local activist group of youngsters, Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD), undertook its 36th wall transformation activity on a wall along Subhash Road near the secretariat. Group members stated that unlike the conventional weekly activities organised by the organisation, this was a week-long initiative in which MAD members worked towards the transformation of this dirty, poster-clad, shabby wall at 6 in the morning till1 pm in the afternoon every day.
“While we were joined by some passers-by who would offer to paint a portion of the wall, the most special moment was when a seven year-old spotted us painting the mural on the third day of our activity and came sharp at 6 am the next day to cheer us up while we painted the wall,” said the group’s lead artist Swati Singh.
This activity was special as it marked two years of the wall transformation initiatives of MAD which were started as the Swachccha Bharat Abhiyan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014. Since then, the group has painted 36 such wall murals on walls damaged by regular urination by some members of the public, dirt and posters in different parts of Dehradun. One such activity has been conducted in Haridwar as well.
“Our aim is to create awareness in people passing by and inspiring them to keep their surroundings clean. Being a pocket-money funded group, we buy our own paints to paint these walls,” said Rahul Guru.
The activity involved cleaning the wall and the surroundings, removing the posters, whitewashing the wall and then painting the mural on it.
The group members also stated that earlier during the previous month, MAD was awarded the Community Engagement Award by a leading law firm Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), london. The award included a prize money of `2 lakh for its future wall transformation activities.
The week-long activity was attended by Swati Singh, Daksh Rawat, Rahul Guru, Sharad Maheshwari, Pallavi Bhatia, Adarsh Tripathi and Karan Kapoor among others.