Lone tribal man survives decades in the wild

Local people call him Gach Baba and they say he is suffering from depression but the tribal man Loku Roy insists he never wanted another way of life.

Kolkata: A tribal man from Bardhaman city of West Bengal has been living alone in the lap of nature with wild animals and birds in the last 20 years.

Loku Roy (55) of Palitpur in Purba Bardhaman District lives in a hut made of bamboos and surrounded by bushes and a crude garden. He is famously called "Gach Baba" in his area.

While locals claim, he is clinically depressed, Loku Roy disregards it stating that he has been an ardent admirer of nature and in fact, he never wished to have another way of life.

With no electricity and clean water to drink, Roy relies solely on his natural surroundings to meet his idea of nourishment. He uses a canal next to his house for fishing and other necessary activities. He also works in the farms to make some money.

Roy was a devastated man after his wife died 20 years ago.

Initially, he did not go to work and sit inside his house all day long. His daughter got married long back, his son works outside the state but apparently they don't care for their father," Sudhir Roy, a villager said.

However, Roy says "I did not have the money to build a house and I have always loved nature. So I decided to stay amid the beauty, I know there are a lot of snakes and other wild creatures in my house but it doesn't do anything to me." We all stay together. Above all, it's a different feeling to wake up to the chirping of birds, Roy said.