Artists won't beautify Mumbai rly stations as commuters spit on murals

The defaced paintings at Bandra station and Grant Road station Pics Bipin Kokate and Sayyed Sameer AbediHeres proof that we place little value on the good things that come our way for free The consequence ndash they are taken away from us Artists from Sir JJ School of Art are disappointed with the Railways for turning a blind eye to commuters who have spat on murals they painstakingly created across Mumbai stations as part of the Hamara Station Hamari Shaan campaign They have refused to be part of the second leg of the projectIn September 2016 a large number of artists school and college students citizens and NGOs participated in the initiative a local spinoff of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan by cleaning followed by painting railways station walls and even white boards placed on foot overbridges FOBs Days of painstaking proBono creativity has been disrespected with those very walls now covered in paan so little and muckThe artists said they were deeply hurt at their craft being abused and the railways taking no action against offenders This is disappointing Spitting on a painting is an insult to the artist We worked really hard on these For six days and nights continuously we worked to cradle something for Mumbai and sadly both the Railways and Mumbaikars have shown no respect We will not participate in the campaign henceforth said Dnyaneshwar Randhai 25 a thirdyear textile design student from Sir JJ School of Art who painted at the Byculla station along with five college matesAnother artist Nasreen Shaikh 23 said When we participated we were assured that our paintings would be preserved for at least 10 yearsFor 25yearPls Raksha Pareek the humiliation was particularly painful because she witnessed it first hand I have seen my work defaced right before my eyes Once I was painting at Mahim station when a commuter passing by on the same FOB spat on the mural next to the one I was making which I had painted the day before she saidSome artists however are more forgiving I know that wall paintings at stations are unlikely to wipe out the menace of spitting but I will keep at it in the hope that some day people will think twice and eventually stop said Pranjali Raut 23 mural artistClockwise from topleft Raksha Paree Pranjali Raut Dnyaneshwar Randhai Nasreen Shaikh Avnita Bir Shishir Joshi Manisha RangnekarDisappointed with railwaysPrincipals of schools whose students participated in the campaign lamented about the message adults were sending out to the new generation We sent Std VIII and XII students to participate The fault lies with the people said Avnita Bir principal of RN Podar International SchoolChief of Mumbai First an NGO that worked on the campaign Shishir Joshi put the blame squarely on the railwaysStations are the railways responsibility its their duty to provide good services and a clean environment I get several complaints that hawkers at stations set up their stalls right in front of artists paintings covering and defacing them with their waresThe NGO is now worried about the initiatives second leg considering several artists have refused to participate Before we joined hands with the Railways officials had assured us that the volunteers work would be maintained but they have not done enough and everyone involved is very disappointed said JoshiAuthorities defenceRailway officials however said that around 200 commuters are being fined daily for vandalising railway property including spittingWe regret that the paintings are not being maintained but its not that we have not taken action Every day around 200 people are fined Rs 500 each for damaging railway property It is also the responsibility of commuters to be more respectful and considerate of fellow citizens hard work said Mukul Jain divisional railway manager Western Railway WRJain assured that the campaign would resume after the monsoon Murals can be cleaned by wiping them with a wet cloth for that we have tied up with an NGO which will clean one station a month People have to be active and catch those who are spitting on the paintings and hand them to the railway police Hawkers doing business on foot overbridges on the other hand are illegal anyway Our department will investigate this said Ravinder Bhakar chief public relations officer Western RailwayHL Artists spit fire at callous MumbaiStrap Upset about their work getting little respect artists say they will not be part of Hamara station Hamari shaan againSilky SharmasilkySharmamiddaycomHeres proof that we place little value on the good things that come our way for free The consequence ndash they are taken away from us Artists from Sir JJ School of Art are disappointed with the Railways for turning a blind eye to commuters who have spat on murals they painstakingly created across Mumbai stations as part of the Hamara Station Hamari Shaan campaign They have refused to be part of the second leg of the projectIn September 2016 a large number of artists school and college students citizens and NGOs participated in the initiative a local spinoff of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan by cleaning followed by painting railways station walls and even white boards placed on foot overbridges FOBs Days of painstaking proBono creativity has been disrespected with those very walls now covered in paan so little and muckThe artists said they were deeply hurt at their craft being abused and the railways taking no action against offenders This is disappointing Spitting on a painting is an insult to the artist We worked really hard on these For six days and nights continuously we worked to cradle something for Mumbai and sadly both the Railways and Mumbaikars have shown no respect We will not participate in the campaign henceforth said Dnyaneshwar Randhai 25 a thirdyear textile design student from Sir JJ School of Art who painted at the Byculla station along with five college matesAnother artist Nasreen Shaikh 23 said When we participated we were assured that our paintings would be preserved for at least 10 yearsFor 25yearPls Raksha Pareek the humiliation was particularly painful because she witnessed it first hand I have seen my work defaced right before my eyes Once I was painting at Mahim station when a commuter passing by on the same FOB spat on the mural next to the one I was making which I had painted the day before she saidSome artists however are more forgiving I know that wall paintings at stations are unlikely to wipe out the menace of spitting but I will keep at it in the hope that some day people will think twice and eventually stop said Pranjali Raut 23 mural artistDisappointed with railwaysPrincipals of schools whose students participated in the campaign lamented about the message adults were sending out to the new generation We sent Std VIII and XII students to participate The fault lies with the people said Avnita Bir principal of RN Podar International SchoolChief of Mumbai First an NGO that worked on the campaign Shishir Joshi put the blame squarely on the railwaysStations are the railways responsibility its their duty to provide good services and a clean environment I get several complaints that hawkers at stations set up their stalls right in front of artists paintings covering and defacing them with their waresThe NGO is now worried aboutthe initiatives second leg considering several artists have refused to participate Before we joined hands with the Railways officials had assured us that the volunteers work would be maintained but they have not done enough and everyone involved is very disappointed said JoshiAuthorities defenceRailway officials however said that around 200 commuters are being fined daily for vandalising railway property including spittingWe regret that the paintings are not being maintained but its not that we have not taken action Every day around 200 people are fined R500 each for damaging railway property It is also the responsibility of commuters to be more respectful and considerate of fellow citizens hard work said Mukul Jain divisional railway manager Western Railway WRJain assured that the campaign would resume after the monsoon Murals can be cleaned by wiping them with a wet cloth for that we have tied up with an NGO which will clean one station a month People have to be active and catch those who are spitting on the paintings and hand them to the railway police Hawkers doing business on foot overbridges on the other hand are illegal anyway Our department will investigate this said Ravinder Bhakar chief public relations officer Western Railway