WRAP

Lakshmipuram Children’s Club (abbreviated to LC2), one that conducts programmes and activities for the children of the locality, decided to do such a thing that would bring the children out of their homes to collaborate and interact with each other, and organise an activity that could culminate as their summer holiday project. And that is how ‘WRAP’ was conceived. Standing for ‘Walls R Art Project’, WRAP was initiated by Mrs. Nalini Ravindran (founder of LC2) to turn the dull and superficial walls of Lakshmipuram into colourful and insightful ones, encompassing multiple dimensions within the art inscribed on them. 

During the one month period of the project, before painting walls, the children got together to make posters about the generic theme of the project that was nature. This enabled them to bond with each other and exchange ideas that could be implemented. Following this, the older children (aged 14-23) went to houses in person to obtain the residents’ permission to paint on their walls. Many willingly gave, and those who didn’t have walls to paint on gave donations, to help in whatever way they could. 

As a first step, the older children measured and calculated the number of walls to be painted, total area involved, amount of paint to be bought, etc., and decided on the design, colours and teams. LC2 then contacted an engineer who had done many projects in Lakshmipuram, and arranged for the paints and people to lay primer onto the walls, after which the children outlined the designs. The project brought in young adults who willingly pitched in to make the walls lively and colourful. Abishek Venkat, a VIT graduate who is an ardent promoter of eco-friendly initiatives took the lead willingly. Gladson Moris  and Lawanya Moris ,siblings  were the spirit of the group with the cheerful contributions, while Nivedita , a B.E. Architecture student who was a dedicated contributor . The highlight of the project was when some of  the mothers of young kids offered to come and work  with the kids just to get the “feel” of it. All of a sudden the rsidents of the area had a smile on their face when passing through the street, greeted and complemented the children and more importantly started greeting each other with a smile!.

Innovation was seen to be profound in all the works they did and in the methods adopted as well. For example, the pillars were decorated based on ‘tape art’; that is first pasting tapes onto the walls in a particular pattern and filling the empty spaces with colours (and finally removing the tapes to give the neat finish). Different sized brushes and sponges and even real leaves were used to paint the motley of designs on the many walls. Stems were painted in the usual manner, and real leaves were painted on one side and imprinted on the wall so that the patterns of venation on the lamina were embossed. Silhouettes, seascapes, gardens, trees, animals, birds, flowers, tape art and even abstract are some of the subjects worked upon within the theme of nature.

The older children played a friendly, warm-up game of badminton for about half-an-hour and discussed theproblems to assess the progress of the project. Younger children (aged 3-13) joined in the evenings and enthusiastically did their part with the paints and were made sure to return home before dark. 

Every participant of this project did their part in whatever way they could voluntarily and without any feelings of compulsion. Three hours of hard work in the morning and evening apiece, without any hint of tiredness,proved its worth in culminating into an exceptional display of skill and team work. Discussing new and potential ideas via WhatsApp groups and taking coverage of the steady progress through photos and videos helped gain smooth momentum and also spread awareness via social media. Although there wasn’t any strict deadline, dedicated work with remarkable ebullience and perseverance concluded in a result that is no less than outstanding. 

LC2 hopes that other residential localities will take inspiration and hope to bring their children together to do similar activities that will beautify their area and create an amicable atmosphere among the residents. This is Lakshmipuram’s first such project wherein children belonging to a wide range of ages have worked together, making apt use of their holidays, and hopes to do more like this in the coming times.  

Aishwarya Kanchi