The walls in front of the college canteen feature two vibrantly coloured murals depicting beautiful and strong women. These walls are a colourful departure from the general wall colour scheme on campus in which off-white predominants. This mural with the theme "Celebrating Womanhood", is a tribute to women and their often overlooked potential.
The key players involved in bringing this project to life are students from the Writing for PR and Film class 2022-23, offered by the English department. In this course, students are required to carry out PR campaigns on campus. Last year, a six-member team comprising Kamya Menon, Maria Bipin, Ria James, Seema Suroor, Tejaswini Kameswaran and Vishali G, decided to create murals for their campaign. When their course teacher approved of the idea, the 'Beyond the Wall' campaign was born.
Kamya, one of the six, spoke about the mural. When asked about what the team had planned to achieve through their campaign, she said that they had two main goals. The first was adding some colour to the campus and the second was demonstrating that "women are the best''. Kamya then enlightened me about the fascinating stories behind the artwork.
For instance, one of the walls features a woman painted in shades of blue. She is P K Rosy, the first Malayalam actress. Rosy's tale is one of tragedy. During the premier of her first (and only) movie, she faced massive protests from upper caste men who were infuriated that a Dalit woman was the heroine. Eventually she was forced to flee to Tamil Nadu to escape the enraged protesters. While Rosy died without being recognised, nearly a century later she has received recognition, including a place of honour in WCC’s mural.
Kamya went on to point out that the women’s faces in the mural lack features. There is a boxer raising her gloved hands, a sari clad woman reading a book and a fearless woman crouched next to a lioness. Since they are all representative figures and their identity can't be pinpointed to just one person, these images shift the focus from a celebration of individual women to womanhood as a whole.
The mural further honours womanhood with symbols such as the rooster and the elephant. The rooster is a significant creature for the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya. The Khasis are a matrilineal community, one of the few that are still thriving in the world. Similarly, elephants are a species in which females lead the herd. They naturally follow a matriarchal system unlike most human communities, where men enjoy most of the power. Additionally, the mural incorporates certain elements from the Madhubhani art style, which was historically practised by women.
WCC's student community has shown an enthusiastic response to the canteen murals. According to R Divya, a third year student from the PBPB department, "The mural near the canteen is vibrant as well as engaging and I love the creativity." She added she appreciated the fact that the mural depicted women's boldness.
The 'Beyond the Wall' project is an excellent example of student run campaigns enriching the campus. The mural is an empowering addition to the campus walls. Its vibrant colours and images will remind generations of students about a legacy that has often been in the shadows.
