Weeks after a video of a person in an astronaut suit walking on a pothole-ridden road in Bengaluru went viral, another one has emerged from Mangaluru. And this time, the ‘astronaut’ is a girl studying in class 6, Adlin D' Silva.
The present video features the young girl doing the ‘moonwalk’ on the pothole-ridden Central Market Road in Mangaluru. Her video emulates one conceptualised by Bengaluru artist Baadal Nanjudaswamy, who had an artist don an astronaut suit, and deliberately walk on road filled with potholes in Bengaluru, likening it to the cratered surface of the moon.
Adlin’s father, Ajoy D' Silva, is the co-founder of Mangaluru City Corporation civic group, an organisation formed in 2015 to carry out campaigns and raised awareness about civic issues. This video featuring his daughter was part of a campaign to draw the city authorities’ attention to the deplorable condition of the roads.
“There are many other places in Mangaluru were we could have done this too,” Ajoy tells TNM. “This is part of a campaign where we want to shed light on the bad condition of roads in Mangaluru. Maybe we will do another ‘moonwalk’ on other roads, maybe we will take up other activities. But this issue needs attention.”
Ajoy adds that his daughter enjoyed being part of this video, and has previously participated in the MCC activities as well.
“We hope this comes to the attention of authorities and the roads are repaired in time,” he says.
Baadal’s viral video was emulated in Mexico as well, where a digital advertising agency in recreated the ‘moonwalk’ in Pachuca, the capital city of the country’s largest state of Hidalgo.