Social media is now booming. The number of followers shows how popular someone is. The more attractive someone's Instagram, the more their value. And to make Instagram attractive, you need to fill your feed with photos and reels. But you don't need to go to Instagrammable cafes for this. Just go to Deodar Street and you can take pictures against beautiful colorful backdrops.
Plain walls. Some dilapidated, others covered with moss. Just like any other lane in Kolkata city, that's exactly how Deodar Street in the south used to be. Until about a week ago, there wasn't a trace of color. And today, that lane's appearance has completely changed. It has been adorned with creativity and aesthetics. This road in Ballygunge has become vibrant. It has been filled with graffiti.
Steam from pressure cookers, rice being served on plates, hot tea with newspapers, guitar and mobile in hand—images of Bengali daily life have come alive across the walls of Deodar Street. And this graffiti has been painted by artist Sayon Mukhopadhyay and his team. This mural has been created through a joint initiative of a paint manufacturing company and 'Start India'. This has made the street completely 'Instagram friendly'. Who can stop such a colorful street from going viral on Instagram! So reels from Deodar Street are now viral on social media.
Sayon says, "The idea of making an ordinary wall colorful was 'Start India's'. And the paint manufacturing company wanted to promote their paints. I just gave shape to their idea."
The theme is called 'Home Outside Home'. Life inside the house is not just confined to four walls. If you go and stand at the street corner, you'll see that very picture before your eyes. Gen Z is crowding to take pictures against the beautiful colorful backdrop. But the walls here speak of millennials' childhood. 'Playing chess, doing yoga, playing guitar, using mobile phones—all kinds of activities that happen inside homes have been depicted here. Not only that, millennials' childhood is here. I've drawn what used to happen when TV signals would go off during that time,' says Sayon.
Not just the four walls of home, but Bengali emotions have also come alive on the walls of Deodar Street. There's Durga Puja, trams, yellow taxis and much more. This work took about 15 days to complete. But the idea and the journey of transforming it into reality was completely different. Talking to the residents of that area, convincing them and getting permission was very challenging. Sayon mentioned that 'Start India' did that work.
This is not the first time Kolkata's streets have been adorned by Sayon's brush strokes. Earlier too, he has painted a mural on a wall near Kakurgachi. His work has been seen on Eden Gardens, yellow taxis and trams at different times. Though those paintings no longer exist now. However, you can see Sayon's murals if you go to the subway in the New Town area. The colorful Deodar Street is a new addition.
Models: Mishti Kundu and Shree Datta
