In Photos: When Doctors and Artists Come Together to Spread Diabetes Awareness

Dr Rajiv Kovil and Dr Ami Shah are simplifying diabetes and non-communicable diseases with the help of artists.

Rang De Neela spreads awareness about common non-communicable diseases through art with the help of artists.

(Photo: Rang De Neela/Alteredby FIT)

Tanu: "I have read on Google that insulin can dangerously lower your blood sugar."   

Inspector Singham: "Oho! Nowadays, there are different types of insulin that have very little risk of causing low blood sugar."

Ever thought you would get health lessons from the stars? 

This is one of the unique and artistic ways in which Mumbai-based initiative, Rang De Neela, is working to spread awareness about diabetes.

Dr Ami Shah and Dr Rajiv Kovil started Rang De Neela in 2022, as a way to bring artists and doctors together to spread awareness about diabetes and related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) within the community.

"The colour linked to metabolic health has always been blue. Because we were also going to incorporate art, we thought of calling it Rang De Neela," says Dr Rajiv Kovil.

Doctors join this program from all over the country and volunteer to spend time with the artists partaking in their craft.

The doctors talk to them about NCDs, diabetes,  how to manage diabetes, myths related to it and also answer their queries.

These artists then dissipate this information within their close-knit communities.

"When an artist and a doctor meet, the doctor learns a little bit of art and the artist gets an opportunity to get their health concerns clarified, and then there is a small patient education that happens by the doctor to the artist," says Dr Ami Shah.

They also use art in Dr Kovil's clinic as a way of putting their patients at ease and making treatment less intimidating.

"In the clinic, we have created small experiments. If you see in our clinic, every piece of décor is very artistic. We have made use of pop culture to create awareness on many topics. You can see we have a lot of topics that are not spoken about," Says Dr Ami Shah.

"The whole purpose is to make sure that we are able to communicate to the patient in a more effective, empathetic manner.

And, in the process also revive art that has been forgotten in our country," says Dr Rajiv Kovil.

"Our seven-year dream is that we are able to do social prescribing and use art therapy more effectively.

Our main intension is that we can make lives of people with diabetes much much easier," says Dr Rajiv Kovil.

A PhD holder, Dr Ami Shah and her diabetologist colleague Dr Rajiv Kovil started Rang De Neela in 2022, as a way to bring artists and doctors together to spread awareness about diabetes and related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) within the community.

This is the story of how they use art as a medium for their mission to simplify and demystify intimidating illnesses for patients across India.