With spades, brooms, paint and brush, bricks and cement, they worked like any other labourers under the banner ‘The Ugly Indian’ (TUI). The silent revolution these men and women brought in and around MG Road had left many people wondering what the group was all about.
However, recently, the group came out in the open to detail what they have done in a span of about two years. In a unique manner, the group members celebrated the birthday of TUI without breaking their tradition of ‘Muh Bandh, Kaam Chaalu’ (mouth shut, work on).
The members, wearing white T-shirts, assembled near a hotel on Church Street with placards saying ‘Yes, We Can. Nay, We Did’, ‘Maathu Beda, Kelasa Maadu’ (mouth shut, work on) and ‘We All Are Ugly Indians’. Learning about their programme, a number of people from other parts of Bangalore assembled there to lend their support to the group.
Shopkeepers, their clients, pedestrians and also BBMP employees were taken by surprise when TUI members marched on Church Street with spades, brooms and paint brushes. It was a kind of game, called ‘Treasure Hunt’, to hunt for ugly spots in and around MG Road. Each one of them, after accomplishing the task of beautifying ugly spots, placed a photograph there to show what the place looked like before TUI stepped in. Much to everyone’s surprise there were at least 50 ugly spots on Church Street alone, which TUI had cleaned up.
People who did not know what the rally was all about enquired with TUI members who told them what they had done in the last one year. Some of the onlookers asked the members to accompany them to give a facelift to their areas. They were told that local residents had to find solutions to the problems themselves, just like TUI members had done on Church Street.
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