Art Street: In post-riots Dharavi, an artwork symbolising pluralism

Made with the intention of spreading communal harmony, the 15-feet artwork named ‘Hum Sab Ek Hain’ displays four hands of a man and a woman who are holding the earth in their hands. Atop the planet are statutes of six children from different religions, castes and genders to represent that they are the future of our country.

The five children have been given different religious and cultural identities – Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and South Indian – to show how people from all backgrounds stay peacefully in Dharavi. The sixth statue is of a girl to support the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme.

The artwork is created by Vijay Bondar, 39, and his team members Ambadas Paighan, Yogesh Pawar, Sunil Ningule and Vijay Sakpal. Bondar, an alumni of Sir JJ School of Arts, told The Indian Express, “The idea of making this artwork was given to us by Varsha Gaikwad, state education minister. She said people of Dharavi are from different religions and castes and live here in peace and she wanted to make an artwork to represent this unity in diversity. Also, her late father Eknath Gaikwad always spread the message of Hum Sab Ek Hain, so she chose it as the name for the artwork.”

Bondar said the artwork is made from glass reinforced concrete (GRC) and has a life span of 50 years. Though maintenance in the form of repainting will be required every few years, the artwork is durable against wind and sunlight and its dimensions will remain unaffected.

Taking a cue from the mesmerising light work at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), a similar light work will be installed around the statue to mark special occasions. The artwork will be lit in the colours of the tricolour on Republic Day and Independence Day, turn green on Environment Day and pink on Women’s Day.

Interestingly, the artwork has a namesake in Dharavi, an NGO which also goes by the name ‘Hum Sab Ek Hain’. The NGO was started by Waqar Khan to spread the message of communal harmony after Dharavi had witnessed communal riots in the 1990s. Khan is the creator of a popular poster put up in various parts of the city where four children from four different religions in religious attire posed together with the Indian tricolour in the background.

Khan’s son Gulzar, 36, posed as the Brahmin boy in the poster as they could not find a child who would go bald for the photo. Gulzar, who runs the NGO after his 43-year-old father, who passed away due to a heart attack, said, “Back then, I did not understand what it meant. But today I understand its importance. My father was pained after the riots and wanted to spread the message of communal harmony. I am a member of the mohalla committee and we try to intervene and stop any communal issues even before the police step in.”