One morning, we woke up to see the walls in our neighbourhood, Bandra, in Mumbai had been adorned with paintings – some beautiful, some fantastical, others strange but interesting and some that were like bad squiggles in our text books. It was fascinating – a walk to the school or bazaar is now a completely different experience. We don’t know what we will come across. A barber with a razor, twirling his moustache. A skeleton calling itself the ‘ghost of Bandra’. Amitabh Bachchan. A blue face with a red tongue sticking out – this reminded us of the image of goddess Kali, only it was a man’s face with a moustache. We decided to spend a sunny afternoon exploring the painted walls.
Here are some photos of that afternoon. More graffiti is coming up all around us. We will keep track and keep you posted.
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My Mohalla, Jalebi Ink’s Neighbourhood Project, tracks the history and culture of neighbourhoods through the people who inhabit the spaces, their individual histories and cultural influences. Would you like to join us? Write to us at jalebi.ink@gmail.com