Arogya Bindu: the mosquito-repelling kohl dot

What I did

The idea was mine: don't fight the kala teeka, upgrade it. I ran it hands-on from concept through the product, the pack and the launch with ASHA workers.

What was broken

Every year in India, mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue kill large numbers of children under five. Families in tribal settlements are hit hardest, accounting for around half of these deaths: they live in open houses, often with no doors or windows to close.

What we noticed

Mothers across India apply a kala teeka, a black kohl dot, to their newborns. They believe it protects the baby from disease, death and the evil eye. It is one of the few things almost every mother does, every day.

What we made

Instead of challenging the tradition, we upgraded it. We took the traditional soot formula used to make kajal and fused it with eucalyptus and citronella oil extracts. The result is Arogya Bindu, a kohl dot that actually repels mosquitoes.

It is skin safe, lead free and DEET free, and it protects for up to four hours. The pack borrows the look of the kajal tins mothers already know.

Try it

Move over the photo. You're the bindu, and the mosquitoes keep their distance.

An infant wearing the Arogya Bindu kohl dot

How it actually happened

Arogya Bindu launched in March 2023. ASHA health workers distributed it directly to mothers in tribal settlements and showed them how to apply it.

It cost about ₹20 per household, so a family could afford to keep using it.

The bragging bit

50,000mothers reached

2states

4 hrsof protection per dot

₹20per household

“Instead of challenging an age-old tradition, we reinvented it to create a mosquito-repelling formula.”
Mukund Olety, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R India