Ritabhari Chakraborty, actor, producer, writer
I think a little bit of sunshine on me in the morning is my favourite way to start my day. My favourite thing to do in the sunshine is to have a cup of coffee and read before the hustle-bustle of the day starts. Even on days when I am going through a gloomy phase and feeling low, sitting in the sunshine actually helps and makes me feel better.
Surojit Chatterjee, singer
When you think of an iconic sunshine song, Bhoomi’s Barandaye roddur comes to mind instantly. Surojit Chatterjee, the voice behind the song, recollects his memories and how it all came together at the verandah of his Rajdanga house.
When Barandaye roddur was recorded in the early ’2000s, the music company which had released our album had an artiste and repertoire manager which is sadly missing from today’s music companies. They were usually music aficionados who would research new talents. The gentleman who was the artiste and repertoire manager was a very senior guy with years of experience and knowledge and was a sarod player himself. When we sent them the entire recording, he called me and said: ‘Bahut aacha album hai and the songs are very nice. However, you’ll have to sing Barandaye roddur once more”. He came down to Kolkata to record the song again. “You have sung well but you can do better because this is a hit and I don’t want to take a risk with this song,” he said. He was the first person who put it in my head that this is a probable hit. And it turned out to be such a huge hit and changed my life, at least. I still marvel at his intuition. I can never forget this. Till date, this song looks after me, my family, my daughter. Ei gaantai aamar jiboner bhogoban. I am yet to figure out what makes it so timeless. If I could, then I would probably write a song like this every month. We no longer have ghulghulis (for ventilation) or even a dudhwala is also a rarity. We don’t get to see too many sparrows too, but even till date, when I sing this song, I can feel a sense of emancipation in the audience. They wait for the ‘tomar dyakha naire’ part so that they can join in. There is a strange chemistry across generations and a cross-section of Bengalis, from NRIs to the remote villages which don’t have electricity. I can’t explain this.
We moved into our Rajdanga house because of the spot of sunshine in the south verandah. It was the first thing that my wife Kamolini and I noticed.
We feed the sparrows. So, it’s like a lot of things have come together. We have a lot of plants in the verandah. Since the verandah is small, I love sitting next to the verandah and observing the sparrows come and go.
Swastika Dutta, actor:
I am very much a Let The Sunshine In kind of a person. Especially I love winter sunshine, as the chance of getting tanned is less! I feel if I keep my face towards the sunshine, the shadows automatically fall behind. I crave the winter sunshine. I feel that during winter the sunlight spreads love in bitter cold and gives us energy and lifts our mood. During winters our skin turns really dry and dull and we feel extremely dehydrated and more precisely, our facial skin looks dull and dark. But sunlight produces vitamin D, which makes our skin look glowy and hydrated. Watering the plants or just sipping on some hot cocoa and clicking dozens of selfies to flaunt my no make-up look are a few of my favourite activities in the winter sun.
Abhijith Chanda, hair and make-up pro
I am a sunshine person and I don’t like gloomy weather. The houses I have lived in, I have definitely looked for sunshine. When I get up in the morning, I take my bottle of water and tea and go and sit in the sun. If it’s not a busy day, I can spend an endless amount of time in the sun. I enjoy my walk to the gym in bright sunshine. I associate happiness and positivity with sunshine.