Water Poem (01:56)
A poem about the ocean and other bodies of water by Rabindranath Tagore is displayed along with scenes of Indian people bathing, drinking, and washing things in the water along beaches. A young woman, Bharathi, sings softly while she rocks a baby.
First Story: Birth - Bharathi (05:55)
Bharathi visits a doctor who assesses her health and pregnancy. The young woman has been fetching water from the well as part of her daily chores since she was a child. The work is difficult and causes pain.
First Story: Birth - Bharathi Continued (07:27)
Bharathi describes the work she does and her struggle to obtain water. A drought has plagued the land with barren fields, leaving people without crops to sell or eat. Bina Agarwal of the Institute of Economic Growth talks about the condition of water in India and the contamination of the groundwater that leads to disease.
Second Story: Growth - Seema (05:10)
A young woman explains that fetching water for a large family in India is time consuming and exhausting. She says that the men do not think of water in the same way that women do.
Second Story: Growth - Seema Continued (07:22)
Agarwal tells of the way men and women's responsibilities regarding water differ. Men hold more responsibility in irrigating crops, which happens only seasonally, while women do water-related work year round as well as the cooking.
Third Story: Development - Nanda (06:03)
Monsoon season in Mumbai sends rain water into a lake, but drains in slums are blocked, so houses flood and people sleep in filth and mosquitoes without light or air. People in India have become consumers of water, using it in larger and larger quantities without collecting or producing it. Nanda describes the two-hour window each day where the slums have access to water.
Third Story: Development - Nanda Continued (08:03)
Agarwal tells about unequal distribution of wealth and resources in India; while some people water gardens and waste water washing their cars, impoverished people in Indian society barely have enough water to drink or to use for sanitation. Anna Ferrer highlights some of the issues associated with the lack of restrooms for the impoverished population of Indian people.
Fourth Story: Death - Laskhmi (05:10)
The lowest caste in India is the only group of people that can touch lifeless bodies of animals, so they are forced to do difficult labor that the other castes do not share. The untouchables are considered unclean and dirty and must use chemicals in their work that they are not protected from, causing their lifespans to be severely stunted.
Fourth Story: Death - Laskhmi Continued (09:42)
Severe pollution in India has turned the bodies of water into unusable and ugly things to be passed by quickly rather than enjoyed. Poly Hazariki of the SNDT University of Mumbai says that the rivers are like drains, collecting trash.
Credits: Women and Water (01:09)
Credits: Women and Water
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