Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Water, realistically presents the situation of women and, in particular, widows in colonial India in 1938. It exposes gender inequality and doubles standards that govern that society for no other reason than that imposed by tradition. Sidhwa has complexities in its characters, which make them very human and very real, and the widows' reactions to each other and to the world outside the ashram create a feminist message. Water poses the issue of gender inequality in India by presenting a realistic and typical situation and allows readers to draw their own conclusions as they experience the complexities of Indian culture. The most obvious example of inequality or mistreatment of women is Chuyia's situation of becoming a bride and soon after widowed at the age of eight. Becoming a widow she is forced to take refuge in the ashram and isolate herself from the rest of society. This is a common situation in India because tradition holds that “a woman is recognized as a person only when she is one with her husband” (Sidhwa 14). This shows that society considers women useless unless they are under the control and service of a man. Additionally, this tradition means that women are married off as soon as possible to secure their future and purpose in life, while men may wait longer to get married. In Indian culture, men are worth more than women, and the novel shows this fact by comparing Chuyia's marriage situation with Narayan's situation. Chuyia has no say in who she marries because she is a woman, and her marriage depends entirely on her father, who marries six-year-old Chuyia to a forty-year-old man. Even though Chuyia's mother tries to stop the wedding...... middle of paper......t “Moving almost imperceptibly from the commonplace to the horrific, Water engages the reader” (Jaiarjun). It does more than rail against a feminist agenda; calls readers to action by involving them deeply and firsthand in the atrocities that are taking place against women. Works Cited Arora, Kamal, Saydia Kamal and Usamah Ahmad. “Water: Infused with Colonial Benevolence.” Seven oaks. 05 October 2005. Web. 13 April 2010. .Seton, Nora. "Honor to the abandoned." Houston Chronicle (2006). Network. 5 April 2010. .Sidhwa, Bapsi. Waterfall. Toronto, Canada: Key Porter Books Limited, 2006. Print.Singh, Jaiarjun. "Vorcini sul Ghats." Indian Express (2006). Network. April 5 2010. .