Vadodara youth volunteers to clean Lord Shiva statue for a ‘noble’ cause

Aqil Mohammad Sheikh,one of the volunteers and the person who climbs over 100 feet to remove fungus and pigeon droppings covering the statue,said he approached a group of young enthusiasts after reading an outdoor poster seeking volunteers with an expertise in cleaning.

“I am a professional and have cleaned outer walls of various buildings in the city. I am engaged in this job for over a decade. I joined the team of volunteers to share my expertise and do a noble job,” said 25-year-old Atiq,adding that being from the Muslim community was immaterial to his plan to volunteer to clean the statue of Lord Shiva.

“The statue is an important structure for our city and we should all take care of this. Being part of the job of cleaning this structure is a matter of pride for me,” he said.

Atiq said he and his partner Mahesh Prajapati have been doing the cleaning job together for the last five years. “We clean outer walls of old buildings and have done so with various structures… Last month,we cleaned up a mosque building also without charging anything,” Prajapati said,adding cleaning the statue is risky.

Over a dozen volunteers are busy in the cleaning job without any monetary expectation,said Hitesh Joshi,the person leading the group. “People have not asked for money,but we have decided to raise money to pay them all,” Joshi said.