Deepa Mehta has made an incredible movie, Water, that affected the depths of my soul. In a nutshell -- during the British colonial period of India and around this time of Gandhi, Chuyia, a child of 7-8, is given into marriage to a much older husband. He dies shortly after, and Chuyia is returned to her parents who then send her to "the widows' house." This young girl does not understand that her parents have abandoned her and that she is destined to live unvalued and shunned for the rest of her life. The other elderly women, all widows, live with the same fated life. Chuyia, like all widows, has just three options: to marry the husband's younger brother (if agreed upon by the families,) to kill herself at the time of her husband's cremation, or to live a life of celibacy with other widows. Even thought a new law permits a widow to re-marry, it is not accepted practice.
A second parallel plot involves another young and beautiful widow, Kalyani, who befriends Chuyia and meets and falls in love with Narayan who wants to marry her. When he comes to take her to his home to meet his family, as they cross the river to go to his family estate, Kalyani recognizes that his house is the same house where she had been forced to visit as a "prostitute," to be with Narayan's father. Throughout the movie I asked myself-- what will become of them, Kalyani and Chuyia? With so few options the observer is faced with the stark and real world of women in that time and place. The reality is, I feel certain that there are women today who have limited options and are forced into exile, slavery, and prostitution.
As I was watching this movie, water became a powerful metaphor for the lives of both Kalyani and Chuyia. It reminded me, too, of the book and movie, Siddhartha, which I teach in the fall. Our lives are a lot like water sometimes, as a universal theme. The tide's current sometimes takes us where we do not want to go. How apt is this movie, and how much I respect Mehta for working so hard to make a powerful movie. Definitely a 5 star winner.
