If a club in West Bengal’s Nadia district feels Mamata is Dosho bhuja dhari debi Durga (The ten-handed goddess Durga), they aren’t exaggerating her powers. Indeed Mamata Banerjee has ten hands. Writing Urdu shayaris, lyrics for pujo songs, painting, cooking food and sharing her kitchen tips with Bengali women and then being the chief minister of a cash dry state like West Bengal — you can’t do all this without possessing ten hands.
Add to this the constant pressure to fight a “conspiring” media and Opposition and handling a population that loves going on strike.
The beauty of having Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister is that goodies are always round the corner if you behave like a bhalo chele (Good boy).
See how cleverly she made the strike-loving employees of Kolkata move their asses on 2 September, when the Oppostion gave a call for a bandh. The day saw people boarding buses and heading for works.
How did that miracle happen? Ma Mamata knows her bhakts only too well. She promised one extra pujo holiday for those who defied the strike and went to work.
Bengal, perhaps is one of the few states to get long holidays stretching over one week. Which bong would let go off the chance of adding one more day to the festivities.
The Sharod utsav always brings winds of good fortune for Banerjee. She has braved corruption charges, cash crunch and many other problems thanks to the festivities.
Thursday onward Banerjee will be on a pandal hopping spree. According to an Economic Times report, keeping aside her administrative and political responsibilities, she will be on a pandal hopping spree from sosthi(The sixth day of the Durga puja celebrations when most pandals are inaugurated)
Sharod Shubhechha pic.twitter.com/QtuE0Di19s
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 6, 2016
She reportedly has invites for inauguration from at least 400 pandals. And keeping the powerful puja organisers happy is part of her job.(Just kidding)
This is also the time when Banerjee feels incredibly creative. Around this time, her love for writing always translates into a high profile pujo video directed and sung by top notch personalities from Bengali film industry.
Just take a look at last year’s video in which Mamata Banerjee gives the message of secularism by calling Durga “sorbojonin” (i.e for everyone irrespective of their religion)
This year’s video shows Kolkata as a paradise of spiritual awakening, cleanliness and development. Take a look.
When didi with her goodies and songs is trying to make our pujo a delightful experience, how can her followers shy away from showing their love and respect for her.
A club in Bhawanipor, Mamata Banerjee’s constituency has dedicated its pandal’s theme to Banerjee’s life journey.
Statue of Mamata Banerjee included in idol of Durga in Bhowanipur durgotsov someity in kolkata padmapukur area. pic.twitter.com/IA5SBaHccG
— sugata banerjee (@bsugataES) October 4, 2016
While it shows a look alike of Banerjee as a devotee of godess Durga, many suspect the Mahisasur in the same frame resembles her arch rival and CP(I)M leader Suryakanta Mishra. (Burns!!!)
But no one can beat the Chakda club’s tribute to Mamata.
Nadia: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shown as Devi Durga at a clay model at a pandal for the upcoming community puja pandal in Nadia district of Bengal on Monday. PTI Photo (PTI10_3_2016_000239B)
If you just turned your eyes away from the sweet innocent face of Durga-Mamata or Mamata-Durga (whatever), all her ten hands points towards her pilot schemes like Kanyashree, Yuvashree, Sabuj sathi, Nirmal Bangla, Biswabangla.
Pujo, politics be like
