Mumbai: Brooms ’n’ bins meet brush and canvas

The Ballard Estate area being cleaned

The 60th anniversary celebration of the renowned Chemould Art Galleries at Fort, south Mumbai, in honour of founder and gallerist the late Kekoo Gandhy, on December 23 evening acted as springboard for a cleanliness drive immediately outside several art galleries in the city. Incidentally, Gandhy was a passionate advocate for cleanliness. Kunti Oza founder chairperson, Clean Mumbai Foundation (CMF), said, "Kekoo was a Bandra resident and I remember he used to be very upset to see the mounds of garbage at Bandra East. In 2008, Kekoo had approached CMF to initiate action to clean up this area just next to the railway tracks, a favourite spot for slum dwellers to deposit garbage. The proactive art connoisseur, along with the Rotary Club of Mumbai and CMF did a month-long project to clean up the garbage with the combined efforts of the BMC, railways, Rotaractors and the CMF."

Kunti Oza with Kekoo Gandhy

Oza explained that the clean-up efforts along with Kekoo Gandhy went beyond the cosmetic and touched upon changing the people's mindsets. "We did educational awareness programmes and spotlighted proper garbage disposal for slum dwellers for which Rotary had even donated bins for the slum dwellers on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti Day, in 2008. At that time, Kekoo was the Chief Guest at the function." Shireen Gandhy, director, Chemould (Prescott Road) and Kekoo's daughter said, "My dad was involved in the Bandra ‘H' ward. He was civic minded and quite amazing in that respect, really. He knew quite a lot of people in the municipality. He had no care for hierarchy in the municipal body. Once, a sweeper in the civic body was retiring and he was called as Chief Guest. My father was also very mindful of greenery, the trees and cleanliness in the city."

New campaign

Oza said the current programme focuses on areas near art galleries, several of which are in south Mumbai's ‘A' ward. Oza explained, "Areas near art galleries are quite dirty so to pay a tribute to Kekoo Gandhy on the 60th anniversary of Chemould Gallery, CMF along with Mumbai First launched a cleanliness campaign to keep areas near all the art galleries clean. This is at a nascent stage, but cleaning has started." A BMC representative said, "This has just been launched near several art galleries. We have our workers to clean up in the vicinity. We will have to see that the cleanliness is not one-off but maintained. Let us begin and observe what we need to do for maintenance." Oza summed up, "One can enjoy art in the gallery but often, stepping out of art galleries means witnessing dirt on the roads outside. So, we shall be working with art gallery owners too, they are the direct stakeholders to keep their surroundings clean. I see this as a three-pronged initiative: celebration of art, cleanliness action and a salute to the enduring spirit of Kekoo Gandhy.