In this book Bapsi Sidhwa
adapts Deepa Mehta’s controversial film ‘Water’. The setting is based on the
backdrop of Gandhi’s rise to power in India of 1938. The story revolves around the life of an eight-year-old
girl named Chuyia. Chuyia is a child-bride who is abandoned away from her
village at an Ashram, when her fifty-year-old husband dies. Like all the other widows
there at the Ashram, she is expected to spend the rest of her life in penitence.
Despite her young age Chuyia becomes a source of change in the lives of other widows.
Madhumati, the eldest widow in
the Ashram supplies widows to rich clients through a eunuch named Gulabi.
Chuyia’s friend, the young and beautiful Kalyani, is also used for prostitution
by Madhumati- the patronizing widow. Kalyani falls in love with Narayan, a young
Gandhian of the upper class.
Narayan informs his mother
about his choice for marriage. His mother is displeased and shocked. The
traditional balance of culture, morals and religion are under threat, according
to his mother. For Kalyani, this would mean challenging the balance of power in
the Ashram. With that, it would also mean defying openly the religious dictates.
Bapsi Sidhwa has beautifully shown details of the characters, societal
intricacies, moral fabric, class system and hypocrisy of the upper classes.
The story ends with Kalyani’s
death when she is left in a state of despondency. Chuyia’s fate changes when
she climbs the train with Shakuntala. Shakuntala is upset as Madhumati has
forced the young Chuyia into prostitution. She does not want that to continue. Narayn promises Shakuntala to take Chuyia’s responsibility,
as he had already promised Kalayani. Narayan is on Gandhi’s train march and leaves
his native town with Chuyia. This novel offers a great insight to the lives of
widows in colonial India. A very rich and detailed narration by Bapsi Sidhwa
keeps her reader attentive throughout the novel. Worth reading!
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