Drunk men banged on my door, I hid, escaped at night, Singer Sona Mohapatra describes her Kota ordeal

New Delhi: Popular Bollywood singer Sona Mohapatra has narrated her ordeal on Facebook about that night of terror when she had to hide in a hotel washroom, and then had to escape in the dead of night. All because, she alleges, she did not oblige a senior Rajasthan IAS officer J C Mohanty by meeting him and his wife at the Commissionr's bungalow.On November 2, the singer wrote an open letter on her official Facebook page to JC Mohanty — IAS Principal Secretary (PWD) of Rajasthan.The letter reads thus: "Dear Mr Mohanty , Rajasthan The day I accepted the invitation to play my music at the Kota Dussera Mahotsav was a special one . I believe that these events are opportunities to reach out to my country & also to genuine fans of my music . Youngsters in India rarely have access to live music , concerts or artistes & their entertainment & cultural education seems to depend on the same old TV reality shows or Bollywood fare & for no fault of theirs . It was indeed a proud moment for me & my band . The journey to Kota was uneventful & my social media posts will attest to the fact that I felt only love & excitement to be playing in Rajasthan , a place I hugely admire for its rich legacy of art , music , live performance & artistes . The only thing bothering me at that time was wether I'd do justice to the stage & huge expected audience of over 20,000 people . To demographics ranging from teenagers , children , 60 + 's & from tourists , villagers , students .. Truly a diverse crowd to say the least & not an easy task for any artiste to hold everybody's attention you'd agree ? The reason that I was most worried is because I had come down with an asthma attack after a long tour & the main focus I needed to keep was on the show & keeping my voice . On reaching the Umed Palace in Kota at 5 pm , having taken a long dusty road journey , we came to know that there might not be any time for my band to carry out a basic sound check , something that we usually require at least 1 hour . Secondly we were informed that a Ms Sambhavna Seth's item dance will have to be accommodated in between our show . We were expected to move out of stage every 3-4 songs , break our graph & performance of largely Sufiana music to have a whole different energy take over . All these surprises apart , I was asked by the organisers , without any fore-warning I must add that I am expected to visit various 'commissioners ' houses to click photographs . Since this was not part of my agreed schedule & I had much more important worries at hand being responsible towards putting up a basic performance for my fans who had travelled from far to hear us being the first priority , I requested for the meetings to be held in the hotel lounge . I think it was a fair enough request considering -1) I hadn't been informed or invited formally in advance . This is the basic courtesy one would expect as an artiste , as a lady & as a guest . 2) The show & performance was top priority & could be in jeopardy considering the arrangements were vague , we had no sound check time , the equipment for the band had to be checked etc3) & most importantly I myself was feeling breathless after the long dusty ride from Jaipur .Many families & various officials did show up in the hotel lounge thankfully & I was more than happy to meet , greet & take pictures .Just when I thought that I could get back to my room , get ready for the show & possibly even go through the 2 hours of lyrics & do my vocal warm up exercises , I was told by the organisers that I would have to go & meet Mr JC Mohanty at the commissioners bungalow . This was 8 pm & my show was to start at 8.30 pm . This wasn't an invitation of any kind but surely an order considering I'd already begged of going anywhere . Their desperation increased & they started pleading in front of me when I refused . When I requested for a meeting post the show , at the hotel lounge since it was night time & I ought not to be expected to go any strangers house be it a commissioner or any minister , this too was not acceptable by you . Any such visit had to be basis a formal invite & some protocol followed , wouldn't you agree ?The pleas , sad faces , the pressure to go meet you & the threat that they supposedly received from you about " never getting to do an event ever again in Rajasthan " put serious mental pressure & it's a miracle that I stood my ground & reached the stage at the Dussera Mahotsav . Only to be called upon stage to meet you & your wife . Both of who met me with absolutely grim scary expressions . Ominous to say the least . I smiled , explained my position & health & even tried to reach out from the stage by calling out & paying 'respect' to the work being done by you in the state & could see that both your expressions remained angry & grumpy through out . Honestly , I regret this effort from my side , you were surely the most ungracious hosts I've ever met . All I was doing was my best as an artiste & as a leader of my team to protect them in whichever way I could . I also ( foolishly ) believed that you wouldn't take out your anger on the young event managers & ruin their future as you'd threatened . The night progressed with drunk personnel at the hotel banging on our doors . My hiding another lady musician in the bathroom & our eventual escape in the middle of the night . The build up of events before the show ensured that we couldn't have hoped to ask for any help from the administration . I came back thinking that our country might be in the 21 rst century but our mind sets continue to be feudal . An artiste- musician is just a commodity for people like you . A woman is more so . A nautch girl of yore ??? Someone who has to bow-scrape in front of people like you to keep her art alive ?? I come from a fauji family . Could have asked my Dad to get me connected to the military army base in Kota & thus feel safer & protected . Didn't do so . Do not believe in using family & connections in my journey as an artiste & in my journey as an adult . Call me naive but I believe that I can live like this & effect change . Have spent a good part of my morning writing this letter to you . Would like to move on & spend my Diwali in a better frame of mind . Do give my wishes to your wife & I hope she is smiling today unlike the 30 th of October where she looked extremely angry for whatever reasons . I'm sure you don't have a daughter or else you might have understood what you put me through or if you do , you might be planning to keep her at home , safe & protected but definitely not walking the road of individual freedom or independence .To all the rest of you who attended this concert , travelled long distances to hear us live , I feel immense love . Know that everything is worth it because I know that you came for the music . I felt your love every second of the show & it's the best gift I could've hoped for . I'm not going to run away & sit at home because of this . No . That would be too simple Happy Deepawali .Sona Mohapatra" After several visitors make caustic comments, Sona posted this on her Facebook wall:"All you mouth pieces of people in power . Please go ahead & say what you want to . I've shared my story with the world & my audience in an open letter . The truth & even the likely hazy/vague parts like who exactly was on stage & his identity not being clear to me subsequently. Either ways , will switch off now . All it would take is an apology . Maybe Mr JC Mohanty didnt mean any harm . Maybe he thought it OK to ask me to some other officials/Commisioner's bungalow without prior notice . Maybe it was all very innocent . Maybe he's just used to people being grateful to meet him ..I dont know his conditioning & his upbringing & all . Where I come from , an invite to an artiste has to be formal & well in advance . Where I grew up , a lady is given a choice of saying 'NO' . Where I learnt my manners , this is NOT the way to treat anyone , let alone an artiste or a lady or a guest . Where I grew up gallantry , chivalry , decorum , protocol is above all . IF this is not part of your WORLD , I can only feel sorry for you . You live in a SAD SAD world with zero light . My bubble is different & I feel blessed for it ."IAS officer J C Mohanty is yet to reply to the charges levelled by Sona Mohapatra, wife of Bollywood musician Ram Sampath.Sona Mohapatra shot to fame for her songs Ambarsariya in the film Fukrey, Jiya Lage Na in film Talaash, Bahara (with Shreeya Ghoshal) in the film I Hate Luv Storys, Bedardi Raja in the film Delhi Belly, Chhayi Madhoshiyaan in the film Jumbo.