Visit L Street in Koramangala and be awed

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Some of the members of the L Street community. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Two scaly-breasted munias pin you down with a unyielding stare. Across the road, a mouse pauses halfway up the pillar of a gate. Up ahead, familiar strangers in uniform and others who serve our community show up.

For half a kilometre, the walls along a L-shaped street in Koramangala’s 3rd Block, beckon visitors with a bid to familiarise them with the flora, fauna, avifauna and people of the area.

This artistic oeuvre is courtesy the efforts of the Friends of L Street, an initiative comprising residents of three gated communities — Raheja Residency, Prestige Oakwood and Embassy Tranquil — and independent homes in the area.

It all began in 2012, when more than 70 strangers from these two streets (which join at an angle), came together to clean up the garbage dumps dotting the area, including one where the two streets intersected.

Post the clean-up, strangers became friends and the secluded corner has since been christened ‘L Corner’. These friendships have led to organic collaborations to improve these two streets. Ashish Patel and Febin Sagir, two residents and naturalist-guides of KoraWalks, began the ‘L Street Walk’ for those keen on learning about the efforts that transformed this area.

Art works of municipal workers, delivery partner, security guard, domestic worker, parent and child and vendor are brought alive on the walls of apartments.

Art works of municipal workers, delivery partner, security guard, domestic worker, parent and child and vendor are brought alive on the walls of apartments.

At a recent walk, they shared how as many as 120 trees (both exotic and native) have been documented in the area; many lean out from the compound walls of the three apartment buildings. Specimens of pongamia pinnata, copper pod, variants from the ficus family and other trees, line the street, while their feathered residents such as the white-cheeked barbet, red-whiskered bulbul and purple-rumped sunbird greet passersby.

The trees have boards bearing a short description and a QR code offering additional information; there is enough to observe, enjoy and learn at your own pace here, even without the help of a guide.

Old, rusty utility boxes on the street have been painted with nature inspired themes

The mural representation of everything that defines Koramangala, from food, traffic, institutions, greenery to innovation. Spot at least 60 elements in this.

One section of the walls celebrates unsung heroes — those who keep the wheels of the neighborhood running smoothly such as the domestic help, security guards, delivery agents and sanitation workers.