Flowing conversations for water conservation: WfW to hold Water Fest 2025 at Prayagraj

By A Representative

In the wake of the recent tragedy at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, where a stampede on January 29, 2025, resulted in the loss of at least 30 lives and left many others injured, the WforW Foundation is proceeding with the planned Water Fest 2025 on January 31 and February 1, 2025.

The event, themed 'Flow and Say' (बहने दो, कहने दो), aims to foster open dialogues about water conservation and management.

The Water Fest 2025 seeks to create a platform where individuals can share their insights, concerns, and solutions related to water issues, promoting a collaborative approach to water conservation. The foundation believes that, especially in times of tragedy, it is essential to come together as a community to address pressing environmental challenges.

Bringing together water experts, environmentalists, students, and citizens to engage in meaningful conversations about water conservation and sustainable management, the festival draws inspiration from the idea that water and knowledge remain pure when they flow freely. Just as water moves across lands, connecting ecosystems and civilizations, knowledge about water should also flow freely across disciplines, regions, and beliefs.

The event will encourage discussions on water conservation and its cultural, ecological, and spiritual significance, fostering a collective effort to address water-related challenges.

Allahabad-Prayagraj, the city of the Triveni Sangam—where the sacred rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati meet—holds immense cultural and spiritual importance. Hosting Water Fest 2025 during Maha Kumbh Mela, where millions gather for a holy dip, provides a unique opportunity to spark vital conversations on water purity, pollution, and conservation.

The two-day event will feature interactive sessions, storytelling, and creative expressions, allowing participants to walk, talk, reflect, and act on water issues. On January 31, 2025, participants will take part in a Walk n Talk Water Matters session, where they will discuss water-related challenges at local, national, and global levels. Water Connects – My n River’s Life will encourage reflection on the parallels between life’s journey and a river’s course. In From Be Like Water to I Am Water, attendees will explore what it means to embody water’s adaptability and resilience.

On February 1, 2025, the event will continue with If River Could Speak and Seek, allowing participants to express rivers’ concerns through poetry, storytelling, and song. Me, Ma Ganga, and My River at My Place will encourage personal connections between participants and their local water bodies. My Water Footprint and Cleansing will provide a self-assessment opportunity, prompting behavioral changes for increased water conservation and reduced pollution.

These sessions will be conducted in a Pecha Kucha format, featuring diverse expressions such as speeches, arts, music, poetry, and dance, fostering a deeper appreciation of water.

Water Fest 2025 is being organized in collaboration with multiple NGOs under the theme ‘Kalash’. Key partners include Development Alternatives, Mangal Bhoomi Foundation, Centre for Policy Research, OISCA-ALAR, and HCL Foundation. The Sansera Foundation and Eco Development and Research Cell Ahmedabad are funding partners, while the Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI-WRC) serves as the knowledge partner.

The WforW Foundation has successfully hosted previous editions of Water Fest. Water Fest 2023 ("I Am Water") was held at TISS Hyderabad, drawing 70+ participants daily. Water Fest 2024 ("Water Connects") took place at IIT-BHU Varanasi, with over 100 participants each day.

With an expected turnout of 200+ participants, Water Fest 2025 aims to bridge the gap between concerns and solutions while emphasizing that "water is everybody’s business."

---

Click here for concept paper

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

Search This Blog