Morshed Mishu and his wall of toys

Adarsha Palli is located in the Ibrahimpur area of Mirpur 14. Some days ago, a group of young men arrived there one afternoon. They had some bags with them. They were eyeing a wall in the alley, wondering how they could renovate it. 

Soon, they started painting the wall. In a few minutes, the old, dilapidated wall was transformed into a bright red surface. A wooden shelf was attached to it. Various toys of red, blue, yellow, and purple colours were arranged on each shelf. 

That was not all. They also wrote a name in large letters. The old wall was now named "Felna Khelna Telna Dewal" (Wall of Used Toys). Below it, in small letters, it was inscribed:

Dear little friend,

Please leave your old toys here.

And beside it: 

Please take a toy of your choice for a little friend.

This unique initiative caused a stir among people. It even became an attractive place for people in the alleys of the neighbourhood.

The story of this painted wall is not ordinary. This initiative was undertaken with an extraordinary purpose in mind. And the person behind this unique initiative is named Morshed Mishu.

Behind-the-scenes

Morshed Mishu, a 30-year-old cartoonist, is the assistant editor of the fun magazine Unmad. He also works as an actor and presenter. So, Mishu is now a familiar name to many people.

He has won the hearts of ordinary people for his courage and for taking up one extraordinary initiative after another.

That is why, in addition to his professional identity, he has become known to the younger generation as 'Mishu Bhai.' He is also doing humanitarian work along with various works to build a clean country.

People have stood by Mishu in all his works. Many have extended a helping hand to him. 

It was about a year and a half ago when he decided to free 200 places in the capital city of Dhaka from garbage. As planned, he completed three projects in 2023. 

"Felna khelna telna dewal" is one of them.

The wall of used toys

"The story begins with Mehedi Bhai," Morshed Mishu said. "A few days ago, he called me. As soon as I picked up the phone, Mehedi Bhai said, 'Mishu, a wonderful person has sent some toys. I want to donate them; what do you think?' Suddenly, an idea came to my mind. I thought to myself, how about a wall of toys? As soon as I got the idea, I went to work. My friends, elder brothers, and younger brothers came forward. That's how it all started."

On 25 December 2023, Mishu decided to bring his vision to life. He chose to paint a wall in Adarsha Palli, Ibrahimpur, Mirpur, in the capital of Bangladesh. He had done painting work before. His friends responded immediately to his call for help as well.

The wall was painted on Christmas Day and Mishu seems to have become Santa Claus. Within half an hour of painting and arranging the toys, people gathered there. The children started choosing their favourite toys. There was only one condition: one person could only take one toy at a time.

Not his first rodeo

It all began with Mishu painting a wall in front of his own house. Garbage was piled high on the wall. It was quite uncomfortable for the residents. 

Whenever he went to drink tea at the tea shop downstairs from his house, he would see the wall. Walking past the wall seemed like an uphill task. He started working to make things better. A request for help went out on social media. Many people came forward, including friends and relatives. Some helped with paint, while others helped with money.

On 12 September 2023, Mishu and his team got down to work. They cleaned up the entire pile of garbage in one day and painted the wall.

Then Mishu took on an even more difficult task. In September 2023, heavy rains flooded the entire city of Dhaka. Ordinary people suffered. The situation in Mohammadpur was even more pathetic. Mishu learned that the garbage in the canals exacerbated the problem.

He then decided that he would clean the dirty canal. With that thought in mind, on 28 September 2023, he went out to clean a canal that was overrun by garbage in the Mohammadpur area of the capital.

His team accompanied him. In two days, they cleaned up the entire canal. They also painted the bridge connected to the canal in different colours!

Reuse, reduce, recycle

All of Mishu's initiatives have a story behind them and a noble purpose.

According to Mishu, "One person's junk can be another person's treasure. Moreover, the rate of environmental pollution due to plastic is high. If all these are reused, then it will be beneficial to both environmental protection and bringing a smile to someone's face. The initiative was started from this thought."

Mishu believes it is important to build a practice of reusing objects in all fields. He was inspired by his mentor Ahsan Habib. At the Unmad cartoon exhibitions, Ahsan Habib would always try to put forward new ways to use old things. The new cartoons were always encased in old frames.

The idea also attracted Mishu as well. He later put that into practice. Thankfully, he has found special people by his side, which has made it quite easy to shape his ideas into reality.

Morshed Mishu. Sketch: TBS

Those who contributed towards the cause

As always, Mishu received help from countless people, including those who were with him in all his initiatives. Eight to ten people were directly involved in the initiative to make the toy wall.

Among them, Mishu mentioned Fuad, Siddiq, Tahmid, Sajib, Azad, and Miraz. He did not forget to mention those who have stood by him, even if only through giving advice. Although he started the work with his own funding, many people later extended their help by donating toys.

One of them is Nahian Echo, a Bangladeshi toy manufacturer. He is the owner of Deluxe Toys Industries and Golden Toys Industries. For the toy wall, he sent two cartons of toys from his own company.

Not just Nahian, many others have come forward to help the cause by providing money, labour, and advice.

Mishu said, "I would not have been able to move forward if these people had not been beside me. It was because of them that a neglected wall could be turned into the 'Felna khelna telna wall'."

One of those who worked hard for this initiative is Mohammad Azad Hossain. "After the work of building the wall was complete, we saw many children coming with their parents and choosing toys to take home. The children's faces lit up with joy. Anyone would be filled with happiness seeing this," Azad said.

In fact, projects like these should be done out of a sense of responsibility. You will feel good only when people around you are feeling good," he added.

After the success of this 'felna khelna telna wall', Mishu now plans something even bigger. He wants to paint two more walls in two different places in Dhaka. He is also encouraging other people to do the same.

Mishu said, "Anyone can start such an initiative in their own area if they want. It is not difficult, if many people work together. The cost is also not high. There are many people who have noble ideas. The only thing lacking is execution."

Translated by: Nasif Tanjim