Community Murals: Walls That Speak

A quick before-and-after look at the World Water Day mural project in Gurugram. It started as a long, blank white wall and, with the help of many hands, became a vibrant blue wave of art and awareness. The final group photos show the joy and pride of everyone who participated.

This mural, with the message 'पढ़ेगा हर बच्चा, बढ़ेगा हर बच्चा' (Every child will study, every child will progress), was created for a youth resource center in New Delhi. I worked with the children there to paint this vision of education giving them wings to fly. Posing with them in front of the finished piece was a moment full of hope.

Here we are, the team and I, sitting under the 'Tree of Knowledge' mural we painted at the resource center in Kirari village. The idea was to make learning feel magical, with books growing on trees. It was a joy to bring this concept to life and create a welcoming space for the children.

The sheer joy after finishing a mural is something special. Here I am with one of the participants, just dancing and being silly in front of the wall we painted together. The mural says 'You are Magic, तुम जादू हो', a message we wanted every child at the center to feel.

A quiet moment of collaboration during the Sonipat mural project. I am guiding one of the younger participants as she adds her touch to a paper plane flying through the clouds. It's in these small interactions that the real magic of community art happens.

Painting into the night to bring a community wall to life. This image shows two of us sitting and working on a mural under the moonlight. These projects are often a labor of love, filled with conversations and shared effort that continues long after the sun goes down.

This mural in Arunachal Pradesh was inspired by a childhood memory of swinging on a banyan tree at my nani's house. I wanted to paint a world where children are free to dream and be happy. The video shows the process and the final piece, which reads 'One World, Many Voices, Equal Rights'.

This 'Promise Mural' in Yachuli, Arunachal Pradesh, is built around the idea of a pinky promise, the most binding agreement of our childhoods. With the help of students, we painted these large hands and then filled the wall with promises they made to create a safer world.

For this school wall in Itanagar, I painted a dream catcher, a symbol of healing and freedom for me. The mural carries the message 'One Generation, One Chance to Heal'. The video shows me on a ladder, painting with young students watching, and the final piece that stands as a hope for healing.