City students paint for change

This is what happens when a bunch of youngsters takes it upon themselves to make lives better — they ‘paint for a change’. The Prakash Dhaba we knew a few months back is not the same anymore. The food joint has undergone a huge transformation and all credit goes to a handful of students from BIT, Patna. A few months ago, a team of 35 students, led by Shubham Kumar, a student of architecture, third year, and Aashish Aman, a student of electronics and communication engineering, third year, came up with an idea to turn their favourite hangout zone into a work of art.
This dhaba is very close to our college and is a great place to chill with friends. The owner was not that happy with his low income and unclean environment. So, we decided to give this place a facelift. We named our project, ‘Paint for Change’,” revealed Aashish Aman.
Upcycling, the new mantra
The entire project turned out to be a work of art and it is eco-friendly too. Now, the outer décor has handpainted plastic bottles that make the place look even more colourful. Dull cemented walls of the dhaba have been whitewashed and graffitis drawn to lend a funky look.
Support from College
“We have many plans to execute once our exams are over. We can’t wait for our summer break to start,” said Shubham Kumar, who is happy with the response he got from his collegefriends. “It was entirely our effort and there was no involvement of any teacher or administration in the project,” revealed Aashish. However, students did inform their college authorities before taking up the project.
All for a good cause
Students of BIT have put in whatever it took to make their dream come true. With the help of Facebook and Instagram posts, they have now created a group that has one motto — to clean the image of Bihar. Upcycling waste was a great move in this regard.
OWNER’S TAKE
Prakash, owner of the dhaba, is happy with the new look of his dhaba. He said, “Bacchon ne bahut mehnat kiya hai. Now, I can at least hope to get more customers.”
COMPLICATIONS FACED BY STUDENTS
Though these students worked day and night to renovate the dhaba, local residents were not so impressed with the change. The very next day, they found the walls of the dhaba were whitewashed. Thankfully, other side of the walls still had the paintings intact. Also, upcycled crafts are still there for everyone to enjoy.
— Alisha Shireen