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| Sunday , February 5 , 2012 |

Photo Gallery

Nolen Gur

At Mobarakpur in Majdia area of Nadia district, on the border with Bangladesh, the process of making nolen gur or date palm jaggery begins at night, when workers climb the date palm or khejur tree to make an incision and tie a terracotta pot to collect the sap. At dawn, he is back up the tree to bring down the pot. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

A woodpecker feasts on the leftover. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

Drop by drop, the sap falls into the pot and fills it overnight. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

It takes time to get the gur--- roughly seven pots of of sap yield one pot of liquid nolen gur. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

Swapan Biswas collects some boiling sap, which will be added later to the cauldron for aroma. His father Santosh watches. At Tripubaria village. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

The golden colour is visible now. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

The first extract is added back. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

The gur is weighed and the pots marked. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

Business is done on two days of the week. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

A buyer checks the quality. With Nolen gur priced at Rs 40-45 a kg in these villages, those out to make a quick buck add sugar syrup to increase the volume. Unsuspecting buyers get this mix of 1 kg gur plus 3kg sugar. Sugar costs Rs 32 a kg. <span class='photographer'>THE TELEGRAPH/Amit Datta</span>

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