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(Reaching
Out, Religiously!) |
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| Maha Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, 2001 – a
media person's delight - the largest religious congregation
in the world, where millions of devotees from all sections
of the society, of all age groups, gather in a two-month
long fete for a dip in the holy ‘Sangam’. A dream come
true for those seeking to communicate with the masses.
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| This opportunity that comes along once
in twelve years, was not to be lost. SIFPSA hence set
up an exhibition at the mela site to disseminate messages
on health and family welfare. |
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A Strategic Design
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| The mela site was the hub of all activity
in the city. Shops & essential services, entertainers,
et al had sprung up, putting out their very best to cash
in on this opportunity. The challenge here was to be able
to attract visitors to a pavilion promoting something
as mundane as family welfare amidst such fanfare. The
effort therefore was to make the exhibits interesting
and appealing. The design of the front fascia hence included
attractively illustrated cut-outs of the SIFPSA multi-media
campaign theme logo and other visuals propagating the
theme - ‘Come, Let’s Talk’ (Aao Baatein Karen). A large
window cut-out in the centre of the fascia served as the
nautanki (folk drama) performance stage visible from outside.
This led to visitors flocking to the stall as soon as
a performance started. |
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| The nautanki performance alternated
with a magic show on the same stage and a puppet performance
visible from outside. Trained folk troupes in nautanki,
magic and puppet performed on scripts that effectively
merged entertainment with relevant messages on family
welfare. Interiors of the stall were carefully designed
to maintain the interest of visitors with a variety of
media. A series of brightly illustrated panels conveyed
simple messages on all issues related to the family –
from gender equality, age at marriage to reproductive
health and contraceptive methods. An interactive panel
with messages on spacing contraceptives and a ‘Tota Pundit’
(puppet parrot – reading out fortunes) were very popular
with the visitors. An added attraction on special bathing
days was a live close-circuit video of the crowd inside
the stall which was visible on a TV screen set up in a
window of the fascia. |
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A Show Well-managed
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| Trained animators were appointed to
manage the exhibition, explain the messages to visitors
as and when required and direct those seeking further
information to the counselling room within the stall.
A doctor and a trained counsellor present in the room
advised such visitors and provided condoms and pills to
those who required them. They made referrals to government
hospitals for clinical services and also actively promoted
no-scalpel vasectomy. |
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| The month long exhibition successfully
reached out to lakhs of visitors, with messages on reproductive
health and family planning. |
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Visitors at the SIFPSA stall
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Messaging from the Gods - A panel at the
SIFPSA stall |
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Advocating Family Planning - A view of
the SIFPSA stall
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