Poetry on walls: Mumbai pays mural tribute to Mirza Ghalib

Mirza Ghalib, a prominent Urdu poet in the mid-nineteenth century, gets his first mural tribute in the city. The mural which adorns the walls of the Padmakar Tukaram Mane Garden on the Clare road at Nagpada Junction was inaugurated on Monday by noted poet Javed Akhtar. The erstwhile Clare road was named after former Governor of the Britsh Bombay John Fitzgibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare. However, the local corporator took the matter up, and a beautification process of Nagpada Junction was started and a huge mural of the renowned poet Ghalib has finally been placed at the junction. A selfie point has also found its place close to the mural so that locals can click pictures there. The road was renamed as Mirza Ghalib road in 1969.

Local corporator Rais Shaikh, who had proposed the redevelopment of Nagpada junction along with a sky-high national flag pole, was also present during the inauguration of the mural. The mural has two distinct things while at one side it is all about Mirza Ghalib, the other side depicts the freedom struggle.

Nagpada Junction also has a story to its credit, it is the same place where Inquilab Zindabad the famous slogan that was part of the Freedom Struggle from the British was chanted.

Nagpada and Madanpura area have been synonymous with Urdu poetry. Several noted poets have either stayed in the vicinity or used to visit the place often. A board giving out information on Mirza Ghalib has been set up next to the mural.

A Shaikh, who has his office close to Nagpada and was present during the inauguration, said, "It is a nicely done mural and with the selfie point the youngsters will click a lot of pictures here. This was needed, as people will now call it Mirza Ghalib road instead of Clare road."

The inauguration was majorly a political event, and with elections closeby almost all the leaders from the nearby areas from all the parties were present. The list included local MLA Waris Pathan, from AIMIM, MLA from nearby constituency Amin Patel from Congress, MLA Abu Asim Azmi, from Samajwadi party and even mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar of Shiv Sena was present at the event.

ENGRAVED

• The mural, which adorns a wall at Nagpada Junction,  is 10 feet high and 42 feet long 
   
• Artists Damodar Aware and Tushar Shinde toiled for months to cast Ghalib and two of the most important facets of his life in fibre
   
• The project cost is estimated to be Rs 50 lakh