Writer’s Profile: Sagarika Ganguly
Sagarika Ganguly is a history enthusiast, who believes in a multidisciplinary
approach to the study of art and history. This interest stems from her deep passion for art and educational background in the field of history. She strives to explore the narratives embedded within different arts and share it with others. She seeks to explore from different angles like economic, political and sociological to understand the topic better. Her profound sense of care and unwavering commitment to others’ well-being inspire her acts of social service. Giving voice to the overlooked and underseen is among her motives of life.
Early Life:
Born in and brought up in the Bardhaman district of West Bengal, Sagarika 
is the daughter of Mr. Bhubaneshwara Ganguly, a loco pilot in the Indian Railways and Mrs. Shathi Ganguly, a homemaker. Her father’s job being a transferable one, she has spent most of her early life with her mother at her maternal grandparents’ place in Bardhaman. Being the only daughter in a big family she was pampered and brought up with love in a close knit family. As a child, Sagarika was notorious and often scolded for her mischievous acts.
Education:
Sagarika did her schooling from Kolkata in Sushila Birla Girls School. She did not enjoy the early schooling period as she found the curriculum repetitive from what she had already been homeschooled by her mother. The importance given to marks and ranks in the Indian education system never appealed to her. She however did develop an interest in the co-curricular activities in her school. Being from a family of people with science background, she was encouraged by her parents to pursue science, however her interest in history and economics drew her closer to the arts stream and she went on to study History with Economics and Political Science.
Sagarika pursued her graduation in History from Loreto College, Kolkata. She was among the top scorers in her graduation and was awarded for that. She realised that she enjoyed doing historical research and went on to get her masters degree in History focused primarily on medieval and modern history. It is at Visva Bharti, Santiniketan where her disliking for medieval history turned into fondness from where she is currently pursuing her masters.
Work Experience:
Sagarika has been actively working with NGOs. She worked with Unmesh_Myra – Ek Pahel 
for eight months as educator and intern in the core team. She has also been a Mentor in the Volunteer for India program where she guided new social entrepreneurs. She was also a member of YOUNGO for more than a year. Apart from her involvement in social work, she is also pursuing her research and writing skills in the field of History, particularly economic history and History of Art in India. She is currently interning at Oak Lores where she is working on the traditional art and crafts of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Interests:
Deeply inclined towards nature, Sagarika finds peace spending time with nature. She likes to pick flowers from the ground and collect them without plucking and harming the plants. She is a keen observer and loves to watch the sky at different times. She is also fond of clicking beautiful photographs of the sky.
Sagarika also has also been trained in different forms of art by artist, Asok Mondol. She likes to spend her free time painting, both in physical and digital medium. She also enjoys singing and dancing. Collecting small artefacts is also one of her hobbies.
Participation in NSS:
Right from her schooling years, Sagarika had been actively involved in various activities. During her graduation, when she was introduced to NSS, she found it as a perfect medium to give back to society. She was involved in activities like teaching underprivileged school children, slum camp, plantation drives and cleanliness drives. The NSS program in Loreto offered the students the opportunity to ideate and curate their own programs which they thought would be a service for others. As a part of that, Sagarika along with her teammates formulated the Dengue Malaria Program, teaching programmes, health care programmes in the slums. Her journey in NSS was a remarkable one. She started as a Student Representative in first year, Treasurer of Nature Society in the second year and the Vice President of NSS in the final year.
Sagarika’s views on what will make this world a better place?
Sagarika believes that inculcating empathy within ourselves is the best way possible to make this world a better place and have a better perception of life. Having empathy will develop an interest towards social service and the well being of others in the world. She intends to use her writing and oratory skills to spread this message to others. She hopes to spend her earnings for the benefit of the underprivileged through the formation of institutions from which they could benefit, like a welfare school or hospital. She aims to create an NGO of her own.
