Essay by Nahar Trina. In Bengali, published in the Galpopath webzine.

Are motherhood and a woman’s own being or physical and mental desires really contradictory? […] A deep and complex expression of this idea can be seen in two very powerful analytical writings by essayist Farah Ahmed, in Saadat Hasan Manto’s famous short story ‘Mummy’ published in 1914 , Mahesh Manjrekar’s film ‘ Astitva ‘ made in 2000 and Deepa Mehta’s much-discussed film ‘Water’ made in 2005. Farah Ahmed shows how these narratives from different eras and media are woven with the same thread and how they put the artificial framework of motherhood, religious reforms and social hypocrisy on the dock..