Spitting in public places is disgusting, but how many would protest when they see someone do that?
Six furry friends — Nila, Johnny, Mouse, Scooby, Kip and Enzo — address this indifferent attitude through a video. Except for Scooby, a Dalmatian, these are all rescued street dogs.
A Chennai-based team has created this video for the all-India campaign, StopIndiaSpitting.
Beautiful Bharat, a group comprising individuals and organisations that work to have measures to prevent this habit, is leading the StopIndiaSpitting campaign.
The video was conceptualised and visualised by Ashwin Sridhar and Shilpa Raghavan of Tales with Tails 269, a Chennai-based centre for animal-assisted interventions. Thejas Mohan has given the music and Dilip is the cinematographer.
Set in a quiet neighbourhood, the story begins with Nila, a fitness enthusiast, going on a morning walk. Others seen in the street are Mouse that is head- bobbing to music, and Johnny, onion seller, setting up his space in the corner of the street.
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Enzo steps out of a car on the pretext of buying onions and throws his mask and spits on the street when Scooby registers her disapproval with a bark. Others join in with a woof, ruff, bow-wow and howl. Kip is presented as the activist who lends support to others.
“What we loved about this latest addition to the campaign resources by our newest partner is that it makes a strong call to viewers to speak out against spitting in public places,” says Odette Katrak, co-founder, Beautiful Bharat.
She says most people take a bystander’s stance when they encounter spitting in a public place.
“That means habitual spitters view it as license and would continue with the practice of spitting. The collective impact of bystander silence rolls out to another manifestation of social apathy and that is what we need to break,” she says.
StopIndiaSpitting has also been asking people to explain why spitting in the public is bad. “Spitting spreads Corona,” says Odette. The team behind this video say that executing this project was possible because of the rapport each of them have established through carefully structured training programmes.
“None of the dogs were under duress during any point of the filming process. As most of the dogs are also our companion animals, it was easy to train them. Each dog was given a role based on their strength. For instance, Scooby and Johnny are the oldest in the team and the latter has worked as a therapy dog too,” says Shilpa, a psychologist and certified Animal-Assisted-Therapy Practitioner.
She says the shooting was done in two places — Kottivakkam and West Mambalam. By using animals, the team wants to send across another message. “Rescued dogs, irrespective of how old they are, can also be trained. And, if dogs can be disciplined then we too can,” she says.
The video ends with a takeaway. Enzo is embarrassed about what he did, and Kip is seen holding a ‘#Stop India Spitting’ placard.
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/SjgMAp1wJ3A