At a village in Nuh, wall art becomes an unusual source of employment

The project is the brainchild of Gurgaon-based NGO Donate an Hour (DoaR), which focuses on education.

Gurgaon, Nuh village, Village wall art, Delhi NCR news, Delhi News, Indian Express

At Kherla village in Nuh district. (Express Photo/Manoj Kumar)

Residents of a village in Haryana’s Nuh district are looking to an unusual source to generate employment — wall art. Once dull and dreary, the walls of Kherla village now sport vibrant colours and tell stories of people who reside in the area. While some walls are decorated with stars in bright colours, others depict a girl on a swing, meant to “encourage girls to fly towards their dreams”, or birds flying out of cages — a sketch intending to motivate people to break boundaries.

The project is the brainchild of Gurgaon-based NGO Donate an Hour (DoaR), which focuses on education. “We had been called to the village by officials to improve the standard of education. When we went there, we realised that people in the village were impoverished, not necessarily because of lack of education but because of lack of opportunities,” Meenakshi Singh, founder of DoAR, said.

So, the NGO decided to promote the village as a tourist spot — using wall art to draw in crowds. “We want to promote local arts and crafts to attract tourists. We want to make it an all-day visit for people — where they can eat local food, play marbles and other local sports, and also visit some historical monuments,” Singh said.

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The drawings on the walls have been made by the residents, with each family purchasing their own paint. Volunteers from DoaR, as well as a handful of youngsters, helped those unable to paint their walls. Residents, however, were initially reluctant about the project.

Fakru, a transporter who lives in the village, said, “A lot of people were initially hesitant to join. These are people who do not have a lot of money to spare, and the idea of putting in cash purely for decoration was not one they took to easily. However, once they realised the long-term benefits, they joined in.”

“We hope to set up roadside stalls and sell home-made items as well as food,” said 17-year-old Ved Prakash, a resident of the village.

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Haryana