Central Themes in the Movie “Water” Essay

Water, a chef-d’oeuvre written and directed by Mehta Deepa, explicates widows’ suffering in pre-Gandhi India. This film is set in 1938 when as India sought freedom from the British colonial rule, widows fought another battle; the ostracism battle. Any major artistic work during this period would focus on prominent figures like Mahatma Gandhi and the likes. Nevertheless, Mehta chooses to speak of a rather forgotten group; widows, who have been suffering under the hands of retrogressive religion; “a religion of social structure that emphasizes ritual practice” (Lecture Notes, 2010). The religion in question here is Hindu fundamentalism. Water is an “exquisite film about the institutionalized oppression of an entire class of women and the way patriarchal imperatives inform religious belief” (Catsoulis, 2006). This observation caps it all as Mehta exposes the dubious dealings of male involvement to ‘bend’ religion to suit their needs. Throughout this masterpiece, the issue of dharma, liberation, and religious geography operates through theme and character development.

The film opens on a sad note as an 8-year old Chuiya becomes a widow through the loss of her husband. According to Hinduism fundamentalism at this time, a widow has to spend the rest of her days in an ashram atoning for the sins that might have caused the death of the husband. Hinduism, just like any other traditional culture, “naturally, assumed their points of view to be absolute” (Fisher & Bailey, 2007). Consequently, Chuiya is not exceptional and she finds herself in an ashram. Upon her arrival, she meets fourteen widows packed in a dilapidated shack that would easily pass for a pigsty, under the watch of a pomp overseer, Mudhamati. Chuiya believes that her stay in this ashram is only temporary for she hopes her mother will show up one day and take her home. Unfortunately, as days pass by, she realizes her dreams might remain just that, dreams; as long as she does nothing about her liberation.

Nevertheless, a lot awaits Chuiya and as days go by, she befriends Shakuntala, an indifferent, reserved but confident woman, probably in her early seventies. Chuiya realizes that Kalyani, the only young and beautiful woman in this ashram, sports long hair, owns a pet dog, and stays upstairs, privileges not enjoyed by anybody else around. She later learns that Kalyani is the ashram’s moneymaker through prostitution. Sadananda is the ashram’s priest who dutifully recites scriptures to the widows even though the majority of them do not seem to believe it save for Shakuntala, the only devotee of this retrogressive religion. As the movie unfolds, Narayan, a follower of Gandhi falls in love with Kalyani only to realize that his father, a Brahmin, is a client of Kalyani in the prostitution business. Mehta uses these characters to highlight the issue of dharma, liberation, and religious geography. The moment Chuiya steps into this ashram, the quest for freedom starts.

As aforementioned, Chuiya is very young and at the age of eight, she seems oblivious of happenings around her. She does not conform to the systems of this ashram for she cannot understand any. “The arrival of Chuyia, a bewildered 8-year-old whose husband has just died, creates turmoil in the ashram” (Catsoulis, 2006). The turmoil created here is in pursuit of freedom. Chuiya’s defiance and inspiration cause even Shakuntala to question her faith, something she holds dear. She wonders, “What if our conscience conflicts our faith?” (Mehta, 2005). It is important to note at this stage that, it is hard to divorce the quest for liberation from resistance. There has to be resistance for liberation to come. The quest for liberation in this movie follows the same route as resistance and liberation works hand in hand. For instance, Chuiya defiles all the norms of this place from the time she comes in. Kalyani on her part defiles all the odds and resists being transported across the river Ganges for prostitution. Moreover, she agrees to marry Narayan; something unheard of in this ashram. Mehta deliberately uses these scenes to expose how widows badly needed freedom during this time. After questioning her faith, Shakuntala joins the bandwagon to push for their freedom.

Shakuntala is the only devotee of the dominant Hinduism fundamentalism that requires widows to remain ostracized for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, change is inevitable and as the air of freedom quest flows through the ashram; Shakuntala joins forces with the rest. Her first act of defiance comes out when she deliberately opens the door for Kalyani who has been thoroughly beaten after Madhumati learns of her plans to marry Narayan. This is an act of boldness, loudly calling for freedom at its least expression. On her part, Kalyani decides it’s time to break from this religious fundamentalism and marry Narayan to enjoy life just like any other woman. Unfortunately, as she approaches her newfound love’s house, she realizes his father has been her client in the prostitution business. She chooses to go back only to drown herself in the River Ganges. This is a form of liberation, even though it happens in death. Mehta develops these characters to bring forth the theme of liberation and how it later happens in the ashram. After Narayan realizes his father has been sleeping around with widows, he seeks to know why this is so. Unfortunately, to his chagrin he learns his father, a Brahmin is well covered under dharma and this raises the issue of the same, dharma in Water.

Dharma is “an ancient sage in Hindu mythology worshipped as a god by some lower castes” (Murthy, 1966). Narayan goes to his father an enraged man and seeks to know why he sleeps around with widows. His father indifferently retaliates, “Brahmins can take any woman they want… (Mehta, 2005). This shows how the Brahmins exercise their high status to exploit the lower castes. From the definition of dharma, there is an element of worship. The response that Narayan gets from his father is a clear indication of the presence of worship. Gods can do as they please without explaining any of their actions to their subjects. This is the true picture the Brahmin paints here. He does not have to explain any of his actions whatsoever. Conventionally, the worshiped entity can do as it sees right and Narayan’s father sees right to take Kalyani to bed. To show how mighty they are as part of the Brahmins, he even advises his son to take in his concubine as a mistress. Why is this so?

The worshipers consider it pure blessings when they meet their gods whom they owe something for the blessings passed on under association. True to this, the Brahmin states clearly, “…such women are blessed” (Mehta, 2005). This explains why Narayan’s father feels it is right for Narayan to take Kalyani in as a mistress. Even after Narayan makes it clear to his father that it is against the Holy Scriptures to use the lowly in the society wrongly, the Brahmin has no apologies to offer; after all, gods can break the rules for they belong to them. Through this, Mehta brings out the issue of dharma by showing how lower castes worshiped the higher ones and this principle underscores the principle of dharma. In this case, Kalyani and her likes are the lower castes; the ‘worshipers’, while the Brahmin is the worshiped, Dharmarism at its best. Earlier on, Narayan mentions the Holy Scriptures, and thus usher in the last element of this analysis, religious geography.

The issue of widows spending the rest of their lives is purely religious. Interestingly, according to Blum, this religion is strictly restricted to the orthodox Hindus (2010). The fact that this practice is reserved only for a particular group of Hindus living along the river Ganges underlines religious geography. People from the other side of the river Ganges do not believe in this ashram thing, and this explains why Narayan dares to marry a widow confined in an ashram. “In reality, the strict rules were never applied across all geographic regions and castes” (Lecture Notes, 2010). This reality emphasizes how this religion was geographically restricted to this place along Rover Ganges. Religious geography defines the association between geography and religion. Mehta chooses the river Ganges strategically to exploit this idea. According to Radhakrishnan, River Ganges is “An Asian River which rises in the Himalayas and flows east into the Bay of Bengal; a sacred river of the Hindus” (1923). The confinement of an ashram close to a holy river explicates the idea of religious geography. The naming of this river probably emanated from its religious importance and this rationale underscores the issue of religious geography as Mehta puts it across. India’s issue was to foster her religion and this drive segregated some parts which cherished and practiced these practices.

There are different reasons why India would have these religious practices which later culminated in religious geography. ”… I feel that India’s mission is different from that of others. India is fitted for the religious supremacy of the world” (Lecture Notes, 2010). In a bid to uphold her mission of religious mastery in the world, India chose to root for these religious practices and as Mehta expounds in Water, some places like those bordering river the Ganges were religious geographical. Some of these names like “Ganges’ also came from religious affiliations symbolizing holy places.

In conclusion, Water is a must-watch film for those interested in knowing the far contemporary society has come to be where it is today. The theme of liberation stands out conspicuously in the movie through theme and character development. Chuiya stirs up the quest for freedom and even though it takes sacrifice to attain it, some widows if not all, achieve it. For instance, Kalyani achieves her freedom through death. As the film closes, Chuiya gets to taste freedom as she leaves the ashram on a train accompanied by Narayan. The Brahmin brings out the issue of dharma. Narayan’s father feels he has the right to take to bed any woman he wishes because he comes from a higher caste than the woman in context. On religious geography, Mehta uses the sacred River Ganges and strategically places the ashram along with it, to achieve religious geography. Again, Water is a movie worth watching as it explores deep but pugnacious religious practices that ostracized widows in pre-Gandhi India.

Works Cited

Blum, Laura. “Movie Reviews: Water.” 2010. Web.

Catsoulis, Jeannette. “Water: Under the Heel of Britain and the Thumb of Hindu Law.” The New York Times, 2006, Web.

Fisher, Mary, and Bailey, Lee. An Anthology of Living religions, Second edition. New Jersey; Prentice Hall, 2007.

Lecture Notes. “Introduction to the Study of Religion: Asian Studies.” 2010.

Lecture Notes. “Hinduism II; Differentiation.” 2010.

Lecture Notes. “Hinduism III: Modernity and Contemporary Issues.” 2010.

Murthy, K. Krishna. “Dharma – Its Etymology.” The Tibet Journal. 1966, 21(1); 84–87.

Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. Indian Philosophy. New Delhi: Oxford India, 1923.

Water. Dir. Mehta, Deepa. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2005. Film