Using social media for social awareness
‘It’s not only what we do But also what we do not do For which we are accountable’
Arrogance is used by the weak While kindness is used by the strong
There is no right way To do a wrong thing
Not every ounce of your life needs to be digitally documented
Thus resonate the messages of thought-provoking visuals of Nalaka Devendra under the banner of Brighter Sri Lanka. The visuals speak for the solo crusade of a man labouring for change in a bid to make this nation a ‘brighter Sri Lanka’. Conceptualized by Nalaka to create public awareness and appeal to the consciousness of the general public to respect basic human values transcending differences of all kinds, Brighter Sri Lanka is a not-for-profit public awareness initiative in digital medium.
“The idea and concept is something which germinated in me about 20 years ago, largely due to road accidents which the country was experiencing at the time. I spoke to several insurance companies to create short video clips on road safety in all three languages and telecast them preferably during prime time, so that reception would be stronger. Sadly not a single company was interested,” says Nalaka. Several years later when he mooted the idea among certain corporates as a CSR project, going beyond road accidents and calling for awareness on fast eroding social values, none showed any interest. In Nalaka’s own words, “it was a case of nobody wanting to get their feet wet!”
An IT professional, Nalaka, decided to create digital posters and post them on a Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/BrighterSriLanka. Using his iPhone 7, he has created over 60 digital posters to date. He takes a break only on Sundays from this socialawareness exercise! He covers a wide range of issues including gender equality, breaking down of human relationships, collective social responsibility, environmental hazards, rights of the disabled and many more. The visually appealing posters accompany words of wisdom, some coined by Nalaka himself and others sourced by various media which he acknowledges.
The negative news which eclipses everything else, be it in print or electronic media speaks for the breakdown of the value system of our society despite the heritage and culture of over 2500 years we claim, maintains Nalaka who reiterates that finding solutions to the root causes of social evils cannot be left only to the authorities and experts. “Despite these problems affecting the entire social fabric, they are often perceived as someone else’s problems,” he says, urging all Lankans to accept them as ‘our problems’ and raise a collective voice against them.
Social media, as Nalaka explains, is a ‘bread knife’. “When it could be exploited for all right reasons, it is largely used otherwise.” He looks to enlist many socially responsible crea- tive minds further activity such as developing the images into posters, desk calendars offering words of wisdom, video clips and so much more. Six of Nalaka’s digital posters were displayed at the entrance to a solo photographic exhibition at the Lionel Wendt recently by a friend of his offering inspiration for others.
“To move forward, the project needs computer graphic resources, web hosts and other like-minded individuals, specially young minds open to new ideas,” points out Nalaka who invites such people to rally around this project true to one of his digital visuals: ‘Stop complaining about your country, politicians and government. Just do your part well because you are your country. Let’s make a difference.’
Those who want to be part of Brighter Sri Lanka, could contact Nalaka Devendra on nalakadevendra@ gmail.com and http://www.facebook. com/BrighterSriLanka