BENGALURU: Don’t forget to look up the next time you pass by Utility Building on MG Road. The exterior of this building now sports a big mural of two ladies. Fearless Collective, an art collective, in collaboration with city-based NGO Hasiru Dala, have created this mural to throw light on the lives of waste pickers and pourakarmikas.
The project is named Essentials, which was inspired by the usage of the term ‘essential worker’, which included healthcare workers, police persons, among others, during the lockdown. “There is an informal workforce of thousands of women in the city, who leave their homes before the sun is up – to segregate and recycle the waste we thoughtlessly dispose of. Waste that would otherwise go straight into landfills,” says Shilo Shiv Suleman, founder of Fearless Collective, a feminist art project. She adds that the mural is not just her effort but also that of hundreds of volunteers, waste pickers and pourakarmikas who dedicated time to it.
The 30-feet mural features two women. “Jayabai is an informal waste picker who gathers things people consider waste and gives them new life. Valli, on the other hand, turns organic matter back into earth. They are urban alchemists who tend to our streets, affirming their vision for a future in which they will receive as much from the city as they give to it,” explains Suleman.
The idea behind this initiative is to give pourakarmikas due credit, says Nalini Shekar, co-founder of Hasiru Dala. “The government is slowly recognising their efforts, and now citizens too should appreciate their work. Many people talk about them inappropriately. We have always introduced them as skilled workers and encouraged them,” says Shekar, who works with over 27,000 of them from across Karnataka. Shekar mentions that there have been some changes for the better over the years, however, much still remains to be done.