Best out of WASTE

Art can be used to educate and change the world. Abheet Gupta talks to activist ANJALI JAIN about how that can be done

At some point in our lives, we have thought of working for the betterment of society but that has remained an intent. Not many of us have been able to act upon it. Anjali Jain, founder of NGO Kala Drishti, however, followed through on her mission, using her talent as a communicative tool.

Her organisation, located in Karkardooma village since six years, is working towards cleaning and educating India through art. Through her “best out of waste” movement, the artist and the underprivileged children she trains create beautiful artworks out of unrecyclable waste materials to reduce the carbon footprint. She has also been making efforts to create job opportunities by training underprivileged kids in art in urban villages. 

“I have been an art-lover since childhood but one thing which has always bothered me is that Indian artists do not get their due. It is very tough to make this hobby a profession but I want to create a training infrastructure that can nurture talent that is marketable and assure them a good price,” said Anjali.

Elaborating on the philosophy of her NGO Kala Drishti, which marries art with a cause, she said, “Parents don’t encourage their children to freely express themselves through art as they want them to become doctors, engineers and civil servants. The state of performing arts, like music and dance, are still better thanks to the commercial platform of reality shows on TV but visual arts have trouble drawing attention to fresh talent as only masters grab eyeballs. That’s when I realised that there is a lot of scope for using art as part of a change-making tool in society, either by using waste or through evocative messaging in paintings and graphics,” she added.

The NGO also runs campaigns where it holds free training camps for children and skill-based workshops for women. The organisation focuses on maintaining cleanliness and planting trees in a bid to save the planet. “Art is like therapy. In today’s stressful environment where more and more people are getting sick and depressed, art works as a great healer. Colouring helps a lot, it’s like meditation. I advise people to take some time out and do something related to art, be it painting, dancing, singing or carpentering,” she told us.

While the organisation’s main focus is on getting much-deserved opportunities and recognition for young artists, they have also taken upon educating kids who see it as a future career.

Apart from her free art classes, Jain is also equipping the kids with a knowledge of English and functional skills.

In the process of creating art out of waste, the kids have  also gotten involved in creating awareness about living in sanitary conditions.“In some areas people prefer living around waste rather than allowing us to install dustbins. We need to change this mentality and we cannot depend on politicians for this. It is our country and our kids have taken the responsibility for it,” Jain said.