The Covenant of Water

 “She realizes she’s going so far away that it won’t be easy for her to visit home again.”

This is the beginning of Big Ammachi’s story—a 12-year-old child bride sent to her much older husband’s home. She must serve the needs of the household, and her mobility and agency will be limited,. Improbably, Big Ammachi and her husband grow to love each other, even though their lives are marred by tragedy.

“She’s forgotten what it’s like to see so many at worship, to feel bodies all around, to be part of the fabric instead of a thread torn from the whole.”

When Big Ammachi is first allowed to attend church, she is elated. The metaphor here reveals how important it is for Big Ammachi to be integrated into a like-minded community. The book, as a whole, shows the significance of interrelated communities and families.

“Digby was astonished to learn that a million Indian soldiers had fought in the Great War, and as many as one hundred thousand had died. Editorials opine that if Indians are to be conscripted into the British Indian Army to fight again, they won’t settle for anything less than freedom in return.”

In 1934, the rumblings of World War II have already begun. This history—that Indian soldiers were conscripted to fight in both world wars by the British empire—is still not well known. Of course, the editorials were correct: India will gain independence in 1947, just two years after the end of World War II.