Hazaribagh, Dec. 15: The initiative started first in Mashhad, a north-eastern city in Iran, where a wall with some hooks and hangers came up with the name Deewar-e-Mehrbani - The Wall of Kindness - with the message "If you don't need it, leave it, but if you need it, take it." Residents hung up the warm clothes they no longer needed, poorer people took them. The idea caught on, went viral and has been adopted by many cities in the world.

In Hazaribagh, 11 undergraduates, who live near the railway station in a village called Kud, have named a wall Neki ki Deewar with the message in Hindi, " Jo aapke paas adhik hai yahan chod jaye, jo aapki jarurat hai yahan se le jaye. Aao khushiyaan baante (What you have in excess, leave it here, what you need, take it from here, come let's share joy)".

The boys - Shivam Kumar Rana, Sujeet Kumar, Rohit Kumar Rana, Sikandar Yadav, Rahul Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Shambhu Kumar Saw, Awadhesh Kumar, Rajdeep Kumar, Vinay Ekka and Rahul Gupta - got this idea on television.

"The idea's simplicity was really appealing," Shivam said. Their group of friends - students of St Columba's college, Annada College and Markham College - started the wall of kindness in winter as that's when poor people suffer the most for want of warm clothes, he added.

Sujeet said they used a wall at Shiv Mandir Chowk some 3km away from town for the purpose.

"After getting it painted, we put hooks asking people to keep clothes and other useful items. We started this on November 22 and so far the response has been great. We got clothes, including sweaters, which needy people came and collected," he added.

"Lots of people have too many things that they don't need, like warm clothes, socks, slippers and shoes, blankets and others. Many lie idle in cupboards. Why not give them to the really needy?" Shivam asked.

Not just sweaters, Sujeet said they wanted people to donate anything they could, from clothes to other items which they think they have no use for. "We never know which items will come of use to the poor. So, we welcome all kinds of donations," he said.

The boys said they spent only Rs 500 to get the wall painted and start the work but the look on poor people's faces, when they find something they need or like, hanging on it, was priceless.

"We would like to continue this work for as long as we can," Sujeet said. "It gives us a good feeling."