Chennai unites to beautify its walls, spends Sunday adding a splash of colour

People of Chennai, as well as volunteers of an organisation, came together to dedicate a Sunday for Chennai.

What does it take to transform something mundane into a piece of art? Willing citizens, permission from civic authorities and one initiative to make the change. The Chennai Tricolor Initiative is crowd funding to revive, beautify and encourage people to take responsibility of keeping their city clean.

On Sunday, people came together to transform a humble old, neighbourhood wall into something beautiful.

Beautifying a boring old wall

Residents, police, passersby, volunteers, in all some 300 people took 2 and a half hours to turn a mundane wall in Mylapore into a piece of art. That's one Sunday spent well. Those who took part in the beautification of the wall took back with them the pride of doing something to affect change instead of simply complaining.

Before the transformation

A wall in Mylapore that belonged to the Electricity Board was chosen for the transformation. The old wall was first whitewashed and caricatures were drawn on the same. Within minutes hundreds of volunteers got to painting it. MLA of the locality, policemen who were posted, daily wage workers, kids and parents came together to paint the wall.

The young and old come together

It took an army of 300 volunteers to beautify the wall. Now, it stands tall as proof of how things can change if people put their heart to it. The organisers are sure that every time they pass by, they will look at the result of their hard but fun work.

A splash of colours

Unlike other such initiatives where only the organisers take care of cleaning up a place, Chennai Tricolor Initiative added a twist to it. They chose to invite the public who are beneficiaries of the beautification process. Organisers hoped that it inspires and inculcates civic sense and a way for people to feel ownership of public spaces. Now, the team is all set to crowd fund and transform ten more walls in different parts of Chennai.

OneIndia News