For over five decades, Sanctuary Asia has supported Dr. Rajendra Singh's remarkable mission that he has pursued through the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) - an organisation rooted in reviving rivers, restoring ecosystems, and rekindling hope. In 2025, Sanctuary honours him with the Lifetime Service Award, celebrating a life dedicated to water, community and compassion. Nearly 25 years after our first interview with him (Sanctuary Vol. XIX No. 5, 1999), Bittu Sahgal, speaks with him again to reflect on his journey, to understand how water became his teacher, and to ask how people power, women's leadership, and faith in nature can still heal our world.
Rajendra, you began your career as an Ayurvedic practitioner, studying the science of life. What direction has your life taken today? Any regrets?
Yes, I studied Ayurveda and was even part of the government service. But everything changed the day Mangu Kaka from Gopalpura village said to me, "We don't need your medicine or education, we need water." That moment transformed my life. I set aside my formal learning and began acquiring a different kind of knowledge: the wisdom of the land, passed down through the experiences of Mangu Kaka and Nathi Balai, a respected elder of Gopalpura who inspired me to work harder and keep studying. From them, I learned the true science of life.
Ayurveda taught me about health and balance, but the villagers taught me about the living heartbeat of the Earth. They were not conventionally educated, yet they were truly wise because wisdom comes from working with one's hands, from living close to the land. Education can help us learn, but it can also distance us from labour. Their knowledge, born of experience, became my teacher. I have no regrets, only gratitude.
As the founder and president of the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), a grassroots organisation he established in 1975, Dr. Rajendra Singh has dedicated his life to restoring harmony between people and nature. Photo Courtesy: Tarun Bharat Sangh.
When you began your work in Bhikampura, the system opposed you. Some even wanted you jailed... yet you hold no resentment. How do you remain so calm?
Opposition should never be met with more opposition. The true response is work, guided by goodwill. I learned from Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) that we have no enemies. The moment we see someone as an enemy, society begins to break. Social work demands that we engage even with those who curse us or try to stop us.
This is what gives our life moral strength and peace. When we act with compassion and restraint, we cultivate both passion and tranquility. Walking this path is how we can build a naturally prosperous India.
Today you are known as the 'Waterman of India'. Your work in the ravines of Chambal helped transform lives, even leading bandits to lay down their guns. How did this happen?
The so-called rebels of Chambal lived by theft and robbery, but their families suffered deeply. Their women carried the greatest burden. We began by working with these women, bringing water to their fields, restoring the land's fertility, and showing that prosperity flows where water flows. When the soil came alive again and crops began to grow, the women found new strength. They convinced their husbands that farming, not fighting, was the true path to dignity.
And so, in the ravines of Chambal, women took guns from the hands of men and replaced them with shovels. Today, those same men live peaceful lives as farmers. Water brought peace to Chambal, made possible through the leadership of women.
Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh, with Govardhan Meena, Sanctuary Nature Foundation. Both are working closely on a project supported by Morningstar India, to enhance the water regimes outside the boundary of the Rathambhore Tiger Reserve! Photo Courtesy: Govardhan Meena.
In this era of escalating climate crisis, the world looks to you as a solution-provider. What do you see as the root cause of the problem, and what do you think of the global solutions being discussed?
Global discussions on climate change have yet to yield true solutions. Real change begins not in conference halls, but in the soil beneath our feet.
By conserving water, we revived the earth's greenery, and that greenery captured carbon, enriching the soil further. This cycle of renewal is how we adapt to climate change: by cooperating with nature and its processes, not fighting it. When water returns, trees grow, and people rediscover peace, happiness and contentment. Climate change adaptation and mitigation both depend on changing human behaviour - restoring our relationship with water, soil, and life itself.
Besides the Arvari river, which you and your team revived, which other major rivers has TBS successfully revived?
Alongside the Arvari, TBS has successfully revived the Ruparel, Sarsaa, Bhagani, Tildeh, Jahajwali, Sabi, and Maheshwara rivers in the Alwar, Jaipur and Dausa regions; the Icchanahalla in Gadag, Karnataka; the Agrani and Mahakali in Maharashtra, and 11 small and large rivers of the Chambal region such as Sairani, Parvati, Badyah, Nehro, Bhavani, and Tevar. Over 35 to 40 years, these rivers have regained perennial flow. And when rivers flow again, the culture and civilisation along their banks are reborn.
Rajendra says, "Ayurveda taught me about health and balance, but the villagers taught me about the living heartbeat of the Earth. They were not conventionally educated, yet they were truly wise because wisdom comes from working with one's hands, from living close to the land." Photo Courtesy: Tarun Bharat Sangh.
That's phenomenal! These are real climate solutions. Can people power solve the climate crisis? Why don't governments seem to recognise this truth?
No government can solve the climate crisis alone because climate is ultimately a matter of water and air, and how people live with nature. Until people learn to love and respect their water, soil, forests, and wild creatures, true climate adaptation and mitigation will remain out of reach. People power, supported by governments and communities alike, is the only path forward. Only through collective responsibility can humanity heal the planet.
Do you feel hope or despair today?
I am deeply hopeful and completely at peace. Whatever we have learned from our people and whatever work we have done with them, wherever we have worked, we have achieved success. Wherever we have worked with love and faith, we have succeeded because we treat our work as sacred duty. Love leads to faith, faith to devotion, dedication and reverence to work. This has never failed me. I draw endless strength from this work, and it fills me with new energy every day.
Alongside the late Professor G.D. Agarwal, Dr. Rajendra Singh recognised the irreversible harm that would be caused by hydroelectric dam projects on the Bhagirathi river, a vital headstream of the Ganga. They led a determined campaign that achieved an unprecedented victory: for the first time, both the Central and State Governments formally acknowledged the need to preserve the uninterrupted flow of the Ganga. Photo Courtesy: Tarun Bharat Sangh.
I asked you this question 25 years ago and I am asking it again: What is the best way forward for humans and wildlife parks in India?
I remember that question well. The key lies in bringing forests, wildlife, and people together through water conservation. When water enriches the land, forests thrive, wildlife flourishes, and people prosper. If we want our forests and animals to grow, we must first awaken love, respect, and trust in the hearts of those who live closest to them. When trust grows, conservation follows naturally.
You have received many awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay and the Stockholm Water Prize. Have these honours helped further your mission?
Yes, I've been fortunate to receive many honours, both in India and abroad. The Stockholm Water Prize (2015), often called the Nobel Prize for Water, and the Ramon Magsaysay Award (2001), known as the Nobel Prize of Asia, are among the most significant. Each award has given me a platform to inspire others and to spread love, respect, and trust for nature.
Conserving water, and reviving greenery that captures carbon and enriches soil, is how we can adapt to climate change, Dr. Singh says. Photo Courtesy: Tarun Bharat Sangh.
Both of us work closely with women and children. How can we offer them realistic hope?
Indeed, women and children are at the heart of our work. If children do not learn to understand, love, and respect nature, they will not protect it. If we love our children, we must consider it important to instill in them an understanding of their connection with other living beings. And women, the creators of life, deserve our deepest gratitude and respect.
That's why the guiding mantra of my life is 'Neer, Nari, Nadi'. In Hindi, we say: नीर - नारी - नदी = नारायण, नारायण, नारायण, नारायण, which translates to "Water, Woman, River - all are divine". In Sanskrit, neer (water) and nara (human) share a root; Narayana literally means "the one whose first abode is water". Lord Vishnu, resides in the depths of the Kshira Sagara (ocean of milk) in Vaikuntha, which is why he is called Narayana, symbolising the sacred connection between water and life itself. When we honour Neer, Nari, and Nadi, we honour creation, and through that reverence, we secure our future.
By helping people strengthen their relationship with nature, we are automatically gifting them realistic hope for the future.
