Hindi
Environment & Wildlife film festival in Delhi to screen 74 films
NEW DELHI: A total of 74 thematic films from 16 states and 11 countries will be screened at the oldest and largest Environment and Wildlife film festival in India, CMS Vatavaran, next month.
The Festival on the theme of ‘Water for Life’ will be celebrating its 8th competitive edition and will be held from 9 to 13 October at the NDMC Convention Centre in New Delhi.
CMS Vatavaran 2015 will be an amalgamation of celebration and discourse with film screenings, forums on critical water issues, panorama of international film festivals, workshops on filmmaking, exhibitions, green haat and much more.
The theme is ‘Water for Life’ with a special focus on “Conserving our Water Bodies”. It seeks to mark the interconnectedness of water and life and raise concern over the rapidly deteriorating condition of our water bodies.
Some Bollywood films will be screened, incliuding Kaun Kitne Paani Mein by Nila Madhab Panda; and Aisa Yeh Jahaan by Biswajeet Bora.
Media and filmmaking workshops will also be held.
Guests expected at the closing are Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
There will be a talk on River Rejuvenation by Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati.
A Green Haat has been set up by the Environment Ministry with UNDP and exhibitions are by New Delhi Nature Society, and Anthony Acciavatti.
The fact that India has just four per cent of the world’s fresh water but 16 per cent of the global population is reason enough to begin a serious discussion on proper and effective watermanagement and conservation. CMS Vatavaran with its theme ‘Water for Life’ aims to do just that.
Several interesting endeavors on the theme ‘Water for Life’ apart from film screenings like seminars, workshops, exhibition, cultural performances and award ceremony focusing on the environmental, social and economic aspects of water conservation will be part of the film festival and forum.
Contemporary issues related to water and conservation will be deliberated upon by eminent conservationists, policy makers, environment journalists and the concerned communities in the forum.
‘Water for Life’ being a cross cutting theme necessitates a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder participation in discussions to address the issues in a holistic manner.
The American Centre is the Country Partner of the 8th CMS Vatavatan. A special curtain raiser programme will also be organised on the evening of 8 October in the presence of American filmmakers, guests and delegates. Seminars, workshops, book launches and talks will be organised in partnership with The Asia Foundation, GIZ, Arghyam, CSE, CEE, RSTV and WWF to name a few.
“CMS Vatavaran is doing a magnificent job, making people aware by arranging these festivals and taking them to different cities and involving more and more from the younger generation. CMS Vatavaran is a great platform to inform people about issues like wildlife conservation, sustainable technology and climate change,” said veteran filmmaker and actor Amol Palekar, who is head of the award jury.
“In the 8th competitive festival, we are focusing on water and problems in water management systems around the world to show the disturbing effects these choices have on human beings. The theme has been chosen keeping in mind the fact that the way water scarcity issues are addressed, impacts upon the successful achievement of most of the development goals,” added CMS director general P N Vasanti.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
