Grab Your Paints: You Can Join Mumbai's New Graffiti Artist As He Reclaims The City

Rashmil Vaidya is an upcoming street artist in Mumbai. If you’ve been around Vikhroli, then you may have spotted gigantic wall murals by the name Insane Strokes.

Rashmil is a teacher by profession but he also moonlights as a street artist. His inspiration was the Street Art India movement, and ever since he’s picked up his brushes and has started bombing the walls {a terminology not as savage in the street art culture}.

He generally looks around for walls that are barren and blank and he gets the required permission to paint there. The idea behind a specific area or wall is where it gets the maximum visibility. If you’re interested in street art yourself, you’re more than welcome to join him in reclaiming the streets back. For him, street art gives him a purpose, and in his own way, he paints the walls with positive messages to inspire or provoke who see it.

Rashmil has been doing street art for a while now. He tells us his inspiration comes from Pune-based artist, Harshvardhan Kadam {whose work you can find across Mumbai under the name INKBRUSHNME}. He also follows the work of Tyler from Mumbai, Artez from Serbia, and Shilo Shiv Suleman from Bangalore. Rashmil has also been a part of the Humara Station Humari Shaan campaign which aims to beautify the railway stations by painting art on them.

He has done some really impressive work around the city on topics such as demonitisation, women empowerment, cleanliness and even more volatile subjects like the freedom of speech. The power to express himself via his art, is what initially drew him to street. The locations he has covered include Vikhroli, Thane Railway Station {East} and Kandivali Village.

Next time you’re around Vikhroli or Thane station or spot ‘INSANE STROKES’  anywhere in Mumbai, you’ll know who’s behind them all. Rashmil will slowly be expanding his wall art to other places as well, but he tells us it’s often tough to get the permission. Nevertheless, he’s out there beautifying our walls with a voice and we love it.

You can follow him and street art here {and DM him for work}.

Rashmil is off to Himachal to paint a cafe. He tells us, he is open to painting people’s walls at their houses and cafe, and charges INR 350 per square feet depending on the amount of work required to be put in by him.