Indian Musicians unite for a “We Are The World” Like Project on World Water Day

A National Water Movement finds its calling Music is such a powerful social glue that it seems to bring us all closer to each other as one community. So whenever there has been a crisis in the world, musicians have always stepped in to resonate their voice and catapult it into a movement. One of the biggest moments in history has been the creation of the "We Are the World" project, where artists came together to unite to raise funds for the famine in Africa. Back home, India, the second-most populous country in the world, is staring at a severe water crisis as it nears 'Day Zero' conditions when the taps run dry. Predictions of water tables being affected as early as 2020-2030 have been prominent stories within the nation. As a social enterprise, IdeaHive Media Pvt Ltd felt it was time to build a project that snowballs into a national citizen's movement, with a vision to bring citizens across all sections of society to unite for reversing the effects of the crisis. And to support this cause, what could be more apt than getting the support of musicians to create a movement within the country and talk the language of water through the platform of music.

IdeaHive Media's flagship project Paani Ka Teeka has designed an integrated project, which will work at multiple levels of advocacy and impact at the grassroots level. It is aimed to bring support to 1000+ water-stressed villages of India as one of its major impact mechanisms, besides working on bringing a behavioral change across the nation. Paani Ka Teeka has partnered with Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) as its knowledge partner, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Emergy Enviro (A SINE IIT Bombay Company) as its Advisory and Technical partners who will work closely to make this project into a national movement. Ayiye Hum Sub Saath Milkar, Iss Desh Ko Paani Ka Teeka Lagayein !! with a patriotic line, as its signature line…Paani Ka Teeka is probably the answer to India's "We are the World" Moment.

Paani ka Teeka has the support of the legends of Advertising and Music - Piyush Pandey and Louiz Banks who are reuniting after the iconic 'Mile Sur' anthem and have garnered the support of music industry leaders like Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Vishal Dadlani, Harshdeep Kaur, Neha Bhasin, Pankaj Udhas, Salim Merchant, Sivamani, Mame Khan, Rakesh Chaurasia, among others to join hands with the campaign for water consciousness. "It's a blessing to be able to get the support of industry leaders and domain experts who have believed in our vision with Paani ka Teeka. The objective of the campaign is to make this project a citizens' movement and work towards a water-secure India," said Dilip Moorkoth, Founder of Paani Ka Teeka and the Director of IdeaHive Media Pvt Ltd.

"Music has the capacity to bridge cultures and create momentum. If you look back in time, artists have always risen to the times and needs of the nation. It gives me the utmost pleasure to come together along with my music industry friends and to team up yet again with Piyush Pandey. The vision created by IdeaHive for the Paani Ka Teeka project is definitely a great roadmap to a national water movement" said veteran musician Louiz Banks. Ad Guru Piyush Pandey said: "Water is critical for life and I'm very happy to collaborate with 'Paani Ka Teeka' and Louiz Banks to make a small contribution and spread awareness in India about the necessity of saving water. I am honored to be part of this journey." "A 'We Are The World'-as a story for India is a great idea for building a national water movement. I am glad to be a part of Paani ka Teeka's vision, as the entertainment industry joins hands to be the voice for the most precious thing in the world today – Water" said Salim Merchant. "Over the last few years, we all have started witnessing changes in the weather pattern. During such challenging times, it is our responsibility to stand up for the cause of water conservation. Paani Ka Teeka is a step in the right direction and I'm happy to work closely with Paani Ka Teeka and spread the message of a need to secure this precious gift of nature" said Shaan.

"I'm happy to be part of Paani Ka Teeka's vision for a national water campaign, I am positive that the energies of the music industry and the domain experts together will go a long way in building this into a Water Positive India," said Vishal Dadlani "We need to start planning not only for us but for the future generations as well and music is just the right medium to connect us all as a nation to work towards a common goal. I'm very excited to be associated with Paani Ka Teeka's vision, and together, and I'm positive that we have set on the right track with this national movement." said Shreya Ghoshal "Music has always connected generations towards a cause. Water needs the attention of us all. I extend my full support to the campaign, and having seen the plans, I'm more than happy to be part of this historic project. I sincerely hope our joint efforts are able to bring a huge impact to the cause" said Pankaj Udhas About us: Paani Ka Teeka - Founder: IdeaHive Media Pvt. Ltd. IdeaHive Media Pvt. Ltd. is a social enterprise, created with a vision of building initiatives that enable a better community around us. IdeaHive specializes in the creation and management of Social Impact Projects across varied subjects that matter to the nation and our people. Their key focus is to best utilize integrated marketing and consumer engagement mediums to create awareness, facilitate behavioral changes, give voice to pertinent issues that affect society and through the support of domain experts, bring impact on the ground. Paani Ka Teeka - Knowledge Partners, Advisory & Technical Partners WOTR: (Paani Ka Teeka – Knowledge Partner)Establishedin 1993, the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) is a non-profit that engages at the intersection of practice, knowledge, and policy across scales and in collaboration with stakeholders from across sectors. Headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, the WOTR group has worked and supported work in over 4,800 villages across 8 Indian states, namely, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha. It has impacted more than 3.70 million beneficiaries and trained over 475,000 persons from 27 states of India and 63 countries and collaborated with 230 NGOs/ Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs). NEERI: National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by the Government of India. It falls under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Central Government and is a pioneer laboratory in the field of environmental science and engineering. The Institute earned recognition from various international bodies, such as WHO, UNICEF and UNEP as Centre of Reference for environmental science and technologies. NEERI was nominated as 'Stockholm Convention Regional Centre on Persistent Organic Pollutants for Asia Region' in September 2010 and has been endorsed as the 'Regional Centre for Capacity Building and Technology Transfer' at COP-5 Meeting held at Geneva.

ATREE: The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), is a global non-profit that generates interdisciplinary knowledge to inform policy and practice to achieve environmental conservation and sustainable development. ATREE is the 2nd highest ranked socio-environmental think tanks in Asia (www.atree.org). Emergy Enviro: EMERGY Enviro, a SINE IIT Bombay company was established to provide solutions to Environmental Issues. Professionals from India and across the globe, researchers, experts from IITs besides in-house experts have collaborated to offer a wide range of strategic and tailor-made solutions for specific environmental and sustainability issues PWR PWR