A MUSICAL threading together the stories of Australia's and India's main rivers, the Murray and the Ganges, will be staged at Parramatta Riverside Theatres on Saturday week, February13.
The Bharatiya Sangeet Academy production Ha Murray Ganga features dance and Aboriginal music.
The director, Kakoli Mukherjee, wanted to tell how important the rivers were to their countries and how both were endangered.
``Water is important but predictions are that in 20 years the Ganges will be dry,'' she said.
``The Murray is the lifeblood of Australia but it's also in danger.''
She said she got the idea for Ha Murray Ganga when she visited Albury.
``The Aboriginal people are so attached to the river, to the land. When I approached them with my idea I found there were a lot of cultural similarities with Indians.''
Mrs Mukherjee said the message was that everyone was part of the human family and all had to look after the environment if humans were to survive.
She said almost all the actors and other participants in the musical were volunteers and for now they could only afford to stage it once.
``But if I can get this message of the destruction of our rivers to just a thousand people maybe they'll talk to others.''