Harsh Goenka’s talks about ‘Wall of Gratitude’ that honours Corona Warriors

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | BySanya Budhiraja

Jun 26, 2020 04:27 PM IST

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“These unsung heroes were the immunity system of our nation–constantly fighting the virus on ground,” Harsh Goenka said in a Humans of Bombay post.

Harsh Goenka has spoken to Humans of Bombay about the ‘Wall of Gratitude’ that honours Corona Warriors and the post has won praise from a lot of people. The descriptive and heartwarming post was shared along with three images showcasing the massive creation painted on a wall of RPG house in Worli.

Harsh Goenka tells Humans of Bombay about the ‘Wall of Gratitude’.(Instagram/@officialhumansofbombay)

The first of the three photographs shows the renowned business tycoon sitting on a chair, smiling directly at the camera. The next two pictures capture an artistic mural dedicated to ‘Corona warriors’, who are going above and beyond their call of duty during these trying times.

The text, accompanying the shots, narrates Goenka’s perspective about the pursuit. It reads, “As an art lover, I believe what words can’t express, art can. So, I contacted Elsie Nanji & Sameer Kulavoor who brought the idea to life–a ‘Wall of Gratitude’ on the RPG house in Worli to pay homage to their (corona warriors) bravery”.

The business tycoon further explained the tiresome process of accomplishing the artistic initiative. “The BMC gave us permission to start operations in 1 day & Asian Paints gave us the supplies, immediately. The team worked tirelessly to complete the 20-day project in 5 days,” says Goenka.

“The result was astonishing – across a 10,000 sq feet wall, the mural showed COVID warriors from various walks of life, citizens saying, ‘Thank you’ from their windows & phrases like ‘Together we will win.’” reads the post.

Check out the post and pictures of the mural below:

View this post on Instagram

"I’m all about feeling happy & making everyone else in my life feel the same way. When someone walks into work on Monday, they should look forward to it the way I do! We like keeping the workplace stress free–a bunch of employees once danced their hearts out in the middle of a work day to ‘Happy’! ⁣ But with the pandemic, we could no longer go to our ‘happy’ office–we were connected only by a screen. The entire city sunk under a layer of panic & sadness. The uncertainty of it all was frightening. ⁣ So we knew we had to do everything we could to help; we distributed over 5 lakh meals to migrant workers & provided protective gear to healthcare workers & police officials! But when I saw how tirelessly our Corona warriors went beyond their call of duty, I knew something big had to be done to honour them–something that would be Mumbai’s way of saying, ‘Thank you!’ These unsung heroes were the immunity system of our nation–constantly fighting the virus on ground, just so we could sleep peacefully. ⁣ As an art lover, I believe what words can’t express, art can. So, I contacted Elsie Nanji & Sameer Kulavoor who brought the idea to life–a ‘Wall of Gratitude’ on the RPG house in Worli to pay homage to their bravery. It seemed impossible to accomplish during a lockdown but we went ahead with it–it felt right. ⁣ The BMC gave us permission to start operations in 1 day & Asian Paints gave us the supplies, immediately. The team worked tirelessly to complete the 20 day project in 5 days. ⁣ The result was astonishing–across a 10,000 sq feet wall, the mural showed Covid warriors from various walks of life, citizens saying, ‘Thank you’ from their windows & phrases like ‘Together we will win.’ When the head of Worli Police saw it, he was moved beyond words & several ministers wrote to me about how this expressed the gratitude they’d been feeling all this while. ⁣ This is one of the most distressing times humanity has faced, but seeing this mural, I realize that we’re all in this together. From migrant workers, to frontline warriors to the common man at home, this piece of art is not just mine, but the city’s possession–to help them find hope & certainty in an uncertain time."

A post shared by Humans of Bombay (@officialhumansofbombay) on Jun 25, 2020 at 5:31am PDT

Since being shared on June 25, the post has amassed nearly 21,500 likes and almost 100 appreciative comments.

Here is how Instagram users have reacted to the ‘Wall of Gratitude’. One person writes, “Amazing”. While another individual posts, “Awesome... Grateful for your thought. God bless”.

“Wow! So unique,” reads one comment.

What are your thoughts on the ‘Wall of Gratitude’?

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