For several years now, Bangladeshi photographer Jannatul Mawa, a resident of Dhaka, has been pleading with friends in Kolkata to take her to the singer Sandhya Mukherjee so that she can take pictures of — in her words — the living legend. Luck has eluded her so far.
“That’s all I want in life — to be face to face with Sandhya Mukherjee just once, even if for a few minutes, to click her pictures, and maybe have her sing a line from one of her songs,” said Ms. Mawa, whose most memorable moments in India, so far, include clicking pictures of shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan’s house in Varanasi.
“I am told the house no longer exists. When I visited, Khan saheb was no longer alive, but I saw the cot where he would sit and meet people; I even clicked the stains on the overlooking wall. I felt his presence in his absence. In Sandhya Mukherjee’s case, I am still hopeful of meeting her in person someday,” said Ms. Mawa, who is surprised that the 90-year-old singer should be at the centre of a controversy across the border in Kolkata.
Ms. Mukherjee — just two years younger than another living legend, Lata Mangeshkar — has been in news since January 25 when she turned down the Padma Shri and was subsequently hospitalised for complications arising out of COVID-19 infection. She continues to be in hospital, where her condition is stated to be “critical but stable”.
The singer, according to the Bangladeshi photographer, represented an entire era in Bengal and was way beyond awards and recognitions. “For my parents’ generation, love was expressed through songs, and love songs necessarily meant Hemanta Mukherjee-Sandhya Mukherjee duets. Things weren’t very different even when I was growing up. She is clearly aware of her stature, that’s why she had the courage to refuse the award,” said Ms. Mawa.
Living legend: that’s how fans even in the singer’s home city, Kolkata, describe her; the two words come most easily even to those who enjoy her songs but who may not be diehard fans. Whether or not she dominates your playlist, she dominated your life at some point; her voice certainly dominated your parents’ life — that’s how it is in Kolkata.
“For Bengalis, if Suchitra Sen was the face of romance, Sandhya Mukherjee was the voice of romance,” said classical singer Ratna Basu. “She has had such a long career, her body of work is so wide and varied, to offer her a Padma Shri is a mindless act.”
According to Ms. Basu, what made the offer even more mindless was the fact that many Bollywood singers old enough to be her children have already got the Padma Shri. “Imagine announcing a Padma Shri for Lata Mangeshkar — how will that sound or feel?” asked Ms. Basu.
According to advertising professional Piyana Bandyopadhyay, a posthumous award or an award that doesn’t come during the period when the artist is at her helm is of little value. “[Sandhya Mukherjee] is a doyen of Bangla music. I have heard my mother hum her songs to relax after her chores. The unique quiver in voice has been magical for all who heard her,” said Ms. Bandyopadhyay, who recently directed a short film, The Light of Other Days, highlighting the earnest desire of a child, imprisoned at home due to the lockdown, to get back to school.
“Hoito kichhui naahi paabo is such a wonderful song of selfless love that it still resonates in the hearts of insanely romantic people like me. In fact, her songs not only saw me through the lockdown, but also fueled the relentless efforts of my mind to escape the harsh realities of the pandemic. They connected me to all the wonderful memories of yesteryears,” said Ms. Bandyopadhyay.
