A visit to ‘Rivers of Life’—an educational initiative by Azim Premji University, Sarjapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka—was successfully organized by the Department of Liberal Arts and Humanities (DLHS) of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Bengaluru campus on 15 November 2022. A total of twelve students—first semester students from MA Multimedia Communication, MA English Language and Literature and BA English—and three faculty members (Dr. Girish, Dr. Swathi Shivanand and Ms. Sumathi) attended the event.

The group first attended a photo exhibition. The photo exhibition included images of river ecosystems and how anthropogenic interventions are leading to ecological degradation and erosion of traditional livelihoods. Some of the themes included how pollution was affecting our environment, rivers and its tributaries, lakes, deforestation and natural calamities as also how initiatives are being undertaken to revive ecosystems.

The group then attended was an educational talk by a group of indigenous tribal men and women from the Badaga and Toda communities from the Nilgiris. One of the speakers spoke about the importance of Grasslands and how the communities used to be self-sufficient generations ago. They spoke about their early lives in the Nilgiri hills, and how they are more inclined towards spirituality. They also spoke about the importance of the indigenous people, the distinctive nature of their vocabulary and how they are different from many other languages. Apart from the informative knowledge about their indigenous culture and tribe they also showcased a dance performance; a folk dance of their tribe and people from the audience also joined them in the group dance which made it more fun and exciting.

The last event the group attended was a talk by environmental journalist Nidhi Jamwal of Gaon Connection. Ms. Jamwal spoke about the ways in which journalists have to undertake environmental journalism and the changes that have taken place in this arena of reporting. She talked about how climate change has affected the modern world and the evolution of climate change.

The visit to the ‘Rivers of Life’ event introduced students to aspects of climate change, the kinds of initiatives being undertaken by organisations and collectives across the country, the impact of anthropogenic-led climate change and how they could involve themselves in these initiatives through the mode of journalism. It provided a great opportunity to learn practically through demonstration, interaction, and exchange of information.