An exhibition where children learn river conservation from personal stories

It was a story of struggle to protect the chemical industry from destroying their river ecosystem, a story which the people of Odisha’s Ganjam district never get to tell.

“My grandfather was part of the student community that protested against the chemical industry that destroyed the river ecosystem. He was jailed with 300 others from five villages,” said Lalita, a fisherwoman from the district, at the ‘Rivers of Life’ event in the city organised by the Azim Premji University.

At the 15-day event, tribal people got to tell their own stories without someone else constructing a story around them, providing youngsters, especially students, a peek into how various communities have strong memories of rivers.

Besides panel discussions, ‘Rivers of Life’ is putting together exhibitions, workshops, poetry, dance and theatre, offering a comprehensive presentation of memories, narratives and testimonials of triumphs and trials around conservation efforts. The event is timely as the Indian ecology is threatened by the twin forces of development and climate change.

“We want to re-establish and reinforce humanity’s emotional connection with rivers, which have always been more than mere water resources,” said Harini Nagendra, Director of Research Centre and Lead at the university’s Centre for Climate Change.

The exhibition features more than 75 stories from across the country — most of them first-person accounts from indigenous people, activists, and organisations. The stories are timelined with images and video clips from ground zero, which are tagged to maps.

It also features success stories that would instill hope in visitors and encourage them to think about solutions. The tale of Narmada Bachao Andolan is told through photos and diary entries of the activists who stood against dominant narratives to bring positive change.

“This is a place where we want the visitors, especially children, to think of the river as being more than a resource.

“More than 300 persons have worked for six months to create and curate the event,” said Kunal Sharma, a faculty at the varsity.

In a day, nearly 500 students from city schools visit the exhibition.