A group of students have been painting the doors and windows along a corridor in their school with tribal motifs from Rajasthan during the summer vacation.
The group of students at Children’s Welfare Association High School for Girls in Behala had approached the headmistress, requesting her to grant them permission to paint the corridor. The school authorities had put up some photo frames to adorn the bland doors and windows.
Despite the holidays, the group has been coming to the campus on a regular basis to finish the decoration.
“This is a fun task and really interesting. At home, I would not have done much other than wile away the hours on the phone. With this painting job, I am not only making my school look more beautiful but also using my spare time in a creative way,” said Class XI student Saathi Das.
The job was not easy, said the students. “It is one thing to paint on paper but painting on wood is a different story, they said.
“You are not allowed to make too many mistakes. It takes a thicker layer of paint to hide mistakes. Too many mistakes will mean a more thicker coat of paint that will eventually destroy the uniformity of the layer,” said Zahira Khatoon, who passed higher secondary this year.
Despite graduating out of school Zahira has been a regular during the summer break.
“I enjoy painting and this time it was a different medium. Unlike painting on paper, which is easier as it’s position can be adjusted according to our will, we had to adjust to the wooden structures and it required more attention, precision and time,” she said.
The school authorities were happy with the initiative.
“This corridor in our school was a bit gloomy and I ordered some photo frames. When my girls saw that they said they would like to paint the corridor themselves,” said headmistress Sarbari Sengupta.
“It has created a positive environment in the school. Such initiatives draw students away from smartphones,” said Sengupta.
Not everyone in the group is good at painting. Those who could not pick up the brush decided to help their friends in every way possible to make their tasks easy,” a teacher said.