February 4, 2020
Didi’s song compilation, Matribandana a hit at Kolkata Book Fair
Mamata Banerjee is a leader, poet, lyricist, composer and artist in equal parts. In Bangla, her books, songs and paintings garner as much attention as her powerful speeches.
At the ongoing International Kolkata Book Fair, a compilation on CD of her Durga Puja theme songs written for Suruchi Sangha Club from 2015 to 2019 has been published under the title of Matribandana, and needless to say, has become a big hit. The themes of unity and communal harmony run closely through all the songs.
In 2015, she wrote ‘Mago Tumi Sarbajanin, Acho Hridayjure’, which is still among the most-recalled non-film Bengali songs of recent years.
In 2016 came ‘Ei Prithibi Ektai Desh’, in which the theme of global unity, of the world being essentially a single unit of harmony, is carried through.
‘Boichitrer Muktoy Gantha Ekotar Manihar’ was written in 2017. Here too unity has come to the fore – linguistic, religious, racial and communal – and through it, a call to stand up to the divisive forces of the country.
Mamata Banerjee wrote ‘Joy Maa Joy Durga’ in 2018, in which she made an appeal to the Mother Goddess to save the people of the country from all dangers.
Finally, in 2019, she wrote the lyrics of the song ‘Utsab’ for Suruchi Sagha’s album, in which was reflected Bangla’s age-old tradition of ‘multiple religions but inclusive celebrations’.
