Kolkata, June 13: Which teenager would not like to interact with a Chief Minister of the State? The excitement was palpable when meritorious students of Classes X and XII received an invitation from the Chief Minister for a felicitation ceremony.
“I could not believe my eyes when I received the invite. I think our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is an ideal for all of us,” Rachna Murarka, a topper who had come here all the way from Bankura, gushed.
The Chief Minister spent a great deal of time felicitating toppers of West Bengal. While she met and gave away prizes to about 10 students of Class X on Friday at the Writers’ Building on Saturday she carved out a good two hours to felicitate 55 students at the Town Hall, Kolkata. Mamata was more of a guardian than a Chief Minister; pampering, guiding, gift-exchanging, laughing, singing all with the youngsters present on the occasion.
The students were all given a laptop — which was a personal gift from the Chief Minister, stack of good literature including a facsimile of Gitanjali and a couple of coffee table books on Kolkata. At the end they were gifted each with a box of Sandesh wrapped in a glittering green paper.
Mamata seemed in no hurry as she acclaimed each student one by one. She encouraged them to discuss their problems, if any, without feeling embarrassed. With such prompting, many came out with ‘financial problems’ at home.
When one of the students opened her heart out, saying, “I want to become a doctor, but my father is no more and we are very poor,” she ordered the Secretary, Education, to take note of Kaveri’s problems and assured her that she could go ahead with her education as the State would assist her financially for higher education. That was just the beginning; many of the students, especially from far off districts spoke to her about their financial problems at home and Mamata continuously ensured her senior official from the Education Department took down all required details of such students.
It was not merely about financial assistance. Mamata also gave moral guidance now and then. To a student, Kunal Paul, who seemingly complained that his father earned a meagre amount she said, “Child you should not be ashamed about your father’s financial status, on the contrary you should be proud that he bred a wonderful performer like you.”
During the special function, gifts were not given only from the State Government’s side. Students too had brought their tokens of love for their ‘favourite Didi’. So there were model of ‘Mother and Child’, some sketches of Tagore (‘because you love him we know’) and one of their Didi. One of the students gifted the Chief Minister a CD with recordings of Tagore’s songs on Piano.
Her return gift could not have been better and more precious for these young adults: While the Mayor was asked to frame the sketches and put them up in the Town Hall, the CD was played during the function. Mamata seemed in a mood to comply with all the kids’ demands. Much after the giving away of prizes, she sat for a good 40 minutes, putting her autograph on each one of them as they crowded around her having a hearty chat.
The Chief Minister kept her promise to Dipanjan Roy. He had demanded a painting of hers when she had interacted with him a few weeks back on a television show. So, there was a painting that he received with the greatest delight.
A lover of Rabindra Sangeet, she could not resist herself from asking the toppers to sing for her. So after a group photo session, they rendered two songs of her choice while she sat humming them with a smile of satisfaction.
The day had to end. The Chief Minister bid adieu and left beaming, while the 55 students left carrying a huge pack of gifts from their Didi along with dreams that she silently slipped in the stack of books.
——–Agencies