In the poem ‘Water’, the speaker recalls several instances taken from the life of the Dalits to highlight the disparity between the Dalits and the upper caste people in their lifestyles. 

The speaker states that water is witness to the Panchama’s plight when he goes to the pond or tank to collect water. Since he does not have the right to draw a pot of water directly from a well, he waits all day near the well until a shudra arrives there and fills his pot. Next, the speaker mentions the humiliation of the Wada girl, when she receives water poured from a distance. Some waterfalls on her body and she felt humiliated.

Later, the speaker articulates the righteous indignation shown by Karamchedu Suvartamma, when she raised her vessel to ward off an attack by the Kamma youths against the Dalit boy who asked them not to pollute their drinking water. These instances illustrate how the Dalits were discriminated against using water from a public well.

The speaker recalls how people in the Wada would thirst all day for a glass of water while the villagers had a lot of water to drink and bathe as and when they wanted. On the other hand, the people in the village enjoyed the bath twice a day, because they had plenty of water, and the Dalits were made to forego water on the pretext of untouchability. Next, the speaker narrates how in her childhood they walked miles and miles to collect water from the big canal and walked back carrying heavy pots of water on their heads, with the veins in their neck straining and bursting.

Finally, the speaker recalls how several thatched huts in Malapalle were reduced to ashes for want of a pot of water to douse the fire.