In the melee of singers in the industry, Bollywood and independent, Sona Mohapatra is the lone voice who uses the medium as a platform consistently; a platform that strives to bring about a change in society. Whether it was her hard-hitting Mujhe kya bechega rupaaiya that opposed dowry or Bekhauff that was vocal about individual freedom, the singer has always spoken her mind in clear words. Refusing to call herself an activist, the Odishaborn artiste says, “I don’t see myself as an activist at all. At the most, I can say I am a social commentator. I participate in the pop culture space and voice my opinion with my music and clothes every day. I think I am somebody who has a point of view and an opinion. An activist, however, does much more, working at the grassroots level. I want to stand for the right things, I’m not a people pleaser, I’m not trying to win the popularity contest and I am not used to standing on the fence. Most importantly, I feel so lucky and honoured that all the hard work that I have put in is recognised.”

Roti machine, which was dropped before Valentine’s Day this year, is a fun response to all the songs talking about buying a woman’s love and trust with material things. “Roti machine is not just a fun song, it’s a talkback to all the songs full of male swag that’s talking about taking women shopping and buying them Gucci, Prada and whatnot. They are stereotyping women as gold diggers. I want to tell them that love is a two-way street and that we look for a man who can give us equal respect. We also want to show our swag but unfortunately, neither big music houses nor Bollywood has many female singers,” stresses Mohapatra wearing a fuchsia pink jacket to perk up her mood from all the social media trolling and negativity that comes her way regularly, as we talk over Zoom.

The singer was recently trolled on Twitter for questioning Bigg Boss fame Shehnaaz Gill’s support for #MeToo accused Sajid Khan. Talking about the effects of social media, she says, “Sometimes it takes a toll on you. For the last two days, I have been told I am not young enough or glamorous enough or not having enough likes, and retweets. And I’m thinking you think I am a foolish person to believe that things like likes and retweets are an indication of success? I love the fact that I have a brain, have a point of view and I will express it. If I have an argument with you, I am happy to lose an argument if you convince me otherwise. I’m not always right, but it’s a personality that I have been born with and I am happy to be living in a world which lets me be myself.”

This year Mohapatra also made a statement with Raserkeli bo, a song which she calls a sister song to one of her biggest hits, Rangabati. The tribal folk song in the Sambalpuri dialect of Odisha pays a tribute to Rawjaw, an ancient festival where womanhood and sisterhood are celebrated and which also honours the bleeding Goddess Mother Earth, a symbol of fertility. “As a social commentator, I needed to do something artistic when people are talking about taking the custodian of giving period leaves to working women. The festival of Rawjaw in Odisha is a very ancient one that honours menstruating women. So it’s a beautiful way of busting the myth around menstruation. And I wanted to make a video around it which has a subliminal tone and you will find symbolic references to the bleeding women. Also, I have this great joy in this Indic storytelling, where I am dressed like an apsara/Earth Goddess,” said Mohapatra who intends to bring out a Hindi version of the song to reach out to more audiences.