Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the various injuries she had received during her long political career of protests often surfaced, but she never allowed “the pain to come in the way of work.” Banerjee, who made a recorded speech at the ‘TV9 Bangla Nakshsatra Samman’ here, paid glowing tributes to those conferred on the award stating all recipients have made the state proud by their achievements in various fields.

“I withstood many physical injuries in 34 years of political life during which I was attacked many a time. These wounds often create problems as the pain revives. But I never let the pain come in the way of my work,” she said in a telephone conversation with TV9 CEO Barun Das which was played back at the start of the programme before the select audience consisting of the city’s glitterati.

Eminent personalities including painter Jogen Choudhury, writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, poet Joy Goswami, classical vocalist Pt Ajay Chakraborty, elocutionists Jagannath Basu and Urmimala Basu, magician P C Sorcar Junior, NASA Scientist Amitava Ghosh were among those who were bestowed with the Nakshatra Samman by the channel for their contribution in respective fields and for making the state and country proud.

The celebrated 70-year-old poet Joy Goswami revealed he still hunted for the right words and expressions every time he wrote a poem despite having started composing them from age 11.

Scientist Ghosh said the recent Chandrayaan 3 success had enhanced India’s standing and most members of the global scientific community were happy about the work done by their Indian colleagues as this would help India towards more missions to different planets including the Venus.