New Delhi: On a hot summer night, as everyone in my house slept peacefully, I found myself wide awake. It was not the unbearable heat. What kept me from sleeping was a constant buzz near my ear, and then a bite.
A mosquito had chosen me as its midnight feast. However, instead of being angry, I was thankful to the mosquito. It is from this annoying mosquito bite that the idea of creating a mosquito sculpture from waste materials was born. The project is currently a part of Mortein’s Mission Zero Malaria.
Watch: Where Does India Stand In Eradicating Malaria And Achieve Its 2030 Elimination Goal?
I started planning. The first thing I did was to make a sketch of a mosquito based on how I visualised it as a sculpture.
The sculpture stands 16 feet tall, featuring 3 pillars adorned with 3 mosquitoes. The 3 mosquitoes in this artwork symbolise birth, life, and death. Its base is made of citronella grass and marigold, the natural mosquito repellents.
An LED screen placed amidst the pillars will continuously display public messages on the three pillars of Mission Zero Malaria: Know, Act, and Control.
When art is displayed on roadsides, it catches everyone’s attention. We, as artists, make sure that our artwork carries a meaningful message for the public.
Watch: World Malaria Day 2023: Key Things To Know About The Disease
Art serves as a powerful medium for promoting public health. Through creative expression, it educates and raises awareness.
The mosquito sculpture serves a double purpose. Upfront, it sends out a message about malaria. The underlying message is about recycling.
By using waste material, I wanted to convey that people can create awareness artwork using everyday utensils from their kitchens.
Dr. Bibuti Adhikary is a versatile artist. He has showcased his work globally. He was awarded with Honorary Doctorate for his innovative painting after he won Gold Medal from India Book of Records as well as Asia Book of Records. He has curated numerous tableaux for Republic Day. His mantra is, “Art is what you make others see.”
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
