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Where earlier a cluttered perch with clay flower pots stood neglected at the centre of the station8217;s courtyard, the zealous students cleared the clutter to find that the dusty perch was in fact a fountain, complete with fish and a turtle. Over 150 new saplings now dot the campus and a simple border of bricks surrounds every plant. Peeling paint on the walls was replaced by a fresh coat and the cracks on the cement platforms that serve as seats were filled in neatly.

8220;The girls who are a part of the National Service Scheme which aims at roping in youth for community service took on the task of the police station8217;s makeover as a project. However what started out as a project work gradually became fun and will always remain etched in their memories as an achievement,8221; said Ashok Salve, a professor from the college.

The idea of beautifying the station had taken root when some professors of the college had met Ghatkopar8217;s Police Inspector for community issues, Fulsingh Pawar, in August requesting permission to organize a students rally. 8220;Encouraged by his forthcoming attitude, we broached the idea of undertaking a beautification campaign at the police station, and he immediately agreed,8221; said Manisha Parelkar, another professor. The group of students and 12 teachers armed with brooms and spades then descended upon the police station on November 2.

Pawar himself added that the tansformation has been incredible. 8220;The dedication of the students is amazing. They also overcame their fear of the police station in the process,8221; he said.

In addition to improving the physical surroundings, the students also organized small events aimed at the welfare of the policemen and their families, staying at official quarters located within the station8217;s campus. 8220;We organized recipe competitions for the women and a drawing contest for the children. We held a module on stress management for the policemen and had invited a BPCL representative to conduct a 8216;Safety in the Kitchen8217; demonstration. Our 8216;adopt a tree8217; campaign also involves the children of policemen whereby two of our students and two children from the campus would be responsible for maintaining a sapling,8221; said Parelkar.

The students who had earlier cringed at the prospect of clearing garbage can hardly believe that they carried it out successfully. 8220;The hardest thing was to clean up the garbage that had been dumped in the campus. There was stale food, plastic as well as construction debris and the first thought that crossed our mind was that we haven8217;t even done this at home,8221; said Ankita Rawal, a first year B.Com student.

Besides tackling garbage, tackling the skepticism of the families was another challenge that the girls overcame.

8220;During the initial days, the families staying here would look at is suspiciously and ask whether we were being paid to do this. Earlier we had doors shut on our face when we went to invite the women to participate in the contests and the children would refuse with sarcastic replies. However gradually they realized that our aim was genuine and have become very co-operative,8221; said Gautami Rao, a junior college student.

However, for the professors, the success of the police station8217;s makeover is a sweeter reward especially after facing rejection for the first time. 8220;We had initially conceptualized the makeover of the Ghatkopar railway station but after six months of discussion with the Central Railway authorities, they refused to give permission for it. However the railway station8217;s loss is the police station8217;s gain.8221; said Salve.