Neha Banka

India

Reporting from India and its borderlands

The battle to save Kolkata’s crumbling heritage buildings
(Al Jazeera English/2019)
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/2/10/the-battle-to-save-kolkatas-crumbling-heritage-buildings
In rural India, K-pop dreams are bursting at the seams, but no roads lead to South Korea (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/k-pop-rural-india-teenagers-dreams-bts-9217324/
Sex Trafficking: In the Sundarbans, a call, sweet nothings and a descent into sex trade (The Indian Express/2023) https://indianexpress.com/article/india/phoney-love-sundarbans-a-call-sweet-nothings-descent-sex-trade-8981608/
‘We are very much Indian citizens’
(The Migration Story/2025)
https://www.themigrationstory.com/post/we-are-very-much-indian-citizens

When the stomach burns: 80 years on, memories from the famine kitchens of Bengal
(The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/long-reads/bengal-famine-memories-80-years-9623057/
Cook. Clean. Care. Repeat. The unrelenting lives of Indian women (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/indian-women-narayana-murthy-70-hours-week-9032139/
To combat high rates of child drowning deaths in the Sundarbans, India gets its first pond-based swimming pool (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/child-drowning-deaths-sundarbans-pond-based-swimming-pool-indias-first-9474597/
In India, over 64,000 people die of snake bites each year—the highest globally (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/india-snake-bites-bengal-8257629/
In India, a tribal community dependant on forests for survival learns to cope with changing times (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-tribal-community-forests-survival-changing-times-9100242/
The mangroves of Kolkata are a sign that the city’s environment is changing (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/mangroves-of-kolkata-a-sign-that-citys-environment-is-changing-8546012/
In a unique constituency meant for Scheduled Tribes, Indigenous voters are key to winning polls (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-scheduled-tribes-seat-jhargram-voting-west-bengal-9330133/
In West Bengal, marine strandings of endangered horseshoe crabs are increasing (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-marine-strandings-endangered-horseshoe-crabs-increasing-8091777/

Recovering from lockdown, Myanmar coup deals a fresh blow to Moreh traders (The Indian Express/2021)
https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/manipur/recovering-from-lockdown-myanmar-coup-deals-a-fresh-blow-to-moreh-traders-7176947/
In West Bengal’s Birbhum, a unique community museum that archives Santal history and culture (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengals-birbhum-unique-community-museum-archives-santal-history-culture-7862489/

In their own language: A school in West Bengal’s Birbhum for Indigenous Santal children (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/in-their-own-language-a-school-in-west-bengals-birbhum-for-santal-children-7843955/
In India, climate change is impacting nolen gur, a beloved seasonal food (The Indian Express/2023) https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/nolen-gur-bengals-beloved-seasonal-food-stares-at-a-bitter-future-8505171/
Under a cloud: Meet Kolkata’s storm chasers who document extreme weather (The Indian Express/2020)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/kolkatas-storm-chasers-document-extreme-weather-despite-coronavirus-clouds-6635796/
Indians have been in love with Korean dramas for decades (The Indian Express/2021)
https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/why-are-indians-head-over-heels-in-love-with-korean-dramas-207161/
Seeking asylum, 4 Myanmar police officers cross India-Myanmar border at Mizoram (The Indian Express/2021)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/seeking-asylum-4-myanmar-police-officers-cross-indo-myanmar-border-at-mizoram-7214533/
Why the Indian star tortoise is smuggled across the India-Bangladesh border (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/exotic-pet-indian-star-tortoises-smuggled-india-bangladesh-border-9580483/
Translated into Ol Chiki for first time, Santals get to read India’s Constitution in their own script (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-constitution-translation-ol-chiki-7823156/


As adulterated honey floods Indian markets, buyers are turning to Sundarbans’ Moulis for organic produce (The Indian Express/2020)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/adulterated-honey-sweet-success-for-sunderbans-moulis-as-buyers-make-a-beeline-for-their-organic-stuff-7092813/

In West Bengal, an elephant death brings ‘hula parties’ under the scanner (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/southern-west-bengal-elephant-death-brings-hula-parties-9542921/
What’s in a name? For Tangail weavers, a history of a brutally divided land, its people and identity (The Indian Express/2024) https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/bengal-weavers-tangail-handloom-phulia-textile-9236165/
In West Bengal, the Balagarh constituency discovers Trinamool Congress’ new election bet- Dalit author Manoranjan Byapari (The Indian Express/2021)
https://indianexpress.com/elections/balagarh-tmc-new-election-candidate-dalit-author-manoranjan-byapari-7264353/
In India, forests of the prehistoric Susunia Hills burn for more than 18 hours (The Indian Express/2020) https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/bengal-forests-of-prehistoric-susunia-hills-burn-for-more-than-18-hours-6353766/
In India, climate change is threatening a beloved, delicate heritage mango
(The Indian Express/2024) https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-climate-change-threat-beloved-delicate-heritage-mango-9393943/
After a crackdown on cattle-smuggling, the India-Bangladesh border sees a spike in wildlife trafficking (The Indian Express/2021)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/crackdown-on-cattle-smuggling-indo-bangladesh-border-sees-spike-in-wildlife-trafficking-7583749/
The Last Prince of Awadh (The Indian Express/2019)
https://indianexpress.com/article/research/the-real-prince-of-awadh-6179168/
The unseen hospital staff who do the Covid-19 jobs nobody wants (The Indian Express/2020)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/coronavirus-patients-covid-19-jobs-hospital-staff-6573564/
In run-up to India’s contentious elections, Mir Jafar’s tainted legacy still haunts descendants of the 18th century ruler
(The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/mir-jafar-legacy-descendants-9250822/

Along the India-Bangladesh border, a first-of-its-kind floating border outpost with women constables (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/indo-bangladesh-border-floating-border-outpost-women-constables-8337078/
Santal Hul: Remembering Santal women
who fought for indigenous rights two
centuries ago (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/santal-hul-remembering-santal-women-who-fought-for-indigenous-rights-two-centuries-ago-7998742/
In India’s West Bengal, four villages are preserving a culture of generations-old indigenous boat races (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-four-villages-culture-indigenous-boat-races-8959968/
What makes the Bay of Bengal so prone to frequent cyclones (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/bay-of-bengal-cyclones-9359254/
A Diwali regular, West Bengal’s tiny leafhopper isn’t seen in big numbers anymore. Where have the ‘shyama poka’ gone? (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/diwali-regular-bengals-tiny-leafhopper-where-have-shyama-poka-gone-8227464/
In rapidly changing times, Indigenous Santals in West Bengal rethink how to preserve religious and cultural practices (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-santals-religious-cultural-practices-preservation-8466292/
A ‘Master Plan’ to tackle annual devastating floods in Ghatal could prove key in deciding who wins polls in this West Bengal district (The Indian Express/2024) 
https://indianexpress.com/elections/plan-annual-floods-ghatal-lok-sabha-polls-bengal-tmc-9298456/
For endangered Batagur Baska turtles, a Sundarban conservation project is a reason for hope (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/batagur-baska-the-sundarbans-may-be-the-last-hope-for-these-vanishing-river-turtles-7745742/
Women priests & religious rituals: A Bengali film explores patriarchy, changing customs & social acceptance (The Indian Express/2020) https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/as-film-turns-the-light-on-women-priests-bengal-blows-the-conch-on-change-6789038/
West Bengal: The women making Kumartuli’s Durga idols & breaking patriarchal hold (The Indian Express/2019)
https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/no-kumartulis-durga-idols-are-not-always-made-by-men-kolkata-durga-puja-women-artisans-6053259/
In India, West Bengal’s libraries are slowly decaying (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/libraries-west-bengal-book-association-culture-rabindranath-tagore-8889251/
In the outskirts of the Sundarbans, shrimp farms are turning to mangroves to go organic (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/sundarbans-outskirts-shrimp-farms-turning-mangroves-organic-9040304/
What a teacher’s Sahitya Akademi award for Santali poetry means for Adivasi students (The Indian Express/2022)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/teacher-sahitya-akademi-award-santali-poetry-students-adivasi-school-west-bengal-hapan-mai-8265547/
How a 27-year-old is using social media to promote an indigenous language (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/santali-social-media-platform-teach-new-words-old-indigenous-language-9102969/
In Kolkata, freedom fighter & political leader Muthuramalinga Thevar is deified & worshipped (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/how-a-statue-of-muthuramalingam-thevar-came-to-be-worshipped-in-kolkata-9005585/

In West Bengal, for the first time, an Adivasi scholar’s digital archive is documenting rare Santali manuscripts (The Indian Express/2024)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/kolkata-adivasi-scholar-digital-archives-santal-community-manuscripts-exhibition-9436574/
In a West Bengal village, a unique tradition of creating Durga on pat (The Indian Express/2023)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-village-durga-puja-unique-tradition-8991987/