Synopsis for the Film

Two small villages in southern India now desperately trying to cope with dwindling water resources- from this very grass root level, Bittersweet Waters telescopes out into the history, the politics, the society and the developmental paradigms of a nation and explores and critiques the policies and decisions that have lead to the present state of affairs, thus offering a fresh take, a reality check on all that we have been taught to believe in. The movie takes us deep into history- to the Chola period where one of the first instances of water management in the country can be found and examines how the ‘water issue’ had been central to the creation of the caste system which has since persisted over the years. Next it spotlights the post-independence days of the Green Revolution where in order to boost the economy of a primarily agrarian nation, irrigation was promoted but so were chemical fertilizers that while spurring the yield gradually made the land fallow and toxic. Later it examines the ‘bore-well fad’ which gripped the nation that ended up depleting the ground water resources before moving on to the phenomenon of the rise of the cities- which shifted the focus of the authorities and policy makers away from the villages. It is an important document of how the times have changed for this nation of ours, a reminder of our past mistakes and a cautionary tale for the future.

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