'May 20 will set off a new era in Bengal'

People of West Bengal would not forget this Friday in a hurry.

History of the state was rewritten as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as the new chief minister at 1.01 pm.

We heard that about 3,292 people attended the Raj Bhavan ceremony.

Also see: 'Didi' takes over the reins of West Bengal

Many more were outside the palatial structure -- waiting there for hours just to catch a glimpse of the woman who represented their dreams.

We came across one Subrata Mondal, a middle-aged man who set out from his village in Sunderbans early in the morning and had been waiting near the Raj Bhavan gate to wave at his political idol.

"Mamata is a phenomenon. She stands for honesty, integrity and social justice. May 20 will go down in Bengal's history as a red letter day. It would usher in a new beginning, it will set off a new era -- of love, righteousness and people's power," he told rediff.com, squatting on the barricaded pavement soon after Banerjee's convoy went inside the Raj Bhavan.

Mondal, a daily labourer by profession, sacrificed his day's earning for the new leader.

"Akhon didi amader ostitwer nirikh. (Now, we owe our existence to didi.) Ek diner rojgar nahoy onar jonnyo sacrifice korlami (if I give up a day's wage for her, what's the big deal?)," he said.

The ecstasy in the man's voice spoke for itself how Banerjee and her political dream called 'Trinamool' had instilled in common men an urge to 'change'.

Another woman with a child was waiting in the south-east corner of Raj Bhavan, the road which the new chief minister's convoy was supposed to take to reach the Writer's Building, the secretariat of the West Bengal government.

It was heard that the new chief minister might walk to Writer's Building from Raj Bhavan; and although the afternoon sun was getting rather uncomfortable for the five-year-old daughter, the woman refused to budge.

Sheer excitement, infectious smiles and hope for a new tomorrow were written on all the faces -- young and old -- that had gathered at Raj Bhavan.

These are the people who voted Banerjee into power, these are the lots that expected a lot from her.

Will she be able to deliver? Time alone can provide an answer.

A Left Front loyalist and a state government employee, however, seemed rather unsure.

"It's going to be a one-woman government. It's scary. If didi plans to run the state as whimsically as she ran the railways, we had it," the 45-year-old man told rediff.com on condition of anonymity.

It's too early to predict if Banerjee would make a good or a bad chief minister, but one thing is for certain -- Banerjee did set off a chain of events in this otherwise uneventful eastern state of India.