Naru embarked on a lifelong cerebral journey to find answers to a few questions that had appeared in his mind very early in his life. Those questions were related to his birthplace, Bengal. At present, officially, a place known as ‘Bengal’ has become extinct, but the people of that geography still use that term to describe their motherland. In the last few centuries, huge efforts have been undertaken to understand and document the past of that land. The Europeans, particularly the British, the then-occupying force, put enormous effort into rediscovering the prehistoric literature of India. The effort they put into that front was probably unparalleled throughout the worldwide empire that they were running during that time. An army of Indian intellectuals, many of whom were Bengalis, sprang up in no time to contribute to that effort. Myriads of works of literature came to the forefront, the presence of which was unknown until that time. Not much progress could be made in the area of writing the history of Bengal to the perceived time when it is believed that prehistoric Indian literature was created. References to the geography known as ‘Bengal’ today may be found in those literatures. Sketchy historical accounts for that land are available up to a period of 3000 years before the present from some secondary sources. Some archaeological evidence has been discovered that dates the historical period of Bengal up to a period of 5000 years before the present. Through the application of unexplainable capabilities, Naru was shown some events that had happened inside the Bengal Basin by his ‘Wisp’. He managed to recognise that those events bore resemblance to the tale of Atlantis, a submerged land. As he could not be sure about his conjecture, he requested his ‘Wisp’ for a repetition of that journey. What he saw on the second journey had the capability to bridge many gaps that are present in the present understanding of human history.

Naru was shown by destiny that the process of peopling India had happened along ancient elevated highway systems of India. Adivasis came first then a different group followed them to get settled in the highlands. In Bengal the members of this new group later became known as 'Ghoti'.

By the beckoning of destiny, Naru could deduce that the word 'Bangla' was coined by the Tibetan traders. Nobody knows for sure where the word 'Bangla' came from. Curiosity about origin and lineage is an integral part of human existence. Naru, an ever curious Bengali by birth, found an explanation in his own way, which he thought to share with a considerably big group known as Bengali and speaking Bangla language.

Whenever the word Hindu comes up for discussion, at the very outset, it is announced that the word has its origin in the word Sindhu, the Sanskrit term for the river Indus. That statement is taken for granted as an axiom and repeated by all. It is not seen in the public domain that anybody has ever raised any doubt on that explanation. The current explanation has gone ex silentio. Arguments may be put forward to expose many logical loopholes in the present explanation. This book tries to highlight the logical inconsistencies of the present explanation and at the same time tries to provide a more consistent alternative explanation of the origin of the word Hindu that has a traceable root to the core values of that way of life.

The importance of the word Kalapani in historical and political perspectives with respect to Bengal is immense. For a large part of the history of India’s struggle for independence, this word has a very significant presence. Persons who were considered to be revolutionary by the British rulers of India used to be sent to ‘condemned cells’ of a jail that was named as ‘Cellular Jail’ by the British. Many of such rebellious souls were from Bengal. The construction of that jail was completed at the beginning of the twentieth century, and within no time it became synonymous with ‘Kalapani’. Every citizen of India learns about the country’s freedom struggle; it is an integral part of the Indian education system. Through that process, the word Kalapani becomes acquainted with every Indian. Any inquisitive mind thinks at least once in life about the origin of the word Kalapani, as that word hardly has any other use in the Indian languages. Through his quest, spanning almost his entire active lifespan, Naru has found an explanation of the origin of that word. Through this book he has brought that unique understanding to the readers.

Naru, a curious Bengali by birth, was influenced by the presence of large ferocious rivers around his birthplace since his childhood. It occurred to him that the rivers of his birthplace have something to say, and he needs to lend a careful ear to the message that the rivers wanted to convey. The land of the five rivers has a special place in Indian tradition. The ancient Indian scripts and texts contain references to the land of five rivers that was considered blessed and sacred. Naru grew up by listening and reading many of such texts. Nobody could identify the concerned rivers as well as the location of that region of five male rivers. That issue always eluded the Indians. It was the convergence of many aspects of his life that he could see the issue of the land of five male rivers in a new light. This book is about the establishment of a relationship between that unresolved issue and the Rarh region of Bengal and a group of Bengalis known as ‘Ghoti’.

There was nothing incomprehensible about what Naru had heard from Grandma as a child. Everything from the beginning to the end of those narrations was bound in an unbroken chain of reason. The problem started after crossing the boundaries of the primary school. Everything that was written in the textbook was known, but one of the things that were not understood was the origin of the word 'Bangal'. He heard from his father about the interpretation of the word 'Bangal'. His father referred to what he had learnt from a renowned scholar who was a former student of Naru’s school. The explanation could not satisfy Naru. That explanation is related to Bangla and its levees (‘Al’ in Bengali). For Naru, that explanation was farfetched. Everything that can be found in this regard ends up in a clue that leaves the question of where the incarnation of that clue came from unanswered. Naru could never digest unstructured knowledge. For some reason, Naru's enthusiasm has never diminished. These issues have always been active in Naru's mind, whether in academic or professional pursuits. Decades later, it seemed as if some related clues had come to light through the game of football that the life has played with him, or he has played with the life. He is blessed that he has been able to recognize the clues. This book is about Naru's unique understanding about the coining of the word ‘Bangal’.

Naru, a curious Bengali by birth, was influenced by the presence of large ferocious rivers around his birthplace since childhood. It occurred to him that the rivers of his birthplace have something to say, and he needs to lend a careful ear to the message that the rivers wanted to convey. The ‘land of the five male rivers’ has a special place in Indian tradition. The ancient Indian scripts and texts contain references to ‘the land of five male rivers’ that was considered blessed and sacred. Naru grew up by listening and reading many of such texts. Nobody could identify the concerned rivers as well as the location of that region of five male rivers. That issue always eluded the Indians. It was the convergence of many aspects of his life that Naru could see the issue of the land of five male rivers in a new light. This book is about that illusive land of the five male rivers.

The "deepening and widening" of the EU has thrown its changing internal and external borders into sharp relief. This work demonstrates that borders are key spaces within which issues such as identity, memory and trust, and communication between states continue to be played out and transformed.

Sundarban Forest, presently called 'Sundarbans National Park' in India, is a mangrove forest spanning the eastern coastal deltaic areas of West Bengal and western coastal deltaic areas of Bangladesh. UNESCO has declared it as a World Heritage Site.It is mentioned almost universally that the presence of 'Sundari' trees gave rise to the word Sundarban. A small question arises in the mind. If Sundari tree is at the root of the name, then would not the name have been Sundariban instead of Sundarban? Why the name had been changed to Sundarban?There is no apparent explanation for dropping the very important gender sensitive 'i' from the name. Exclusion of the letter 'i' makes the word from a feminine one to a masculine one. Generally, the prehistoric names don't change their names by the influence of the corrupted pronunciation practices of the commoners. Even if it is done, then also traces of the original names remain available from one source or the other. Nowhere it is told that the name of this forest was 'Sundariban' ever in the distant past. Always it remained 'Sundarban'. In that case there must be a source of this name that is independent of the word 'Sundari'.Naru, a Bengali by birth, has applied his acquired knowledge to find a logically consistent explanation of the name Sundarban. This book tries to provide the derivation of the name independent of the 'Sundari' tree.