Pangs of Widowhood in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Novel Water

Abstract

Since the dawn of time, gender inequity and sex discrimination have been the result of the human mentality. Internationally acclaimed author Bapsi Sidhwa has contributed significantly to the field of feminist fiction. Her magnificent novels are a mix of conflict and beliefs, sensibility and dignity, all of which are rooted in the Indian Subcontinent's historical, political, and socio-cultural context. Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel Water, set against the backdrop of Indian Freedom Movement, questions the orthodox religious traditions and the repressive restraints imposed on Hindu widows, pushing the bounds of India's male-dominated cultural narratives beyond patriarchal predicaments. She exposes the centuries-old practices that oppress women though her internationally acclaimed novels. The novel Water’s theme is contentious and complicated. It is about the plight of widows in India in 1930s. Water exposes traditional intrinsic indifference, fatalism, and orthodox conventions and injustice to women.