BHUBANESWAR: Art is an ancient form of creating awareness on public issues. Conveying messages through expressions capture the attention of more people and is understood easily even by the unlettered. Mime artiste Chittaranjan Satpathy took to the art form to send a message on coronavirus.
Satpathy, a theatre artiste and researcher under the senior fellowship scheme of Ministry of Culture, volunteered to perform mime act on coronavirus pandemic.Confined to his house in Sundarpada since the lockdown was announced, Satpathy said he observed how many people were not adhering to Government guidelines to contain the pandemic spread. The mime artiste, who quit his high paying software job in 2012 after over two decades of service, is of the opinion that people remember easily when they see anything rather than learning from the books.
“On Sunday, I decided to create awareness on Covid-19 near Chandi Bazaar, close to my house. I used cosmetics, dressed up and started performing the mime act in the area,” said Satpathy.“I was pleased to see that they appreciated my act and also started to following what I presented in front of them, he said. Through his act, Satpathy asked the citizens to wash their hands frequently, maintain social distance, wear masks, not to gather in huge numbers, among others. “If people read history, they might forget the facts. However, if they see the history through theatre plays then they easily remember the facts,” he said.
Recently, Additional CP Anup Kumar Sahoo came across one of the clips of Satpathy and he allowed him to perform mime acts in various parts of the Capital to create awareness on Covid-19.On Wednesday, Satpathy performed for about three hours at Unit-I vegetable market area here. He also carried placards with messages on wearing masks, washing hands, among others.