New Delhi, Feb. 21 -- In December last year I was reading a book on stepwells of India, around the same time I had a group of rambunctious teens in the house. To save myself from hearing K-Pop Demon Hunters' Golden for the nth time, I decided to sit them all down and talk about the fast-vanishing sites. Within minutes, I knew this was a lost task as I attempted to evoke stories of dynasties behind some of the most iconic baolis and vavs in the country. I even attempted to link these sites to modern-day challenges like groundwater depletion and water scarcity, but I was met with glazed looks.

Things started to look up earlier this year, when during a visit to Ahmedabad, I dragged my daughter along for a day-long trip to Patan to see the U...