rangoli designsOne of the city's longest walls running down the length of Tulsi Pipe Road was splashed with colour and humour on Independence Day. From the early hours of the morning, over 50 Mumbaikars armed with spray cans, chalk sticks, roller brushes and witty slogans turned into muralists.
Initiated and organised by the BMC and The Wall Project, a group of Mumbai graffiti artists, the idea was to allow the public to beautify and bring to life an inviting but drab 2.7-km-long surface along the railway tracks that is now being hailed as The Great Wall of Mumbai. The painting session will continue on Sunday, with a new bunch of painters being mobilised through Facebook and Orkut to leave their writing on the wall. The BMC is providing all the gear-paint, spray paint, buckets, mugs, stools, chalk, brushes, thinner and gloves. Drinking water and chemical toilets are also at hand.
In her pink track suit and baby-pink crocs was four-year-old Kaira Arya, who woke up early and drove in from Juhu with her parents just so that she could paint 25 sunshine yellow smileys. By noon, the wall from Mahim to Matunga was a rainbow of diverse art ranging from Warli figures to free-flowing designs and pixel art to typography and geometric logos. Street children, doodlers, calligraphists, office-goers, tourists, expats, college students and people from the neighbouring buildings showed up to slap on some paint.
Among them was additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev with his children, Amartya, 8, and Arundhati, 3, both of whom doodled away assiduously. "This project is an extension of the BMC's Clean Up movement,'' says Rajeev, who thinks this is the "least cost alternative'' to beautify the city. It was he who approached The Wall Project when he read about how they had turned the compound walls of a few Bandra cottages into murals. He hopes the graffiti bug will spread to the city's subways too (so much better than paan stains!). Walls along Mahim's Kataria Marg and the southern end of Lower Parel's Senapati Bapat Marg could be next in line for brush hour.
Walking up and down were Wall Project's Nisha Jacob and Nitya Amarnath to make sure the rules were being followed. "No adverts, religious writings, political slogans or foul language,'' they warned. `I love Mumbai' and `Swine Flu go back' messages were clear favourites. Suzanne Percy and family drew a stick figure of a boy carrying bricks with the effective message, `This is how Raju uses his head. Each one, teach one.'
Undecided and looking for a theme to paint, Hemal Gala looked in his pocket for inspiration and found a sticker of Michael Jackson. "I'm a big fan,'' he said, pointing to his sketch of a moonwalking Jackson. Helping Gala were British tourists Nick Wade and Natalie Hough. They talked about the hugely famous and best-selling London graffiti artist Banksy, who has to use guerilla tactics to dodge the law. "Banksy is not allowed to do what he does,'' says Wade. "It's great to see the civic administration give sanction for such art here.''
The Tulsi mural joins the Mumbai marathon in being a secular community initiative that brings all kinds of Mumbaikars together. The contrasts were stark. On the one hand were street and slum children drawing rangoli designs, on the other were youngsters and advertising types in funky jeans and chattai chappals piling out of cars with loud music. Many Sir JJ School of Art and Sophia College fine art students were among them. Happiest of all was Rishad Ali who is sick of parking his towing truck against a wall where people either spit or urinate. "Now my area will look good,'' he said in a satisfied voice, and sprayed on a fluorescent red heart on the wall.
Initiated and organised by the BMC and The Wall Project, a group of Mumbai graffiti artists, the idea was to allow the public to beautify and bring to life an inviting but drab 2.7-km-long surface along the railway tracks that is now being hailed as The Great Wall of Mumbai. The painting session will continue on Sunday, with a new bunch of painters being mobilised through Facebook and Orkut to leave their writing on the wall. The BMC is providing all the gear-paint, spray paint, buckets, mugs, stools, chalk, brushes, thinner and gloves. Drinking water and chemical toilets are also at hand.
In her pink track suit and baby-pink crocs was four-year-old Kaira Arya, who woke up early and drove in from Juhu with her parents just so that she could paint 25 sunshine yellow smileys. By noon, the wall from Mahim to Matunga was a rainbow of diverse art ranging from Warli figures to free-flowing designs and pixel art to typography and geometric logos. Street children, doodlers, calligraphists, office-goers, tourists, expats, college students and people from the neighbouring buildings showed up to slap on some paint.
Among them was additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev with his children, Amartya, 8, and Arundhati, 3, both of whom doodled away assiduously. "This project is an extension of the BMC's Clean Up movement,'' says Rajeev, who thinks this is the "least cost alternative'' to beautify the city. It was he who approached The Wall Project when he read about how they had turned the compound walls of a few Bandra cottages into murals. He hopes the graffiti bug will spread to the city's subways too (so much better than paan stains!). Walls along Mahim's Kataria Marg and the southern end of Lower Parel's Senapati Bapat Marg could be next in line for brush hour.
Walking up and down were Wall Project's Nisha Jacob and Nitya Amarnath to make sure the rules were being followed. "No adverts, religious writings, political slogans or foul language,'' they warned. `I love Mumbai' and `Swine Flu go back' messages were clear favourites. Suzanne Percy and family drew a stick figure of a boy carrying bricks with the effective message, `This is how Raju uses his head. Each one, teach one.'
Undecided and looking for a theme to paint, Hemal Gala looked in his pocket for inspiration and found a sticker of Michael Jackson. "I'm a big fan,'' he said, pointing to his sketch of a moonwalking Jackson. Helping Gala were British tourists Nick Wade and Natalie Hough. They talked about the hugely famous and best-selling London graffiti artist Banksy, who has to use guerilla tactics to dodge the law. "Banksy is not allowed to do what he does,'' says Wade. "It's great to see the civic administration give sanction for such art here.''
The Tulsi mural joins the Mumbai marathon in being a secular community initiative that brings all kinds of Mumbaikars together. The contrasts were stark. On the one hand were street and slum children drawing rangoli designs, on the other were youngsters and advertising types in funky jeans and chattai chappals piling out of cars with loud music. Many Sir JJ School of Art and Sophia College fine art students were among them. Happiest of all was Rishad Ali who is sick of parking his towing truck against a wall where people either spit or urinate. "Now my area will look good,'' he said in a satisfied voice, and sprayed on a fluorescent red heart on the wall.
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