Ravan made from plastic waste drives the right message to Mumbaikars

With changing times the regular Ravan effigies for Dusshera in Mumbai too seemed to have got a makeover this year. The plastic ban in the state of Maharashtra prompted a group to make a huge 15 feet Ravan effigy made only of plastic waste. The procession with the effigy started from Goregaon and ended at Nariman Point with people crowding for a look at the Ravan made of colourful plastic waste which was all lit up in the evening.
It gathered much attention and that was exactly the reason of making it says social activist, Jay Shringarpure who thought of the idea along with friend Jatin Desai, "Plastic is the Ravan of modern age and we wanted to get this message across to the public. We want them to stop using plastic and this was the right way to gather attention. We collected plastic waste which included plastic bags and bottles which were given shape by art designer Mayur Nikam."
The face of the effigy was a 25 litre plastic bottle and it looked quite omnious as the procession wandered down the streets. Instead of blaring song and dance, the group was seen distributing pamphlets which had the ill-effects of plastic and how to avoid it. "We are against all kinds of pollution so we didn't use any loud speakers. The plastic used in the making of the effigy will be recycled. 'Ravan Nahi, Soch Jalao' was the thought behind this idea and with the response we got from people I think we were successful."