In June 2016 alone, over 90 people in India were killed by lightning during the monsoon season. Most of them were farmers working in remote areas, with no means of protecting themselves from lightning strikes. Varuna, one of India’s biggest submersible pumps and open well motors manufacturers and a brand committed to sustainable agricultural solutions, tasked us to design a solution that could tackle the issue. With a limited budget, our objective was to reduce rural casualties from lightning strikes, with a view to broaden the scope of the campaign so that it could be implemented across India in the near future.

The Life Saving Scarecrow was designed to tackle the issue at its geographical point of impact, rural India, with the express objective of reducing farmer casualties and saving the lives of agricultural workers during the monsoon season. But the Scarecrows function went further than grounding electricity through a lightning rod. As artistic sculptures, the Life Saving Scarecrows also became a source of cultural pride for farmers since they beautifully represented rural farm life. Therefore, the scarecrows were cherished not only for saving lives but also as works of art. Each piece became a focal cultural point for the villages in which they were installed. The environmentally friendly sculptures were even constructed out of recycled scrap metal.

The Life Saving Scarecrows employed simple design elements that directly spoke to our target audience. The 8-foot-tall scarecrows incorporated a lightning rod to channel lightning into the ground and create a safe zone for farmers in the event of a storm. Designed to reflect daily rural life, the Life Saving Scarecrows also became cultural focal points for each village. They became representative of each rural area. The structures themselves were environmentally friendly and created out of recycled scrap metal. Each Scarecrow had a lightning rod, copper coil, copper cable and ground rod to safely earth any lightning strike. By partnering with local authorities, farmers were also educated about how the Scarecrows worked and what they could do to protect themselves during storms.