ABC Didi: An alphabetic guide to Mamata's victory rally

She came to power on the slogan Ma, Maati, Manush. Mother. Earth. People. But a Gangetic depression turned Didi’s grand victory rally in Kolkata into Ma, Muddy, Manush. Mamata was unfazed. As there was a break in the rains, she looked up at the leaden sky. “See the skies are smiling,” she said. “The calamity has passed.” “It’s all because of you, Didi,” screamed an ecstatic supporter, holding his mud-caked sandals in his hand, his forehead smeared with green gulal. For this crowd, Bengal’s new chief minister can walk on water. Here is an alphabet soup of the day at the Brigade Parade Ground. Adivasis. A group of adivasis, in checked dhotis, with peacock feathers in their headdresses showed up from Jangal Mahal, beating their drums. Mamata told the crowd that in two months she’d fulfilled all her major promises. “Paahaar (mountains), Jangal, Singur – shob jai korechhi – we have conquered all,” she declared. The adivasi troupe had to be told to stop drumming during her speech because nobody could hear her, but they got to put on a show on the street afterwards. Brigade Parade Ground. Kolkata’s famous greens with a view of the grand dome of the Victoria Memorial behind it was awash in ankle-deep mud. Women in saris stood dismayed looking at muddy rivulets. Only the horses seemed unfazed. Usually pressed into service to drive tourists around in ornate carriages, they got a rainy day holiday and grazed happily. Culturati. For years Kolkata’s leftist intelligentsia had turned up their nose at Didi and her lumpen followers. Now it’s a love fest. They showed up in full force to pay obeisance to Didi, falling over each other to sing her praises. Often very tunelessly. Everyone from the wheelchair-bound grande dame of Bengali literature, Mahasweta Devi to new muscle boy Tollywood star Dev showed up to usher in paribartan. Only Dev seemed to think it was his own rock concert. [caption id=“attachment_46271” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Mamata came to power on the promise of paribartan. Two months later she is talking more about patience. Sandip Roy/Firstpost”] [/caption] Didi. Enough said. Emcee. The emcee who had to keep a drenched crowd happy before their leader showed up probably had the toughest job of the day. Plans for a grand cultural programme were washed away by the torrential rain. Instead he had to keep entertaining the troops by telling them, “There are more people here probably than there were raindrops.” Not really. But we get the idea. Farmer. A man in a yellow and white checked shirt, with gray and white stubble tried to push through the thousands gathered close to the stage. “Didi, what will you do about the fertilizer price?” he shouted. As he tried to push, people pushed back, mud squelching all around. “Where do you think you are going?” someone shouted. “I want to ask Didi about the price of fertilizer,” he said. “What will she do for us farmers?” His name was Suprabhat. A farmer, he’d come all the way from Bankura. Next month the potato crop is coming up. But the price of a packet of fertilizer has gone up a hundred rupees. Suprabhat pushed and pushed. But he never got to ask his question. “Fool,” said one man in a Trinamool cap. “You think you can ask Didi a question here.” As the rally ended, Suprabhat shook his head. “We came from very far,” he said. “And we got very close. But not close enough.” Green. The day the election results were announced Mamata’s house was a sea of green as ecstatic supporters threw green gulal at each other. At the rally, the rain washed away a lot of the green. But the hardcore supporters still had green smeared across their forehead. As they rushed the stage throwing fistfuls of green into the air, Didi scolded them “No more abir (gulal),” she announced from the stage. Hills. The hills are alive with the sound of Mamata. We have brought peace to the hills, Mamata announced. And what about the plans for making Darjeeling into Switzerland? The plans are ready, she told us. [fpgallery id=106] Indiscipline. That’s the one thing she cannot tolerate, Didi lectured the crowd. As they pressed towards the stage, trampling over each other, knocking down green plastic chairs, waving their mobile phones in the rain, she scolded them, “Do you want me to leave?” Jobs. “Didi, _chaakri chai (_we need jobs),” said one man. “Do only people in Jangal Mahal and Nandigram need jobs?” “We will create such jobs, no one will need to leave Bengal,” Didi assured the crowds. But a taxi driver I spoke to was not reassured. “It’s all politics,” he said. “I used to watch the news. Now I just watch the Discovery Channel. They have it in Bangla.” Continue reading on next page Kitchens. Mamata had issued a diktat. No cooking on the Brigade Parade grounds, no makeshift kitchens. There was no fear of that in the pouring rain. Only the lemon tea man with a plastic sheet over his head made the rounds with a kettle of hot lebu-cha. Land. She made one hard promise. “The Ma, maati, manush government will take no land from the people,” she said. She says now the rest of India is coming around to that view. What Bengal thinks today etc etc etc. Ma. Maati. Manush. Ma, Maati, Manush is the greatest strength of democracy, Didi told the faithful. But a new book about Mamata Banerjee being hawked outside for ten rupees a pop found few takers. Nazrul. Bengal’s other famous poet was splashed all over Didi’s speech. Rabindranath and Nazrul she kept intoning as if invoking twin deities, cleverly joining West Bengal and Bangladesh. O Akaash Shona Shona. Actress and newly-minted MLA Debasree Roy danced to this popular Bengali song. But a song about the golden, golden skies was probably not the most weather-appropriate pick. Paribartan and Patience. Mamata came to power on the promise of paribartan. Two months later she is talking more about patience. The state is in shambles, she said. We just need some patience. No mention of the sacrifices that will be needed. The only time she brought up the s-word was when she said in English, “I can sacrifice my life. I can’t sacrifice my commitment.” The crowd roared. Queen. Mayawati she is not. When an over excited supporter tried to raise slogans in her name onstage, Didi quickly grabbed the mike from him. She even saved the Trinamool slogans for the very end, leading the crowd in a frenzied, rocking chant. Rabindranath. No Bengali rally can be complete without warbling Rabindrasangeet. Now Didi is going to take on road rage with _Rabindrasangee_t. She has plans of making all the traffic signals in Kolkata sing snatches of Rabindrasangeet while you are stuck at the light! Shahid Divas. July 21 is Shahid Divas marking the killing of Youth Congress workers by police during the CPIM rule in 1993. Mamata dedicated her victory rally to those martyrs, giving their families a seat on the stage. Netai, Nandigram, Singur and more – the rally quickly became a parade of martyrdom as little girls and widowed mothers were pulled centre stage. Tollywood. Tollywood was out in full force. It didn’t hurt that Trinamool had fielded actors, singers, theatre persons in the polls. If nothing else, West Bengal can now boast an MLA and an MP who can dance and act. And a couple who can sing. As a friend tweeted what’s next, Mamata: The Musical? Umbrellas. The parade ground was a sea of umbrellas. The orange white and green Trinamool umbrellas were the biggest hit. They were also the biggest source of tension.“Lower your umbrella, we can’t see the stage,” people kept grumbling. “Excuse me, sir,” said one cranky man to the person next to him. “Your umbrella is dripping water on me.” This on a day of torrential rain where everyone’s feet were caked in mud. Vow. Didi led the faithful in a vow. Let us make a vow that we shall not steal. At least one man did not listen. The police nabbed one young man with a whole bunch of mobile phones. Wake up. It’s time for Bengalis to wake up. “Shudhu ghumoben na, jaagun, jaagun, (Don’t just sleep, wake up, wake up),” said Mamata. There’s a lot of work to be done. Ten lakh trees have to be planted in Kolkata alone. Yuva. That’s the name of Trinamool’s just announced youth wing. It’s head is Didi’s own nephew. Bengal’s youth must stand on its own feet, said the leader. Zero. What the CPM left her according to Mamata. “Do you know there was not even water in Writers Building?” she told the crowds. “They have left no money.” But have no fear, she said she was working like a bhoot (demon) to fix everything. And with that Bengal’s mistress of change was gone after telling the crowds to go home and take a shower. As her car, with Mamata as usual sitting in front, raced through the muddy tracks, people jumped out of the way. Those like me who weren’t quick enough got liberally splashed with muddy water from Didi’s car. “You lucky man,” said a journalist friend. “Now no harm will ever come to you.”

ABC Didi: An alphabetic guide to Mamata's victory rally

The heavens poured torrential rain on Mamata Banerjee’s grand victory rally, turning it to mud and slush. Here are scenes from the historic day — in an alphabet soup.

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