Men in uniform are known to possess many a talent because of their unique requirements to meet all the aspects of a demanding profession. They generally excell in their professional field, but seldom do they get a chance to reach such levels of excellence in other fields. And when these fields are as diverse as maintaining a herbarium, doing an indepth study of medicinal plants, clay-modelling and star-gazing, it does make you sit up. Such a man is Bimal Sarkar, who does all this, and many more such activities. A Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, presently, he is the education officer at the Gajraj Corps, Tezpur.

While Bimal was undergoing training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1974, he developed a passion for collection and identifying wild flowers and seeds.

He was posted to Chail, a beautiful hill station near Shimla between 1978 and 1981. His son, then just 2 years old, used to keep asking him the names of wild flowers. Bimal Sarkar, an educationist to the core, made all efforts to identify the plants correctly, so as not to bluff the child. He took the help of a botanist and also started reading widely on the subject. Slowly, as the inquisitiveness of the child increased, Bimal Sarkar started reading more and more about natural sciences, and got interested in plants, butterflies and birds.

It was at Chail that one day he brought home a lump of clay, to keep his child engaged in some creative activity. His son insisted that he made some shapes with the clay. Initially he could hardly make any thing except some mud-balls, but gradually, he started creating some interesting figures. Over a period of time, he has managed to make a name for himself in clay-modelling, making some beautiful artistic pieces.

Bimal Sarkar has a rich collection of butterflies, including some rare ones collected from Pachmarhi, Dehra Dun, Udhampur, Hasimara and Tezpur. He also has a personal herbarium which houses nearly 400 plants.

Creativity knows no limits, and besides his collection of plants and butterflies, he makes beautiful greeting cards with them. Cards, made on handmade paper and natural products are his trademark, and is extremely popular in the Armed Forces.

Time is a premium for him, so he pursues his hobbies early in the mornings, and after office hours. Outdoor activities are planned on Sundays and holidays. On an average, he manages to put in almost six hours of work for his hobbies every day. Thus, he pursues his profession and hobbies with equal zeal. He still finds pleasure in collecting treasure from the lap of mother nature. And in his own words, he sums up - I see my universe in a lump of clay and my dreams on the wings of butterflies.