Neelanjan Chakravarty, a 60-year-old Kolkata resident, worked with the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. His role required him to travel frequently.

Here’s where he first developed a love for exploring places.

He recalls treks that he would take on the weekends. “On these trips of mine, I would find warmth in the form of homestays and welcoming families.”

“I’d enjoy the time I spent with them, promising myself that one day I too would welcome people in a homestay of my own,” he adds.

In 2010, Neelanjan purchased 1.25 bigha of land in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The land lay as is until 2017 when Neelanjan opted for voluntary retirement to start his homestay.

Following a year of building, in 2018, the Bongheri Homestay began welcoming tourists from all over India, giving them respite from the cacophony in the city.

One of the main draws of Bongheri Homestay is that it is located in the Sundarbans — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

People flock here to spot the Royal Bengal tiger, Irawadi dolphins, estuarine crocodiles, and even the critically endangered endemic river terrapin.

“The homestay has four cottages,” Neelanjan shares. “They are equipped with all necessary infrastructures like a kitchen, dining, a king-size bed, bedside table, wardrobe, dressing table, tea table and western-style bathrooms.”

While you are at the homestay, a team of eight locals will take care of everything from the food to your sightseeing.

Neelanjan further shares that lunches and dinners include seafood, spiced with secret Bengali recipes by the women, and accompanied by vegetables, lentils, and the staple rice.

Neelanjan organises a local fisherman’s boat ride at Matla river and hikes that pass through Bengal’s rural fisherman villages.