A striking new mural now adorns Lenin Sarani, transforming the façade of Ada Jones Lee Memorial School into a vibrant ode to resilience, ecology, and sisterhood. Painted by Remille Bargi, Karishma Siddique Roy, Soma Kabiraj, and Rajnil Bargi, who also documented the whole journey and provided constant support. The 40-foot artwork is a tribute to the women of the Sunderbans and the forest goddess Bonobibi.
The mural was made possible through a grant awarded to Bargi by the Fearless Collective, a South Asian feminist art organisation that supports public art rooted in community storytelling. “When I got selected for the grant earlier this year, I knew I wanted to work with women from the Sunderbans,” says Bargi, 30, who has spent over a decade painting murals across Kolkata. “Despite the daily hardships — floods, cyclones, ecological threats — they remain rooted to their land. There’s something deeply powerful about that.”
Before picking up her brush, Bargi travelled to Satjelia Island in the Sunderbans, where she conducted a workshop with women from the community. She eventually chose four of them whose portraits now tower over the city. The mural also features key elements from the Sunderbans’ fragile ecosystem: thorny mangrove roots, saltwater crocodiles, a tiger, a traditional boat, and the rare Irrawaddy dolphin.
At the mural’s heart is Bonobibi, the guardian deity of the forest, revered across religious communities in the Sundarbans. “She is worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims, which makes her presence particularly important today,” says Bargi. “She protects not just people, but the ecosystem itself.” Above the artwork is a powerful line in Bengali from a local folk song.
This is the first mural for Karishma Siddique Roy, 43, a portrait artist, fashion designer and former All India Radio jockey. “I usually sketch with fountain pens — tiny, meditative pieces on paper where you can’t erase anything,” she says. “This was the opposite. It was big, bold, and terrifying.” Working alongside Bargi, Roy overcame her fear of heights, climbed into a crane, and began painting under a changing sky. “The crane was wobbly. We had to climb onto chairs stacked on each other just to board it,” she laughs. “But Remille and the team were so encouraging. Their energy gave me the courage to go up.”
Bargi, who has previously painted walls across the city — including outside La Martiniere for Girls and Lady Brabourne College — hopes this mural becomes a spark. “We’re so close to the Sunderbans, yet we rarely think about it. This is a small attempt to bring it into people’s minds,” she says.