Poems, song, short film — how Mamata Banerjee is using her creativity to help kill corona

Authors and film personalities say while West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s work is not ‘art’, it’s ‘commendable’ as a way to speak to people in their language.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking residents of Kolkata's Rajbazar area to stay home Wednesday | Photo: ANI

Kolkata: Handling the Covid-19 outbreak is a 24-hour high-pressure job for most chief ministers in India, and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee is no different. But she’s still finding an outlet for the creative side of her personality.

On top of all the meetings, physical checks on social distancing and coordinating with other states and the central government, Banerjee has written two poems, penned and composed a song, and conceptualised a short film over the past two weeks — all related to creating awareness about the deadly novel coronavirus.

Blame the rich

Banerjee is known to write poems during any crisis hour — she also penned some at the time of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.

She mentioned the coronavirus in passing in a poem written some time in early March, but later, she wrote an entire poem on the microbe, titled ‘Corona’.

Banerjee calls it an “imported” disease, blames the rich and elite for spreading the virus through their “negligence”, and praises the poor — her traditional vote bank in rural and urban areas — for being more informed and aware.

“Kintu jader sachetanata, ei samaj ke banchate parto, tara ki sachetan? (Are the educated people, who could save the society, aware enough?” the poem asks.

“Na, sab jeneo, jak na jagat ta ucchhanne — ei vab kichu damider (No, despite knowing everything, the literate well-off thought that ‘the world can go to hell’,” it continues.

“Nijeder bhalo chhara, kichu bojhe na java (they are selfish, who only understand their whims and well-being, and care for nothing),” it adds.

Song and short film for awareness 

To raise public awareness on Covid-19, Banerjee has also penned and composed a song, which has been sung by her cabinet colleague Indranil Sen and is now being played at traffic signals, government and party programmes across the state. It is also being played on radio and TV channels.

“Bhir theke sabbai dure thako/Coronake chhute diyo na (Everyone, keep distance from crowds, don’t allow corona to touch you),” one line of the song goes, while another adds that “Bangla” will never lose, and win this battle against the coronavirus.

On 14 April, when the Bengali new year Poila Boishakh was celebrated, a short film was released, starring top Bengali film actors including three Trinamool Congress MPs Mimi Chakraborty, Nusrat Jahan and Dev. The film, titled ‘Jhhar Theme Jabe Ekdin’ (the storm shall pass one day), was conceptualised by Mamata Banerjee, and directed by Arindam Sil.

The film explains the need to stay at home and practise social distancing to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic. It depicts the story of a girl who works in the city and tries hard to reach her ailing father in Bankura. All her neighbours, police and doctors come together to help them.

Not art, but message for the masses 

While many criticise the CM’s creative work for its lack of literary and artistic merit, some top authors and filmmakers say the words are meant for the common people, and that’s a good thing.

Noted author Sirshendu Mukherjee told ThePrint: “During this crisis, this is a wonderful initiative by the chief minister. There should not be a negative approach towards this. Any effort taken for the common people should be praised.”

Mukherjee added: “We all know that her work is not of literary excellence. But for the masses, you do not need to have a poem by Jibanananda Das or a song by Rabindranath Tagore. You need a language that people at large will understand. Her poem is an expression for the people, and it is between a mass leader and the masses.”

Filmmaker Sandip Ray, son of Satyajit Ray and the fourth-generation scion of a family that has shaped Bengal’s cultural landscape, termed Banerjee’s initiative as “commendable”.

However, there are those like theatre artiste Kaushik Sen who feel Banerjee’s creative work merits no discussion, and that it’s her political work that should be talked about.

“As a chief minister and an administrator, she has done a lot for the state. But her work of art and literature is not worth discussion. Even though we all know she paints, writes and composes songs, frankly, this is an area where she is not capable,” Sen said.

“Discussing her artistry is also being unfair to her. She would be remembered for her work as a CM and her politics, not for her literature or art. I do not support the people who praise her or the ones criticise her on this, because her artistic work does not call for any discussion,” he added.