Paintings on the station’s walls and windows portray the significance of the cause. (Express Photo)Written by Vaishnavi Dandekar
USING THE windows and walls of Thakurli railway station on Central Railway’s suburban section, a group of painters based in Dombivali have tried to portray the significance of educating the girl child. They have also used the Railways’ larger initiative of beautifying stations to request commuters to avoid littering the premises or spitting on the walls.
In September, 128 artists, led by 12 lead artists, had painted the walls of Thakurli station to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Thakurli station murals stand out for their creative use of the existing space. For example, two hands hold a spectacle whose frames are painted around two station windows. There’s a message alongside: “Woh dekh raha hai, patri paar na kare. (They’re watching you, do not cross the tracks).” In another quirky painting, a girl holds out a cage, its bars once again formed by a window, this time of the ticket booking office.
“In the cage concept, we have shown birds to be flying out of the cage. Through the pictures, we wanted to depict girl child education, freedom and safety in train travel,” said Gandhar Khare, an artist from the organisation Instapaint who collaborated with the Rotary Club of Dombivali Crown City to undertake the Thakurli station project. Other topics such as gender equality and the importance of cleanliness at railway stations are also portrayed in bright and warm colours.
Rotary club president Paresh Joshi said, “The artists worked in batches to highlight issues such as importance of freedom and women’s literacy. A total of 126 artists worked for about 2,250 man hours. The station master from Thakurli approached us and we mutually came up with the idea for this campaign.”
Commuters have praised the initiative saying it makes the surrounding pleasant. “While it is not that clean around here, the paintings make the station look lively,” said schoolteacher Shikha Joshi.
