Mamata rising on literary chart too

She has not only brought a wave of change in Bengal’s political scenario, but also created a sensation in the literary world. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s literary works have become a big commercial hit in recent months. It could well be a sign of her rising popularity graph, say many.

In her books, Banerjee covers a whole range of topics and experiments with different forms of writing, ranging from essays, stories, poetry to rhymes. While books like Asubho Sanket (The Sinister Signals), Janatar Darbar (The People’s Court), Jaago Bangla ( Rise, Bengal), Ganatantrer Lajja (The Shame of Democracy) and Andoloner Kotha (The Story of Struggles) are collections of her political essays; Ma, (Mother), Jonmaini (Not Born), Smarani (The Street), Nagar (The City) and Ma-Mati-Manush (Mother, Land and People) are collections of her poems.

“The sale of her books in the last one year has been phenomenal. Books worth about Rs 8 lakh have been sold. She has received a royalty of almost Rs 80,000 from the sale of her books in the last one year itself,” said Sudhanshu Shekhar Dey of Deys’ Publishing Company, which publishes the Trinamool chief’s books.

Full report here Indian Express

Tagore station not on Mamata map

For the Bengali, there is no cultural icon larger than Rabindranath Tagore. On his 150th anniversary, the celebration of the genius of Tagore is acquiring a political syntax as well, thanks to the ambition of Mamata Banerjee.

The Railways Minister is using the the opportunity to woo the West Bengal voter ahead of the critical 2011 assembly elections.

The railways put out full page advertisements in leading national dailies to publicise the Sanskriti Express, a mobile exhibition showcasing the life and work of Tagore. The special train will have Tagore's rare photographs,
literature and paintings spread out over five coaches.

It's another matter that the train left well behind its scheduled time, despite being flagged off by Mamata herself on Saturday.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Mahasweta stalls Suman, party frowns

For a change, Mamata Banerjee may not find Mahasweta Devi’s advice to Kabir Suman requesting him not to resign as MP too palatable.

The Trinamul Congress chief had made it clear to her aides at a meeting in Delhi yesterday that she would rather have the Jadavpur MP out of the party than let him cause further embarrassment.

Mahasweta sent a note to Suman last night urging him not to resign after the MP sent text messages to Mamata and party chief whip Sudip Bandopadhyay expressing his desire to quit both Parliament and party.

Today, the writer said: “Differences between Suman and Trinamul have strengthened the CPM’s hands. I will advise both Mamata and Suman to sit with me and thrash out their differences through dialogue for the greater cause of driving the CPM out of Bengal in 2011.”

Full report here Telegraph

India will launch a special train service linking West Bengal with Bangladesh to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in May next year.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee announced the launch of the special service across the Bangladesh-India border while presenting the rail-budget for 2010-2011 in the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of the India's Parliament, on Wednesday. "Tagore is the only poet in the world whose poems have been adopted as National Anthems by two countries – Amar Sonar Bangla for Bangladesh and Jana Gana Mana for India. Tagore lived and produced many of his literary jewels in undivided Bengal," Banerjee told the House.

"In homage to this great savant and to strengthen the maitree (friendship) between Bangladesh and India, it is proposed to run a special train in consultation with the Government of Bangladesh across the border so that the two countries share the opportunity of celebrating his 150th birth anniversary jointly," she added.

Full report here bdnews24.com

Mamata releases her new book on Nandigram

Firebrand politician and sometime writer Mamata Banerjee is back at the Kolkata Book Fair, this time with her 23rd book. Her latest book, Nandi-Maa, revolves around the Nandigram movement, which catapulted her to the centrestage of Bengal politics.

Her last book, Maa, Maati, Manush (Mother, Land and Humans), a collection of poems, sold over 1,500 copies since its release in last year’s book fair. “We got good response from the readers. Her other books on non-fiction and poems are also doing well with each selling 1,000 copies. Her first book Upalabdhi too did well,” said Sudhanshu Dey, co-owner of Dey’s Publications.

Full report here

Kolkata book fair continues to attract controversy, attention

Kolkata may be full of book lovers, but it has not prevented its favourite annual book fair to be controversy free.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had slammed city environmentalists on Monday for protesting against the book fair and forcing the fair venue to be shifted from its traditional Maidan to Milan Mela grounds. “It is very unfortunate that there are voices in the city against the Kolkata Book Fair. They have all the right to fight for the environment but they do not have the right to be up in arms against the book fair. In 2008, the fair could not be organised because of them. Our future generations will judge who benefited from it,” said Bhattacharjee, while speaking at the inaugural function of the Kolkata Book Fair.

Referring to the 1997 fire that almost forced the Kolkata Book fair to call curtains, the CM said: “That was an accident, but I cannot accept city environmentalists raise their voice against the book fair.” The Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organiser of the fair, paid Rs 37 lakh to the Milon Mela authorities though the latter had demanded Rs 62 lakh as rental charges.

Dim lights
A significant section was yet to get electricity. This included foreign stalls from Sweden, Spain and Mongolia. Many fans left the fair in a huff. “Many stalls are dark, while several others are unfinished. The billing counters are not working and card payments not being accepted. Why has the guild been allowed to open the fair without basic facilities?” demanded a book lover.

Even as the Indian book world has gradually shifted its centre to Delhi, Kolkata and its fair have failed to keep with the times. About150 stalls out of 650 are still without electricity, even as some frustrated stall owners confronted officials of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, organisers of the fair.


The biggest attraction this year is the expected launch of firebrand politician Mamata Banerjee's book, Nandi-Ma. The book, is expected to present her side of the story around the Nandigram killings on March 14, 2007 and the consequent movement that had the intelligentsia questioning the Bengal government's policy on land acquisition to set up a chemical hub at Nandigram in East Midnapore. It is being published by Dey's Publishing, which has already published 22 of Mamata's works, including the Trinamool supremo's first book, Upalabdhi, and the one before this, Ma Mati Manush.

The Kolkata Book Fair is on from January 27 to February 7, 2010. This is the 34th edition of the fair. The theme country this year is Mexico and the fair was inaugurated by Mexican author Jorge Volpi.