Mumbai's strokes of support for India's girl child

9 am on October 26, 2013 saw an unusual amount of activity in what would normally have been a sleepy Saturday morning in pre-Diwali Mumbai, which had the city's artists – young and old - came together in huge numbers to paint strokes of support for India's girl child.

From more than 600 school students in attendance despite Diwali break and examinations to 20 professional artists associated with The Wall Project, the NDTV – Vedanta Our Girls Our Pride “Paint For Our Girls” initiative at High Street Phoneix in Lower Parel was a huge and colourful success. ‘Our Girls Our Pride' was the topic as well as the muse for the school children, who expressed their opinions in bright hues with crayons and paints, while the artists painted on a canvas wall 60 feet long.

The morning saw people from all walks of life dropping by to add colour – from visitors to the mall cheering the children on to fashion designer and politician Shaina NC who made a strong statement on canvas, to ad -film maker Alyque Padamsee who expressed his joy as this initiative, and celebrated artists like Dhruvi Acharya and Ranjit Dahiya – who also painted a 15 ft x 15 ft mural of a girl child in the arms of the campaign ambassador Priyanka Chopra – all within a span of 7 hours.

NGOs like Tears Foundation, Pratham and Smile Foundation lent their support, while schools like St Xaviers, Ryan International School and Army Public School saw participation in huge numbers. The upbeat 5-member band Rang had the children and artists enthusiastically dancing to their beats in between strokes, and added to the bright colours of this energetic and artistic morning!