In photos: How young Indians are bringing colour to Mumbai's slums

Last updated on: December 11, 2017 08:15 IST

They want to make the Maximum City brighter and happier.

This month about 400 young people came together for three days to turn a Mumbai slum, which is usually an eyesore, into a work of art.

Their movement, Chal Rang De, aims to transform the slums of our cities into a colorful amalgam of local stories and talent. By painting the walls of the slums with vibrant colors, they believe they can not only change everyone’s outlook towards the areas but also create a positive emotion among the residents.

Mumbai houses an estimated 6.5 million people in its slums and this group just made their lives a little brighter.

Asalpha slums mumbai chal rang de

FruitBowl Digital -- in collaboration with Mumbai Metro One, Snowcem Paints and Co.Lab.Oratory Asia -- initiated Chal Rang De. Their first stop was the Asalpha village in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai.
All photographs: Courtesy FruitBowl Digital.

Asalpha slums mumbai chal rang de

Chal Rang De is the brainchild of Dedeepya Reddy, who says, 'A world without colors is a sad place to be in. Life can be tough and challenging. But how can I ease up things with minimum resources? What is the least I can do? And I decided to color.'

Asalpha slums mumbai chal rang de

Amit Sahai, CEO, Snowcem Paints, said in a statement, that they believe 'colors bring out our rawest emotions and that's what we saw at the event.
'Mumbaikars poured in from different parts of the city and helped us revamp the Asalpha Village into a masterpiece, making it the first ever slum to be painted with vibrant colors in Mumbai.'

More than 1000 people registered for the event, and about 400 people were invited to be color more than 120 walls in a short span of 3 days.

Reddy says, 'Some would say what difference can a color make? I believe it gives them a sense of joy, an identity and hope that things are going to be okay. Color has the power to create change. Small changes together can make a huge impact.'

Asalpha slums mumbai chal rang de