All beside Didi

A three-storeyed brown and beige house with stained glass windows replaced a white one-floor fortress as the most sought-after address in Salt Lake on Tuesday evening.
BH-167 housing an artist was bathed in the afterglow of victory and bustling with activity while Indira Bhavan, housing the man who was chief minister for 23 years, stood dark and desolate.
It was a red — or rather green — carpet night at Suvaprasanna’s Salt Lake residence as Mamata Banerjee and her merry men and women flocked for a “Thanksgiving”.
Veteran politicians like Somen Mitra and first-timers like Tapas Paul, veteran artists like Jogen Chowdhury and young artistes like Bratya Basu, they all paused for the cameras, posed with a smile and then walked in for their special date with “Didi”.
The Mamata moment arrived at 8.01pm. Wearing a white check sari with green border and a slight smile, she had the unhurried air of a winner soaking in the spotlight.
Ei-je boudi, onar sathe tolo,” she smiled, ensuring that the photographers clicked her with hostess Shipra, Suvaprasanna’s wife, before she walked in.
She entered a large drawing-cum-dining space, turned left, climbed down a short flight of stairs to a large room with cream plastic chairs and black and beige sofas.
Mamata’s throne was a black sofa at one end of the room with a centre table and microphone in front.
“I have kept this ready because Mamata will want to thank everyone,” Suvaprasanna told Metro, while putting the final touches to the buffet arrangements in the adjoining garden around 7pm.
So when was the grand dinner planned? The day after the “historic verdict”, when Mamata had dropped in to meet Suvaprasanna. “I want to thank you all before I leave for Delhi. Can we meet here?” she had asked.
Of course,” replied the artist, who has emerged as a Mamata aide since the Nandigram movement, and who chose not to contest a Lok Sabha seat because he would “not be able to make the commitment needed, as politics to me is not a frivolous pursuit”.
And guess how many were coming to dinner? Mamata’s list of invitees hopped, skipped and jumped from “20 to 23 to 27 to 40…”, leaving the host hassled but happy.
“Since the space is limited I have just called around 25 of my close friends who were with us in the fight for change,” said the artist, anticipating an evening of music before munch.
Mamata was the conductor of the thanksgiving orchestra, seated next to writer Mahasveta Devi and sipping on sherbet and then tea (the fighting fit Trinamul Congress chief apparently prefers a light, often liquid, dinner diet these days), as she urged Nachiketa to sing Tumi ashbe bole. If Kabir Suman and wife Sabina Yasmin sang Shara dao shara dao, Pratul Mukhopadhyay belted out Otho, uthe poro…
Mamata soon upped and left, but that had nothing to do with the lyrics. She had a special flight to catch to Delhi — an 18-seater Challenger 850 aircraft that was waiting for its special passenger at Calcutta airport from 1.30pm.
“Today is a special day, being the stage doyen Sombhu Mitra’s death anniversary…. We wanted to thank all our artiste friends for the role they have been playing to bring about change. They have urged us to work well in Delhi and to bring forward the elections in Bengal,” said Mamata, warding off fans trying to touch her feet, before rushing off at 9.28pm.
The parting slogan from the host? “Amra shonge achhi (We are with you).”