THEME

(A) What Happens When Faith and Conscience are in Conflict

Question #1 in the Learning Guide refers to this theme in the film.

5.   Remember Shakuntala's long look at the end of the movie? What does that look mean? Suggested
Response: Here are a few of the possible responses: (1) she is turning to face her life, a life in which she
had given up Chuyia, the one person that she had come to love; (2) her faith was gone and the years of a
life of privation without the assistance of her faith stretched out before her; (3) Shakuntala is thinking of
the terrible things that were done to young girls for the benefit of the ashram; (4) she is thinking of
Kalyani and how she had hoped that Kalyani would be going away with Narayan; (5) she could not go
back to the ashram after having taken away a necessary source of income (prostituting Chuyia) and she
is thinking of the very difficult life that she now faced; (6) she is looking at us, the audience, to share the
despair at her situation, the horror of what she has just seen, or for help; (7) she is just reflecting after
having made a leap of conscience and faith to give Chuyia to Gandhi; or (8) she was still in shock about
what happened to Chuyia and that she has had to send Chuyia away.

6.   There was one other character in the film, other than Shakuntala, who had to decide between the
traditional faith and prejudices of society and the demands of conscience. Who was it and what was the
decision? Suggested Response: The character was Narayan. Most Indian men would not marry a widow
and almost every man of his time would insist that his bride be a virgin. These traditional beliefs,
however, collided with Narayan's understanding of Kalyani's situation and his love for her. Kalyani had
not been a willing prostitute. It was against Narayan's conscience that she should suffer for something
she had been forced to do. (Some might suggest that another character torn between faith and tradition
on one side and conscience on the other was Kalyani. She did have a dilemma. But her choice was
between tradition/faith and love and hope for a better life. Kalyani's dilemma did not involve her
conscience.)

7.    What would you do if you were convinced that the requirements of love and respect conflict with
the rules that your religion has set down as proper conduct? Suggested Response: There is no one
correct response to this question. A strong argument could be made that Gandhi's solution is best, to
strip faith down to its essence and throw away all the rules that conflict with the basic ideals. However,
this can be a slippery slope leading to unethical conduct. The best example is Narayan's father who
allowed himself to believe that as an upper caste Brahman, he was conferring a blessing on Kalyani by
sleeping with her. He picked the wrong element of his religion to stress (the caste system) and threw
away the important ones (caring for others; not hurting others, respect for others). Obviously, this was a
contention motivated by self-interest.

8.   The priest tells Shakuntala, that whatever happens, she should not lose her faith. Was this good
advice? Did she lose her faith? Suggested Response: It all depends upon what he meant by faith. If her
faith was that the way of action should be determined by love and respect (and the rules of conduct
derived from them, see for examples the The Six Pillars of Character), then he gave her good advice. If
he meant the belief in god of whatever form she adhered to, then the advice was good. If he meant the
specific rules of conduct set down in ancient texts, such as the rules prohibiting widows from
remarrying, then this was not good advice.

(B) The Weight of Tradition

9.   Why didn't Kalyani just leave the ashram or fight harder for her love and her life? Suggested
Response: Where was she going to fight from? She lived in a society bound by tradition. She was
uneducated and didn't know about Gandhi and the changes he was promoting. She had no money. She
had no friends. She had no place to live. She didn't know anyone who would help her. She was certainly
justified in believing that Narayan wouldn't help her after she had served as a prostitute for his father.
Most men at that time wouldn't even consider marrying a woman who wasn't a virgin, and this was
worse.

10.   In this film, Shakuntala and Kalyani faced similar crises. What were they and how did they resolve
them? Suggested Response: The crises were the challenges to their faith and the traditions of their
society. At the beginning of the movie, both women accepted the restrictions placed on widows by what
they believed were the requirements of their religion and by their traditions. At the beginning of the
movie, both of them accepted the fact that young widows would serve as prostitutes so that the ashram
could survive. During the movie both of them rejected these concepts. Another way to say it is that
widows were not supposed to find love. Both of them, however, did. Kalyani came to love Narayan and
Shakuntala came to care for Chuyia as if Chuyia were her daughter.

11.   Why didn't Shakuntala get on the train with Chuyia? Suggested Response: We aren't told the
reason and it is left ambiguous. But whatever it was, she wasn't ready to make the complete break with
her faith, with tradition and with her life as a widow. Unlike Chuyia, she was not going to be prostituted
if she returned to the ashram. Chuyia, being a mere child, had more to live for than a woman who had
been a widow and lived in the ashram for many years.

(C) The Oppression and Abuse of Women in a Patriarchal Society

12.   In a patriarchal society in which women do not have rights, what happens to women who are not
under the protection of a man? Suggested Response: They are often taken advantage of.

13.   What is the most subversive line in the film? Chuyia says it. How do the adults around her react?
Suggested Response: The line is: "Where are the houses for the men widows?" The widows around her
react with horror that anyone could think of visiting such a terrible fate on their men. This is extremely
ironic because their men have no compunction about making the widows' lives miserable.

14.   What of the male spiritual counselor's statement that, "We only follow the laws that benefit us"?
Certainly, following the law would have benefitted widows. Who was the "us" he was referring to?
Suggested Response: The laws were made by the British occupiers. The Indians didn't participate in
making the laws and felt that they had no obligation to obey them. Apparently, the men in India didn't
object to the treatment of widows. According to Narayan and many other commentators, the
motivation was economic. When a widow was sent away, not only was there one less mouth to feed,
one less Sari to buy, and more room in the hut, but also businesses were often family affairs and if the
widow was sent away and had no rights, the brothers got the share that would have gone to the widow.
The "us" meant "Indian men".

(D) Can Someone Forced to Live in Corruption Like Kalyani Retain her Integrity?

15.   Kalyani quotes a saying attributed to Krishna: "Learn to live like a lotus untouched by the filthy
water it grows in." What does this mean, why does she need to believe this, and what role does this
saying play in the organization of her personality? Suggested Response: This means that even if she is
forced to be a prostitute she can still be a good person. This piece of religious faith allows her to
compartmentalize the prostitution from the rest of her life and retain her sense of self-worth. The
metaphor of the lotus is central to the organization of Kalyani's personality. However, when she
discovers that one of her "clients" had been Narayan's father, she comes to believe that the outside
world will no longer allow her to maintain this compartmentalization and that the taint of her
prostitution will destroy her one chance for happiness. This is too much for her and she commits suicide.
She underestimates the power of Narayan's love for her.

16.   What do you think about the lotus verse? Can a person live among corruption and not be tainted?
Suggested Response: There is no one correct answer to this question. Certainly, it takes a very
extraordinary person to pull this off and for most of us it is impossible. The message of the movie is
equivocal. Ultimately, Kalyani decided that after having loved Narayan it was impossible for her to
maintain her integrity if she allowed herself to be prostituted again. She underestimated the strength of
Narayan's love and didn't think he would come back for her.
THEMES in Water

(A) What Happens When Faith and Conscience are in Conflict

1.   Remember Shakuntala's long look at the end of the movie? What does that look mean?

2.   There was one other character in the film, other than Shakuntala, who had to decide between the
traditional faith and prejudices of society and the demands of conscience. Who was it and what was the
decision?

3.    What would you do if you were convinced that the requirements of love and respect conflict with
the rules that your religion has set down as proper conduct?

4.   The priest tells Shakuntala, that whatever happens, she should not lose her faith. Was this good
advice? Did she lose her faith?

(B) The Weight of Tradition

5.   Why didn't Kalyani just leave the ashram or fight harder for her love and her life?

6.   In this film, Shakuntala and Kalyani faced similar crises. What were they and how did they resolve
them?

7.   Why didn't Shakuntala get on the train with Chuyia?

(C) The Oppression and Abuse of Women in a Patriarchal Society

8.   In a patriarchal society in which women do not have rights, what happens to women who are not
under the protection of a man?
9.   What is the most subversive line in the film? Chuyia says it. How do the adults around her react?
What is ironic about this?

10.   What of the male spiritual counselor's statement that, "We only follow the laws that benefit us"?
Certainly, following the law would have benefitted widows. Who was the "us" he was referring to?

(D) Can Someone Forced to Live in Corruption Like Kalyani Retain her Integrity?

11.   Kalyani quotes a saying attributed to Krishna: "Learn to live like a lotus untouched by the filthy
water it grows in." What does this mean, why does she need to believe this, and what role does this
saying play in the organization of her personality?

12.   What do you think about the lotus verse? Can a person live among corruption and not be tainted?