Mamata Banerjee leaves 30B Harish Chatterjee Street for Raj Bhavan in her Santro on Friday afternoon. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

12.36pm: A black Santro with a woman in white seated in front leaves 30B Harish Chatterjee Street to cheers from a noisy crowd that had been waiting all morning to catch a glimpse of her

Post-midnight: A black Santro carrying Bengal’s first woman chief minister stops in front of 30B Harish Chatterjee Street

Between morning and post-midnight on the second momentous Friday in seven days, a modest south Calcutta house with green grilles went from being “Mamata Banerjee’s home” to the “new chief minister’s residence”.

“Hare Krishna Hare Ram, gharey gharey Didi-r naam,” the crowd outside 30B Harish Chatterjee Street had chanted through the morning, waiting for a glimpse of Mamata.

Every now and then cries of “Vande Mataram!” would punctuate the smart-alecky sloganeering, as if to remind everyone that “Maa” and “Mati” haven’t been lost in the euphoria over the electoral victory.

Around 11.45am, Mamata stepped out for the first time, to see off a guest. But it was to be more of a peekaboo appearance than a proper appointment with the crowd. “Deri achhe ekhon, ei bhabe to jaabe na (There’s time yet… she won’t go out this way)!” said a voice in the crowd, alluding to Mamata’s attire.

Not that she dolls up for any occasion, but surely Mamata wouldn’t wear that crumpled sari to Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony, the man seemed to say.

Click-click went the cameras as the lady in home attire disappeared behind the door, only to re-emerge less than half an hour later wearing a sari rumoured to be the one gifted to her by Sonia Gandhi through A.K. Antony on Thursday.

Mamata briskly walked the few metres from her house to the Trinamul office, shaking hands with people lining the barricade and accepting flowers. Climbing the makeshift podium in front of the office, she took the cordless mike to thank the audience for “being here for us” and apologise for not coming out earlier. “I was busy, so I decided to meet you all on my way out,” she said.

After the explanation came the advice. “Apnara shobai bhalo thakun, amader matha thanda korey kaaj kortey hobey (Take care all of you, we have to keep our heads cool while doing our job).”

Mamata also announced that she wouldn’t be meeting anyone over the next week. “Amake potapot kichu kaj kortey hobey. Aami cheshta korbo jatey shaptahey ekdin aami manusher shathey dekha kortey pari (I have to get some work done pretty fast. I will try to keep aside one day every week to meet people),” she said.

So wouldn’t all work and little public interaction make Mamata a dull chief minister?

“Amader state deulia hoye gechey. Amake dekhte hobey aamra ki obosthaye aachi, tai ei shaat-ta din amake din-raat kaaj kortey hobey. Amar kachhey kono Shonibar Robibar nei (Our state has gone bankrupt. I have to check where we stand, and I need to work day and night. For me, there’s no Saturday or Sunday),” she said.

As Mamata walked towards her car to head for Raj Bhavan, she was heard saying: “Aami aar ekbar Ma-er shathey dekha korbo jabar agey (I want to see mother once again before leaving).”

Gayatri Devi and Mamata’s sister were the only ones from the family who didn’t attend Friday’s swearing-in.

The crowd thinned out after Mamata left and by the time the oath-taking ceremony started at Raj Bhavan, the area outside the Trinamul office was deserted. Down the street, all shops were shut. In the party office, a handful of workers was glued to the TV. However, they almost missed the big moment when the screen went blank. Frantic phone calls to the cable operator brought the signal back seconds before Mamata took the dais.