What happens when two dancers walking on Bengaluru’s footpaths find themselves a step away from potholes and debris in their path? Their answer - turn to Bharatanatyam.
A satirical video by residents of Bengaluru's Malleswaram area is catching the attention of users on social media.
The video, 'Bharatnatya Saaku, #FootPathBeku,' created by members of citizen group Malleswaram Social, is aiming to spread awareness about the condition of the footpath in their area.
This is not the first time the group is working on highlighting the issue. Members of the group had organised a door-to-door campaign to ask residents about their opinion on the condition of footpaths in Malleswaram.
"The door-to-door campaign was not particularly successful because people came up with their own set of reasons why a new footpath should not come up. So, the group decided to do a set of satirical videos," explains Sriram Aravamudan, the creative director of the video.
Sriram further explained that Malleswaram is one of the cultural hubs of the city and that is where the idea to showcase a Bharatanatyam dancer navigating the footpath came from.
"Malleswaram is home to a lot of dance schools so it would not be completely unbelievable that a dancer could be doing this on the footpaths in this area. There is no language in the video. It is just music and locales that Malleswaram residents recognise and it draws attention to the problem in a humorous and light-hearted way," he said.
The video has amassed around 2,40,000 views on Facebook and has been shared over 3,000 times. “These are skilled dancers. The rest of us are in trouble.
While these skilled dancers can navigate the roads, what about the rest of Bengaluru? Malleswaram Social is hoping to answer that question by releasing a series of similar satirical videos focusing on civic issues plaguing the area.
"Once the authorities put a footpath in place, it is also the responsibility of residents to take care of them. Right now, there does not seem to be any awareness of the issue. There are many issues - garbage, construction debris, and potholes. The whole idea is to get the attention of people and raise awareness about the problems," added Sriram.