CHENNAI: Consider a big monster beast lurking in the depths of the ocean, ready to swallow everyone travelling through the region. Isn’t it a terrifying thought? Wouldn’t it be difficult to eat, sleep, or breathe properly if we knew the monster was growing in size. The startling reality is that this is no longer just our imagination. While many of us are still unconcerned about the effects of pollution, Tsunamika’s 17-year-old project, Ocean is Us campaign is raising awareness about the massive water pollution throughout the world.
Puducherry-based designer Uma Prajapati, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD), Jaipur, and various other organisations, conducted a virtual event for the project on Wednesday, which was aired on Upasana Design Studio’s YouTube channel. It provided insights into the project’s introduction, the lives saved, the recognition beyond the country, and emphasised the need for ocean conservation. Tsunamika is an Auroville-based Upasana Design Studio project that makes miniature dolls to empower women in the fishermen community. The project began to assist individuals devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, and has now touched the lives of six million people in over eighty nations. Tsunamika has been granted a forum for her Ocean Mission by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, this year.
Sana Sharma, who embodied Tsunamika in the event, pointed out, “Today another tsunami of pollution washes our land and sea. The calamity is not brought forward by the forces of nature. Humans have created it. We need the oceans and the oceans need us.” The event explained about the fierce impacts of ghost nets, and the abandoned fishing nets that are lost in the ocean.
Speaking about the transformative power of Tsunamika, Uma shared, “I started to make this doll to do trauma counselling with people who lost their precious ones in the tsunami. So they could forget what has happened to them. Now, I hope that she becomes an advocate of resilient ecology and clean ocean.” Mothers of Tsunamika, the women who make the dolls, claimed,
“Tsunamika is like a daughter to us. Even if we are sad or distressed, we come to make the dolls and magically the sorrow disappears. She provides a lot of hope.” When asked about the biggest challenge Tsunamika has faced so far, Uma replied, “A lot of villagers were inspired by our work and wanted to join our team. We couldn’t incorporate everyone suddenly. Hope we can provide a solution to that in the coming years.” “Tsunamika has a powerful voice and face. I hope everyone listens to her request to clean the ocean,” urged Sana.