Justice. We’re coming to get it – the artist behind The Pink Lady

Jas Charanjiva, the creator of the Pink Lady, shares how this powerful image came to be. Though created in response to the horrific Delhi rape in 2012, we thought it was the perfect image to represent the upcoming Human Rights in Childbirth Conference.

I grew up in California living and breathing Bowie, discovering underground artists in skate magazines and falling deeply in love with street art culture. I was only 12 then and my dream was to one day move people with my art, create Change and rid the world of evildoers like a caped crusader.

Today, I am a street artist living in Mumbai, running a business called Kulture Shop with my fellow co-founders Arjun Charanjiva (Founder/CEO) and Kunal Anand (Art & Design Director). Kulture Shop is India’s premier artist collective comprised of the top cutting-edge, thought-provoking Indian graphic artists around the world. It’s also an art and lifestyle brand based around the artists’ work. This is where I created “Don’t Mess With Me,” better known on the streets as the Pink Lady.

I created her after the brutally fatal 2012 Delhi gang rape that rocked the nation, causing thousands of people to take to the streets.

In 2015, I began pasting her on the street.

She remained quiet with her BOOM knuckle dusters saying it all, but on Decemeber 20th she needed to say more. The only juvenile (just short of 18) involved in the gang rape had just been released that day. I called up my dear friend, actor, activist Poorna Jagannathan (behind the highly-acclaimed play Nirbhaya) and asked her what the Pink Lady should say on this day. I needed Poorna’s words as my words of dismay would’ve been too explicit for the Pink Lady.

“Justice. We’re coming to get it.” Poorna said.

I pasted the pink lady that night.

Several months later while the Pink Lady was gracefully fading under the Mumbai sun across the Bagel Shop in Bandra (as pictured above), Lina Duncan (Mumbai Midwife) spotted her. She clicked a photo and shared it with Ruth Malik (founder of Birth India) and Bashi Hazard of Human Rights in Childbirth. A few weeks later, they tracked me down at Kulture Shop. The rest is history! One that I’m humbled by and honoured to be a part of.

[Editors note: We want to express our gratitude to Jas for giving us permission to use the image of the Pink Lady. We hope the image can help us deliver the Justice, Dignity and Respect that birthing women in India are ready to claim.]

Jas Charanjiva and the Kulture Shop are supporting the upcoming Human Rights in Childbirth Conference in Mumbai India. Contribute by attending!

Sign this petition to make it mandatory that Indian hospitals declare their c-section rates!
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Jas Charanjiva
Artist and Designer
Jas is a muralist, illustrator and digital artist living in Mumbai. She is the co-founder and PR director of the Kulture Shop in West Bandra. Kulture Shop will have a booth at the upcoming Human Rights in Childbirth conference where one can buy one a 100% organic cotton flattering Pink Lady t-shirt.