Water

Water, a poem by Challapalli Swaroopa Rani highlights the gender discrimination that existed from times immemorial.  She tries to explain it with many comparisons and the first one is: The water is aware of the ground's incline and it knows how people have struggled through generations and this is compared to the dampness that always exists near the well as that part never dries.  In the same way, this discrimination is never going to end.

Water is a witness to the difference of race between the Samaria women and Jesus the Jew.  It is believed that the Samaria women are supposed to be the ones who are treated very badly as they belonged to the lowest caste and it is believed that Jesus who was offered water from such a lady was gracious enough to accept it.  Water is aware of the difference that exists between the cobbler and the weaver.  It means even the sub-caste difference is very clearly highlighted.

Panchama is supposed to be the 5th set in the varna category and these were considered to be lower than the Shudras and were never provided an opportunity to draw water from the well and they were forced to wait near the well with an empty pot till a considerate Shudra comes there and draws water from the well.

Water again is a witness to the humiliation that the wada girl had to face always when water was drawn and while pouring it into her container, a part of it would spill and wet her clothes and this intentional act was the highest because they would hardly get water, added to it, humiliation was of the highest degree.

A lady called Karmachedu Suvarthamma as the one who raised her voice and supported a Dalit boy who was being beaten by a group of youth.  She who had come to collect water from the tank raises her pot to stop the boy from being attacked for the reason that he requested the youth to not pollute the water by cleaning their cattle in the tank.

The poet recollects how her wada people would wait thirsty for a glass of water.
The poetess describes that water to them is not simply H2O but a mighty movement and she compares that to a struggle at the Chadar tank, the Mahad struggle:  It is believed that all the Dalit men and women one day went to Chadar tank and dipped their hands into the waters only to proclaim to the village people that they were opposing the norms.  For people like the poetess, a single drop of water makes them recollect tears shed over generations.  There were many battles fought for a single drop of water and in this process many people lost their lives and yet, they couldn't get a small puddle of water.

The poetess at her own community appeared to be a cursed one because there were occasions when the community doesn't have an opportunity to take a bath every day, on the other hand, the entire village could luxuriously bathe twice a day.  This clearly narrates the pathetic state in which the Panchamas were and that is the main reason for their living.

Whenever the poetess gets an opportunity to recollect her childhood, she is able to remember the pain that she and her friends experienced when they had to carry heavy pots and their necks would start aching very badly. They had to walk miles to reach a canal and almost had to steal water from there.

In a village called Malapalle, there was not a pot of water and all the houses of the people were mercilessly put on fire.

Water may appear to be a simple thing but its greatest quality is that it can give life as well as take it away.  There are occasions when the water could not satisfy a thirsty person but it would transform into a tsunami wave that nearly swallowed many villagers.

Water has the ability to turn villages into dry deserts or drown them in floods as people are just like helpless play objects in its cruel hands.

Water has been the cause of fights between states, between villages and in this process, many people have been seriously wounded and some have even lost their lives. Whatever be the nature of water, off late, it has been transformed to sit innocently in a Bisleri bottle. It means, if human beings have the ability to purchase water, they can truly do so now.  Earlier, many women like the poetess had to struggle to get even a small pot of water but now it has been transformed into a multinational market commodity. It has created a great revolution and in doing so, no human being is discriminated.  It is believed that water is present everywhere and it can take the whole world in its strive.