew up around here and stayed. We wanted to do something useful with our time and our skills. We do not have a fancy office. It is just a simple room with some books and some old equipment. Sometimes the electricity goes out for hours, but we just keep working by candlelight if we have to. We do not make big promises to anyone. We just try to help out where it makes sense to us. It is practical work. We have been at it for some time. We know the land and the people here very well. It is just home to us in this part of West Bengal.