Imagination splashed itself across an 18-foot collage as scarlet and blue houses, green suns and orange-violet flowers were planted by the children's nimble fingers. And names of films, actors and signatures of the artists crowded into the white space that was left. In the pottery corner, bowls, misshapen pots, oval suns and dotted turtles were created and admired. Other events included a block printing class, a theatre workshop, aface-painting section and dances.

YUVA presented a skit put together by slum children, while children from Koshish talked of their plan to improve their basti through education. The evening also showcased the art work of children at the on-going Bal Dhamal summer camp at Worli, which helps the children break the monotony of everyday curriculum. These children also enacted skits from the Panchatantra.

``Slum rehabilitation is not just about building houses, it is about emotional and cultural development, and this workshop gives the children a platform to express themselves creatively and be exposed to traditional arts", Draupadi Rohera, the organiser, told Express Newsline. She hopes that the workshop will be an on-going affair as ``it is important for underprivileged and regular children to interact''.

The evening was sponsored by the Shiv Shahi Punarvasan Prakalp Ltd (SPPL). The chief guest, Housing Minister Suresh Jain, also met with the children, and gas balloons and the tooting of plasticbugles filled the sky in an extraordinary salute.