<DIV>The renowned author Bapsi Sidhwa and the equally renowned filmmaker Deepa Mehta share a unique artistic relationship: Mehta adapted Sidhwa&#8217;s novel <i>Cracking India</i> for her brilliant film <i>Earth,</i> and here, Sidhwa adapts Mehta&#8217;s controversial film <i>Water</i> to the printed page. <BR><BR>Set in 1938, against the backdrop of Gandhi&#8217;s rise to power, <i>Water</i> follows the life of eight-year-old Chuyia, abandoned at a widow&#8217;s ashram after the death of her elderly husband. There, she must live in penitence until her death. Unwilling to accept her fate, she becomes a catalyst for change in the widows&#8217;s lives. When her friend Kalyani, a beautiful widow-prostitute, falls in love with a young, upper-class Gandhian idealist, the forbidden affair boldly defies Hindu tradition and threatens to undermine the ashram&#8217;s delicate balance of power. This riveting look at the lives of widows in colonial India is ultimately a haunting and lyrical story of love, faith, and redemption.</div>