Vinod Heela Lal Eshwar’s PSA shows us that clean, renewable water has been right above our heads the whole time – through rain water harvesting!
Most of the surface area of the earth is covered with water and only 2.5% of it is freshwater, useful for life to survive. We hear it every day – the earth is warming rapidly, freshwater sources are drying up. And over a third of the earth’s resources have been used up in just 50 years.
The whole process of conserving water can be as simple as catching the rain where it falls. You don’t need need to apply any rocket science when it comes to water management. You just have to save it.
This message is beautifully and simply presented in Vinod Heela Lal Eshwar’s new 55 second ad film. “Our generation does nothing to save water for the future generation, high time that we should start acting on it,” said Eshwar.
The idea, which had been on his mind for quite some time now, was finally converted into the film while actually shooting for another film. “RWH is such a fancy term, we have simplified it by just saying ‘catch the rain where it falls,’” he says.
The movie shows a dying fish in a hand that regains life as soon as rain falls on it. The idea is simple and does not shout for a profound thought process, yet hits your brain and makes you understand the value of water.
Eshwar has also set up a unique setup at the planetarium to teach children about the rainwater harvesting. “The process simplifies and clearly shows the whole process of rainwater harvesting which gets hidden in walls pipes and sumps at homes,” Eshwar says.
A permanent rainwater catching installation at the city planetarium, visited by 1,50,000 children annually.
During rain, the rainwater gets channelled through a funnel into the glass tank where a school of fishes shows how a life can be sustained in rain water.
“Planetarium is the best place to put this model because the building itself is a rainwater harvested campus,” Eshwar says. Also the game on the website attracts the attention of toddlers and makes the learning even more fun.
“This is the perfect place for this model because hundreds of students and kids come here each day and the model will reach out to a lot of children,” he says.
His website, CatchTheRain, a spin-off of his children’s illustrated book Let’s Catch The Rain, showcases the movie as well a downloadable game that involves catching raindrops in different settings. The game reflects how easy it is to implement rain water harvesting in both rural and urban settings.
CatchTheRain also has a series of posters as part of their campaign to spread awareness about RWH. You can see them here:
Eshwar credits his film as follows:
Advertising Agency: McCann Worldgroup
Chief Creative Officer: Prasoon Joshi
Regional Creative Director: Anil Thomass
Copywriter : Vinod Lal Heera Eshwer
Art Director : Neel Roy
Creative Director : Vinod Lal Heera Eshwer, Neel Roy
Director : Joyeeta Patpatia
Producer : Smita Baliga
DOP – Sylvester Fonseca
Associate Producer : Zico Maitra
Music Director : Sushant Thatte
Post Production Supervisor : Irfan Khan
This article is part of the Catch Every Drop campaign on sustainable water conservation by The Alternative, sponsored by Arghyam, with partners India Water Portal and Biome Environmental Solutions.
‘Catch Every Drop’ is a showcase of stories of pioneering water conservation work done by corporates, lake restoration groups, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and individuals in Bangalore. These stories, we hope, will inspire you to join this growing community of people who truly care about water, our planet’s most precious resource.