Western Railway (WR) will display paintings by differently-abled artists in its trains, including three Durantos and one Jan Shatabdi.
Western Railway (WR) will display paintings by differently-abled artists in its trains, including three Durantos and one Jan Shatabdi. These artists do not have hands and use their feet and mouth to paint. WR will also start a 15-day trial for disposable bed sheets on the Mumbai-Jaipur Express to gauge the response of passengers in terms of willingness to pay and response to quality.
The painting initiative is by NGO Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Association in association with WR. For instance, artist Nadeem Sheikh’s paintings will hang in coaches of all Durantos (Mumbai Central-Jaipur, Mumbai Central-Duranto, Mumbai Central-Indore and Mumbai Central-New Delhi) and the Jan Shatabdi. Mr Sheikh, who paints with his feet, said that he never felt that he lacked anything. “I like the fact that people like my work but I never felt that I lack anything or that I am lesser than anyone. I do all my work with both my legs, like any other person and of course, I am happy that lakhs of commuters will see my work.” Mr Sheikh is also an avid swimmer and enjoys physical pursuits such as carom and dancing.” Meanwhile, DIG Prisons Swati Sathe is working with the railways for the 15-day disposable bed sheet trial on Mumbai-Jaipur Express. The bed sheets have been made by prisoners serving out terms in various jails of the state. “This is the first of many collective efforts with the railways that are planned in the coming year. We are excited about the bed sheet experiment because it means work for a lot of our prisoners. We are also supplying disposable pillowcases and face towels in August Kranti and Rajdhani from Sunday,” she said.
WR divisional railway manager, Mukul Jain, claimed that the effort was part of the Hamara station, Hamari shaan drive to be held across railways from October 2 to October 8. “The disposable pillow case, face towel experiment with bed sheets and hanging the paintings in our long-distance trains are one facet of the beautification part. We will have simultaneous efforts made across our stations during this drive. We have also tied up with NGOs for the cleanliness part of it and the first step will be taken at Bandra on Sunday morning,” he said.
The ceremony at Bandra station will be attended by actor Anil Kapoor and Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu.
