By the Vrishabhavathi River Monthly Gathering• June 2026
A heartfelt thank you to each one of you who chose to spend your Sunday morning By the River.
There was something very special about today. The conversations were open and heartfelt. There was concern about what we have done to the Vrishabhavathi, but there was also hope and a real sense of connection with the river.
As we listened to each other, it felt like the Vrishabhavathi was slowly becoming more than a river we talk about. She was becoming a river we were beginning to connect with and care about.
Some called her Amma. Some Tai. Some Mother. Whatever we call her, perhaps what matters is that we begin to see her as our river. And that we become her voice.
We hope the conversations from this morning don’t end by the river. Talk about the Vrishabhavathi with your neighbours, children, parents, friends and colleagues. Talk about where she flows, what has happened to her and what she could become again. The more people who know their river, the more people there will be to care for her.
A special thank you to Ramaa for the beautiful poetry. It helped us connect with the river in a way that maps, data and facts sometimes cannot.
By the River is still a very young effort. We are learning what it can become with each gathering and with each one of you who comes.
We hope you will come back. To sit by the Vrishabhavathi again. To listen to her. To learn a little more about her. And slowly, to see what we can do for our river.
Participants Sharing
By the river Collection- By Ramaa
I live on the river
It nourished my soul to sustain
Was I always here? Or came from somewhere far?
Questions wise beings and travellers all sought
The life giving, wisdom-bestowing, providing river
But the questions have stopped
No one comes here
My soul struggles to find nourishment
Beings, not so wise anymore
I still exist around
**************
A tiny trickle
A stream, a brook, a rivulet
Breaking ground, moving a mountain
Slowly steadily creating a path
Strings of droplets reflecting the sky
And landing authoritatively on the stones
Gurgling along
Water? Or were they thoughts Shaping me
***************
Thayi, Amma, Maiya- that’s what we call you
You birthed civilisations and made humans; you taught us the cycle of time and to feed ourselves
We took everything you had, you only knew how to give
Vicious us! That we refuse to acknowledge your presence
That we have diminished your dignity
And yet you refuse to die before us
Knowing silently we won’t know how to survive without you.
*********
A river, beginning from a spring
Finds it’s way to the ocean
Through forests and cities, mountains and plains in constant motion
It’s calm, it’s tumultuous, it trickles, bounces and falls
It gathers, it always changes itself
To stay within the banks in all weathers
The banks, the only strong silent and constant companion of the ever changing river
It’s nurture beholding their love together
For eternity, for the river of life to flow.
