Arijit Singh, Mamata Shankar among 9 people from West Bengal to get Padma Shri

Kolkata, Jan 26 (PTI) Bollywood singer Arijit Singh, Dhak player Gokul Chandra Dey, actor Mamata Shankar and six others from West Bengal were awarded the Padma Shri.

The other six were - educationist Nagendra Nath Roy, industrialists Pawan Goenka and Sajjan Bhajanka, Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj), Sarod artiste Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, and social worker Vinayak Lohani.

The government announced the Padma Awards on Saturday on the eve of the 76th Republic Day.

Speaking to PTI, Shankar said, "I am so happy to get the news and the feeling is yet to sink in. I am thankful to everyone -- my audience, my directors, my co-actors, my family, my dancing school students, everyone who came into my life." "I will also thank even those who don't like me for motivating me to do better and be a better human being," she added.

Shankar has acted in over 50 films, including Dooratwa (1978), Ek Din Pratidin (1979), Kharij (1982), Grihajuddha (1982), Shakha Prosakha (1991), Agantuk (1991) and Prajapati (2023).

"I remember Mrinal da (Mrinal Sen), Manik da (Satyajit Ray) and Buddhadeb Dasgupta for guiding me in the early years of my career," she said.

Tejendra Narayan Majumdar said the honour was indeed an acknowledgement of the role of music, particularly classical music.

Describing his getting Padma Shri award was a recognition of every practitioner of music, particularly those exploring classical music, he said this honour thrusts a responsibility on him to spread the message about the mellifluous nature and richness of classical genre including instrumental music like sarod.

"It confers upon me a greater responsibility to disseminate Indian classical music and enables me to dispel the notion that the younger generation is disinterested in pursuing this art form. I dedicate the award to our rich heritage," he said.

Majumdar recalled he was performing at a function at IIT Kharagpur when the news broke.

"I dedicate this honour to Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Rashid Khan and Pt Subhankar Banerjee," he said.

Kartik Maharaj said people wearing saffron robes don't hanker for awards and state honours and his organisation Bharat Sevashram Sangha will benefit to carry forward its philanthropic work with this money.

Gokul Chandra Dey, a 57-year-old Dhak player from West Bengal who broke the gender stereotype by training 150 women in the male-dominated field was also named for the Padma Shri, according to a government statement.

Dey also created a lightweight Dhak type, 1.5 kg less than the conventional instrument, and represented India at various international platforms and performed with Maestros like Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain. PTI SUS RG