Want to build a wall? Call the Gujarat Government. They are experts in building walls quickly and efficiently, currently flaunting their skills by erecting one in Ahmedabad. Why? Apparently to hide poverty, the slums of Ahmedabad from US President Donald Trump, and make the state and the country look like a shiny penny.
But since this is India, whose population has some sort of a love affair with walls, so much so that we have nicknamed one of our greatest cricketers after it and there are a few uneven patches left unattended. We can hide poverty, but can we hide the indelible marks that we leave on the walls?
A common sight (or smell) for anyone travelling on an Indian road is that of a man peeing in front of a wall. More often than not, we tend to use it as a stop-gap washroom, a convenient makeshift loo, and some even tend to become artistic while relieving themselves. Combine that with paan stains or gutkha stains (which can be considered as our national food soon), and the walls will tend to get a fresh coat of paint frequently. Lo and behold! That's India's fusion modern art for the commuters.
And yes, the posters. Generally, on a wall, one will see a sign, an order, that says "Don't stick bills here". Ironically, someone will inevitably stick a bill over that, and perhaps murmur to himself "mischief managed". So, if the paint doesn't suffice, we have this trick to decorate a wall. There are posters of films, sexual problems and their treatments, job offers, magic shows, martial art classes, local events and even missing people. Rarely can one find something useful from the clusters of paper haphazardly glued to the wall. Not to forget the political symbols and their slogans. The face-savers: Wickets drawn for a game of cricket, and graffiti.
Trump’s longing for a wall at the US-Mexico border is the talk of the town for quite some time. So, instead of a spinning wheel, Gandhiji's autobiography and a book named 'My Life My Message', he can be gifted this wall. A wall named after Trump can surely compete with that of China.
Or will Trump notice the true self of an Indian wall and shiver in horror?
The world can thank India later.