At Maha Kumbh 2025, illustrated comics have emerged as a dynamic tool for promoting responsible waste segregation and recycling practices, while also highlighting the crucial role played by sanitation workers. Curated by Gaysi Family, a Mumbai-based community and media platform, in collaboration with Coca-Cola India and its foundation Anandana, this initiative, part of the Maidaan Saaf campaign, brings together prominent artists, including Aravani Art Project and Priyankar Gupta, to create visually engaging comic panels that transform public spaces into powerful and engaging interventions.
Through relatable storytelling and art, the comics convey key messages about the importance of waste segregation and the significant role everyone can play in driving effective waste management. The panels feature diverse characters and settings, demonstrating how simple actions, like proper waste separation, can lead to more efficient recycling processes, especially of plastic waste. These visual narratives also offer a glimpse into the lives of sanitation workers, emphasising their critical contributions and how responsible waste segregation can uphold their dignity and support their essential work.
Spanning a 12-kilometre stretch of the river ghats, these illustrated panels are integrated into women’s changing rooms made from recycled multi-layered plastic waste, embedding environmental consciousness into daily interactions. By making waste management concepts playful, accessible, and visually engaging, the campaign ensures that millions of Kumbh attendees connect with the idea of sustainability in a meaningful way.
"The idea was to bring together artists from different parts of the country to identify this moment as an opportunity for communicating the need for and the path to change. It was also important for us to ensure that the process of waste segregation and recycling was explained using visual storytelling and minimal, simple copy that would be easily accessible to people from diverse backgrounds," said Priya Dali, Creative Director of Gaysi Family. "We hope the way these comics are positioned at Maha Kumbh allows people to think about them long after they return home."
Illustrator and visual artist Priyankar Gupta emphasised the importance of using familiar storytelling traditions to communicate public messages. "Visual narratives like scrolls and Patachitras have always been fantastic tools for mass communication. Comics or graphic narratives, like what we created for Maha Kumbh 2025, serve as an eye-opener while making the message simple and engaging."
“The effectiveness of behaviour change communication lies in its ability to make complex ideas more approachable,” Ghana, a freelance artist and collaborator with Aravani Art Project, noted. "Showing people how to segregate waste at the changing stalls could trigger a larger impact. Creative interventions like these play a key role in shifting public attitudes over time."
Commenting on the initiative, Saloni Goel, Senior Director, ESG Value Creation, Coca-Cola India, said, "As one of the largest human gatherings in the world, Maha Kumbh presents a unique opportunity to inspire large-scale behavioural change. Its deeply rooted local cultural ethos creates the ideal space for creative interventions that can drive lasting shifts in attitudes toward recycling and responsible waste segregation. By harnessing the power of art, culture, and storytelling, this initiative aims to foster ongoing environmental awareness."
By weaving together art, tradition, and sustainability, these illustrators are turning the Maha Kumbh into a canvas for change—using comics not just to inform but to inspire long-term shifts in public attitudes toward waste management and recycling.
