The typical Berliner dresses in various shades of black. Of course, the odd hipster might shave off half of their hair and paint the rest purple, but even then doesn’t look too far away from blacks and other grim colors for high boots and other accessories. 

Look at the walls to see real diversity in colors. Drab industrial-style apartment facades, garbage bins, electrical transformer boxes, and even parked bicycles all get a colorful facelift. 

On an overcast morning, we inspect the paint on the most famous of all walls in Berlin. This once formidable barrier, topped with barbed wire and assorted weapons, divided Berlin into two halves that kept the capitalists away from the communists. On the eastern side, there was much soviet style harshness, fierce guard dogs, and no one was allowed to scribble on the walls. 

On the Western side, people were generally allowed their vices, could eat a lot of cake, and  chose between the French, American, and British options for lunch. The good allies had conveniently split up West Berlin into these 3 quarters as a gift for themselves after they ousted the nasty Nazies. 

Of course, people on the East were desperate to move to the other side.

Arjun runs across the lush lawn and towards freedom. He has just added a faint scribble on the Western side of the wall. Some of the graffiti on this side probably dates back to the age of Cold War spy novels, but most of it is fairly recent, judging by the freshness of the paint. Putin and Gaza seem to be the trending themes. 

Back in the day, the Eastern side of the wall was kept spotlessly clean thanks to the policy of shooting at people who came too close. So when the wall fell in 1989, after the dancing and beer drinking had calmed down, folks commissioned some well-known artists from all over to do a makeover.

They painted over a hundred murals and chose grand and deep themes as befitting the occasion. There are lush, dark green forests, angels with wings of fire, doves of peace, and Picasso-style heads. 

The Eastern side is definitely proper art, and hence the whole wall is called the “East Side Gallery”. The crowd favorite of these panels is the one with two middle-aged men kissing. I have cycled by the wall often, and there is always a tour group with phones outstretched, making memories on this particular panel. 

Despite Berlin’s relaxed attitude to all kinds of love, these are not gay men. In fact, they were politicians, and this panel, painted in 1990, is based on a real photograph from the late seventies. The one with spectacles is the president of East Germany, and the other one is his Soviet benefactor. Apparently, this is how the Commies were supposed to kiss each other, and the act was called the “Socialist Fraternal Embrace”  and performed by important leaders of state. 

Either that or they were just closet gays. 

A few years back, these commissioned panels were showing signs of their age, and the authorities asked their respective artists to refurbish them. Most complied, but a few refused, because their aesthetic mores did not allow for touch-ups. So these were whitewashed in defiance. 

The river spree runs along the western side of the wall and the final escape would have meant a swim in cold waters or a boat ride across. It’s springtime today, and cherry blossoms planted probably around the time the wall fell are in bloom. Boats carry tourists sipping wine on the river and on sunny days, street musicians make a decent living. 

A large grey shopping mall is around the corner. It’s also called the East Side Mall. One day, while walking around its walls,  I see a worker scrubbing off graffiti. He’s up on a ladder with some kind of grinder, restoring the wall to its pristine greyness. I’m a little sad, as this particular stretch of new construction is pretty dull. But then this is just a mall, and no one commissioned these bits of paint.

The architecture in some neighbourhoods of  Berlin is a lot of sombre greys. Art historians call it the Bauhaus style. Then, after the chaos of the Great War, the Soviets added their flair of small square windows and pre-fabricated apartment blocks.   

But people resist, and on one day, Dhanya and Arjun alight from a bright yellow tram at a random stop and get to see how its done. Young men are spray painting a wall. Perhaps this enterprise is state-sponsored, perhaps it’s not. It certainly adds color.

Even the homeless enjoy the visual arts. Under the train bridge around Alexander Platz, a man has been camping in his blue tent. Beer bottles, teddy bears,  fake and real flowers encircle him. At first, we were skeptical of stepping too close, unsure about the hygiene, but a closer look reveals no broken shards. 

Those with traditional tastes, must must venture into the lucky neighbourhoods that survived the falling bombs during the second world war to see handsome apartments. They were built during the reign of the last of the good Prussian kings, a certain Kaiser Wilhelm,  a hundred and fifty years back. Here, there are cobbled streets,  red tiled roofs, and pastel colors to soothe the eyes. 

And of course, plenty of graffiti for the extra pop.