Chennai's Water Warrior

In a city where summer ordeals remain an inevitable reality, 40-year-old Ganapathy Subramaniam and his team at 'Water for Voiceless' are on a mission to quench the thirst of strays. With a steady supply of free terracotta bowls that help people fill water for dogs & birds, they ensure the animals stay hydrated

- PRAVEENA S A @Chennai

WITH the Chennai summer trying to beat its own record every year, people are trying their best to stay indoors and away from the wrath of the heat, often forgetting the city's stray animals and birds. However, one man steps in, one water bowl in hand. Meet Ganapathy Subramaniam Shanmugham, a 40-year-old changemaker whose journey from a volunteer to the Chennai lead of Water for Voiceless is a testament to how compassion and action can transform lives—not just of humans, but of every thirsty creature under the sun.

Inspired by Jain Sunny Hastimal, the founder of Water for Voiceless (WfV), known before as the 'Water Pot Project,' Ganapathy has taken on the mission of ensuring that stray animals have access to water across the city.

The roots of WfV can be traced back to 2016, when Jain Sunny, haunted by the memory of accidentally killing a puppy at Tumkur in Karnataka, started offering water to strays and began distributing bowls to the public, encouraging them to place water.