Prakriti belonged from the lower cast of chandals. She was a chandalini herself. Throughout her life, she has faced contempt and was detested by members of the higher caste as is the common fate of everyone belonging to the lower castes. She was considered ‘unclean’ and ‘untouchable’. As a result of the years of neglect and contempt, she had never grown to love and respect herself for who she is. However, when the Buddhist monk Ananda made her realise her worth, treating her with respect and even accepting water from her hands, despite of her being a Chandalini - a feat which was considered a blasphemy in those times- she was overcome with the newfound emotions of self-respect as well as regard, honor, and love for the monk who had changed her through his words “Give me water” and washed away the years of self-loathing in an instant. She found a new freedom as she says that it was a new birth which the monk gave her through his words. She felt she was as much a human as others and had every right to perform the common acts like others. An ordinary act of giving water to a wayfarer liberated her from the chains of societal pressure and hence, it became so significant to Prakriti.