While people look forward to the weekends to unwind, Dhiraj Sharma eagerly waits to get to work on discarded items. The Bengaluru-based Dhiraj, who works as a creative head in a start-up, has converted junk and scrap into fine works of art. “I have been doing this from school. So far most of my work is of a prototype. My perspective is that of a designer,” says Dhiraj, who graduated in Computer Science, pursued a career in animation, worked as a 3D artist, and is currently a designer.
Waste management is the buzzword of environmentally-conscious Bengaluru. But recycling e-waste has always been an issue. In this case, Dhiraj has put his artistic skills to use. “The city is the epicentre of e-waste because it is a tech hub,” he agrees, adding. “People don’t bother to repair electronic items, and this has led to an increase in carbon footprint.” So he uses even the most obsolete e-waste. “I once created a mascot, a robot for a tech fest at IIT Powai, Mumbai.” He used mixie-jars, discarded bikes and motherboards to transistors and broken radios to make a static robot. And if that wasn’t innovative enough, he even made a piggy bank, for a TV show for kids, with discarded floppy disks, and a prototype of a sci-fi robot, made entirely out of car tape. “I made an STD booth with broken pieces of glass and medium-density fibreboard (MDF) used in photo frames.”
There’s a whole world inside a radio, an iron box, walkman, that Dhiraj’s creative mind views as a treasure trove. “There are many things within these items. An iron box, for example, is of no use if it gets spoiled, but I have even made use of the items within it.” The question, thus, is how do ideas come to him? “Sometimes it is spontaneous. Sometimes it is like a puzzle where you need to find the missing piece. And sometimes I have to break my head over what to make!”
Dhiraj’s talent is well recognised, not just among friends and family, but colleagues too. “I have a set of drawers in office. People would keep discarded items in it. I would make stuff out of them and give them to my colleagues as a reward.”
Before the days of mobile and digital cameras, Dhiraj used to travel to a photo studio to take pictures of his creations. Ten years ago he started his website www.8mango.com . The idea for the naming the website came after he ate a mango. “The number eight is a numerical to denote past tense, ‘ate’. I ate a mango, during the rainy season, the ones which you peel off the skin. My mother saw the furry seed and said it resembled the head of an old man. I made Einstein out of it. That is when I started my website.”
For more information visit his Facebook page: 8mango.com.
