In a foggy morning in Deer park, Delhi.
‘’You guys look Yankee. You know….different… like artists.’’ It was the first reaction of Dr Siddharth, SP of Nalanda.
We think he meant funky when he said Yankee. We were in the office of Superintendent of police to discuss the idea to paint in a police station.
Dr Siddharth principally agreed to the idea but said, ‘In terms of administration, they will not value it but I am open to it. ’
Meenakshi had made some initial sketches which we showed to him. The sketch was quite thoughtful to which he reacted sharply.
Without criticized the sketch, he gave a suggestion, ‘The thing is that all our police stations have this negative image. All male domain mainly, policemen are living without their family. So I want something positive. ’
Meenakshi and Dr Siddharth had a long discussion and we agreed to do a lily pond which also signifies the name Nalanda which in Prakrit language means Lotus.
Then we left for the Police station with our friend and DSP of the area, Shams Afroz. Jey and Afroz were classmates in JNU but they were meeting after many years.
Actually the idea of painting in a police station came to us in the night when Meenakshi was painting a Sweat-shirt for Afroz. Afroz supported the idea wholeheartedly and fixed the meeting with SP the next day.
Noor Sarai police station has just got a new building and we picked up the wall which is visible to anyone entering into the station.
The staff was very supportive. When Meenakshi started drawing the initial sketches and policemen were watching curiously.
They thought we are from some NGO or something. We told them we are not.
Then we invited them to color the flowers. Jeetendra and Bhola were young constables there. They came forward and once they picked up the brush, they painted until the painting finished.
In between, a sub-inspector Kanhaiya Prasad, the in-charge of the station Mr Shuzaudaula and many others came and contributed in it.
One of them was Awadhesh singh. He painted for few minutes and before leaving he brush said, ‘My wife also paints. Painting gives concentration.’
Jey replied, ‘Today when you go home. See the paintings of your wife and appreciate them. You will feel very good.’
Kanhaiya Prasad had steady hands. We asked his background. He was quite straight forward. He said, ‘I got a job because I was a good football player. Whoever is in sports they will appreciate any kind of art. It’s good for mental health.’
Jeetendra and Bhola smiled when we asked their reaction. Jeetendra said, ‘I just came from the city carrying a gun. Now I have brush in my hand. I never painted in my life before today.’
Bhloa quietly said that he loved it.
Later in the day, DSP Afroz and his bodyguard Rustam and others also joined us in the painting.
Afroz is a very good photographer and also likes to sketch. He did a flower and painted it before clicking some nice pictures for us.
We finished the painting by evening and then came the time for a group photo.
It was for the first time we were posing with Policemen. They sat like they sit after any encounter. We cajoled them to smile and relax. ( Second from left is Shams Afroz, DSP of
In that particular moment we felt that we are the Gang of Rangpur who finished the job of coloring the wall.
