They say that a dying star burns the brightest; once it is de-illuminated, it gives way to an even brighter star. Such is the Story of a 19 year old boy Ranodeep Saha, hailing from a business family of North Kolkata. Currently he is pursuing Btech Degree in Computer Science from West Bengal University of Technology (Formally Indian Institute of Information Technology-Kolkata) and he also runs his e-commerce start up “Rare Planet”. Ranodeep has been selected as a Regional Ambassador Lead for Mozilla from South East Asia and also interns at The Telegraph.

You must be wondering what is so “Rare” about this “Planet”. Well, this is how he proceeds. “This is my startup initiative which happened accidentally after I had a break up with my girl friend”. He remembers his chirpy little girl with a wide smile on his face whom he had loved whole heartedly. Engrossed in those happy moments spent with his girl friend, Ranodeep began to think of ways to get over his break up until he joined those broken bits of his heart and transformed them into something unique, something “Rare”. One fine day sitting by his window pane he took a look at the dusty earthen cup lying unused for several years. With colours and paint brushes he brought it back to life by depicting a Harry Potter symbol which used to be her favorite. That was the baby step and from then onward the journey has never taken its hault. He started making use of old bottles, earthen glasse, coffee mugs and gave them a new look .Within few days his living room was full of his creations, starting from western cartoon characters, unique minions, Harry potter, Avengers to even the Bollywood bad guys like Gabbar Singh – he depicted these in terracotta cups.His products got taken up by The Celebrity store at City Center in Kolkata which used to his girl friend’s favourite store.

Ranodeep Says “People usually associate negativity after a disheartened break up. I have seen most of the teenagers resort to smoking, drinking and ruining their lives in various ways but I had a different take on this. Instead I began to make those things which my girl friend was fond of.”

With the help of family and friends, his business model now began to take its frame. Having done all legal things and issued the proper licenses Ranodeep along with a small group of workers took a step ahead. His products were sold like hot cakes in his first stall venture at Concord which is Kolkata’s oldest School fest organized by Calcutta boys school.

In course of time Ranodeep came up with the official website of Rare Planet(www.rareplanet.in) which is a hit it gets 20000 visitors a months with a customer base of over 6000 which they made in last 9 months.Rare Planet not only sells online but also sells offline. Rare Planet products are found in a lot of gift stores in all across country. Rare Planet made its debutante in International market with its products being sold in Singapore. They are having a constant word with Mustafa Stores in Singapore to start there Sales over there as well as a few stores in Italy. Rare Planet provides gifts to corporate houses like PayUmoney, Nasscom 10,000 Kolkata and others. Ranodeep’s next big plan is to open up a “Rare Planet ” store in Delhi T3 airport and so in all other major Airports all across the world and make a way for Indian Handicrafts in Global Market.

While companies like OYO, Parle and other big brands made it to the Sponsor list of Mood Indigo which is Asia’s Largest Fest Rare Planet also made it to that list within 6 months of establishment and that probably shows their potential the best.

Rare Planet has tied up with an NGO “Treasures o Innocence” that actively works in spreading smiles and the light of Education among the Underprivileged kids and is planning to sell products made by them. Rare Planet also supports the cause of LGBT movement and hence working with such a community in Bengal and takes in products made by that community giving them a stable livelihood.

Rare Planet believes in Green Eco System and thus they only use jute bags and try and plant one small sapling for every corporate order they do.

Contented with his work over past few months. Ranodeep says ” We are not just another e-commerce site; we are a brand “each of the product sold in Rare Planet is Unique and exclusively handcrafted. There’s a special section at Rare Planet which extensively comprises of Painted bottles. They are non identical and contains a unique QR code with it which upon scanning the customer would get to know the story behind the painting. He feels that there had been a lot of adversities which lured his venture, as a field which I have chosen is not a easy one. Our Country abounds in diverse art forms and handicrafts but the problem is there is no proper database and the end products of these artisans are not acceptable by the global market. He feels that these works can be collected, innovated and then could be brought in front of the world ; then the poor artisans would never have to starve for food. Rare Planet is working hard in this sector to bring in a revolution.

That’s not the end of it. We know that every cloud has its silver lining. Ranodeep was travelling back from Bangalore after a business meeting when he met his ex in the airport. He met her with a smile thanked her and this time it was a New Ranodeep. He always use to carry his first creation with him wherever he went, He smartly took out a paper and that cup and scribbled something in a paper and gave that cup to her along with that scribbled piece of Paper which had “Absent so long, I may have stopped loving you but I will never stop loving the day I loved you”.