Electrician strives to grow 2,000 orchids in Bengal steel city


PTI | Durgapur | Updated: 29-09-2019 15:53 IST | Created: 29-09-2019 15:51 IST
Electrician strives to grow 2,000 orchids in Bengal steel city
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An electrician by profession, 50-year-old Biswanath Ghosh has earned a unique sobriquet -- 'Orchid pagol (fanatic)' -- among residents of his locality in West Bengal's Durgapur. The reason behind Ghosh's nickname is his pursuit to grow orchids in the hot and dusty climate of the steel city, as against the cold and moist environment preferred for growing most species of the exotic plant.

Starting a novice orchid grower nearly 19 years ago, Ghosh now boasts a collection of more than 2,000 of the exotic plants of about 300 species at his residence in Rishi Aurobindo Nagar Kalibari locality here. "I can vouch that nobody in the state has a collection better than mine," Ghosh told PTI in an exclusive interaction.

However, the orchid grower says his collection is not for sale. "Growing orchid is my passion. I don't want to do business with them. I only sell extra seedlings and use that money to expand my collection. Only another farm in Uttar Dinajpur district's Raiganj has a collection as large as mine but that is not an individual initiative," he said.

Ghosh's collection has orchids from the northeast, Sikkim, and countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Mexico. The senior technician at the Durgapur Steel Plant said he accidentally fell in love with orchids when a friend gifted him a "unique plant" in the early 2000s, who told him it does not grow on soil and its fragrant flowers last for about a month.

This was enough to stir up Ghosh's curiosity which went to such an extent that he learned Portuguese to communicate with his orchid-growing "mentors" in Brazil. Initially, however, Ghosh says he was discouraged by everyone from pursuing his passion, stating that "only miracle can make orchids survive in the torrid summer of Durgapur".

"No one helped me out. People who knew about orchids looked down upon me," he recalls. Frustrated over the developments, Ghosh took it upon himself to grow orchids and finally mastered the art.

"I have killed hundreds of plants while learning the technique of growing orchids but never gave up. It took me years to gain practical knowledge about the plants. "I have spent days and nights in my garden and visited remote places to acquire knowledge about them. People started calling me 'pagol' (crazy). But now, I can feel the pulse of every orchid," he said.

Ghosh said while he did not receive much help in India; Brazilians, whom he calls "masters" in growing of orchids, provided him with support and guidance. "I have around 10,000 followers on Facebook of whom 70 per cent are Brazilians. Though I am a member of orchid groups from across the world, Brazil holds a special place in my heart.

"I am a member of at least 150 Brazil-based Facebook groups specialising in the art of growing orchids and I interact with them daily. This is how I learnt Portuguese," he said. Ghosh terms Brazilians as people who have immense knowledge about growing orchids.

"No garden is complete there without orchids. It's like growing rose, dahlia or marigold here," he said. Due to the growth of his orchid collection, Ghosh converted his 800 square feet rose garden into a greenhouse and also replicated it on his terrace.

Some of his rare species include Vanda Ascocentrum Miniatum, a restricted but famous orchid found in Mizoram; Grammatophyllum speciosum, also called giant orchid or tiger orchid; Chysis Aurea, a Mexican a golden-flowered orchid and After Dark orchid which has a burgundy black flower. "Some of these species are rare and cost over Rs 10,000. If you are lucky, you could get a seedling for about Rs 5,000," he said.

With his experience, Ghosh has now specialized in mounting orchids on tender coconuts. "I found that most orchid species love coconut husks as their media, following which I experimented using whole tender coconuts and tasted success. The growth of orchids is three times more on them and hardly requires any fertilizer.

"Now, I have in my garden many orchids that mostly thrive in cool climates, such as Phalaenopsis. The people who did not share their knowledge with me are now jealous of me. I am proud of what I have achieved," he said. Speaking about the art of growing orchids in India, Ghosh said that though many people have taken it up, there is a lot of myth and apprehension attached to it.

"Many people believe that they can't be grown in tropical weather. In fact, many Dendrobium and Vanda orchid species love warm conditions with an abundance of light," he said. There has also been stiff resistance from Ghosh's family against pursuing the hobby due to the expenses involved in it.

However, Ghosh also made sacrifices towards it. "I bought only my bare essentials. Every month, I would keep a budget aside for orchid by cutting down on my expenses," he said.

The electrician also had to forego his annual pilgrimage to Odisha's Puri for a "darshan" of Lord Jagannath. "It has been about 10 years since I last visited Puri.

I simply can't go anywhere leaving my orchids behind. I have found my lords here." Both his daughters and wife have accepted that orchids have become a part of their extended family and also help in watering or spraying fertilizers on them. "My last wish before death is to visit Brazil," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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