They have no electricity, they collect their water from the well, and they live off the land. In their humble abode in the middle of the forest, the family lives largely without modern luxuries. The death of Indir was disturbing enough, but the death of a child, with so much life ahead of her, is a particularly tragic event for the family, and they are driven to leave the ancestral home by this tragic event. Then later, after playing in the monsoon for too long, Durga falls ill and eventually succumbs to death. The two children, Apu and Durga, are disturbed to find her lifeless body in the forest. First, Indir dies after being thrown out of the home. We see the ways that poverty has made the family treat the old woman as more of a burden than a wise member. In one impactful shot, we see Indir sitting outside the home looking as if she is a beggar, dirty, hungry and weary from life with no one to bring her in from the harshness of the world. The only kind treatment she receives is from Durga, who steals fruit for her, and shares a special connection with her. She needs food and shelter, and she cannot provide for herself, as her body is in poor condition. She is forced to leave multiple times, and wanders out into the world without protection, in spite of her age and ailments. We watch as Indir is treated quite harshly by Sarbajaya throughout the film. When Apu is born, Durga finds in him a partner in crime, and the two of them enjoy all of the whimsy of childhood together, teasing one another and engaging in exciting adventures in and around their home. She is unaware of the concerns of the adult world, and wanders blissfully through the playground of her childhood, traipsing through the forest and finding pleasure wherever she can. In the beginning, we see a young Durga stealing fruit from a neighbor and giving some to her elderly aunt Indir. While the film does not exclusively focus on the realm of childhood, a great deal of time is spent looking at events from the perspective of Durga and Apu. Ultimately, Ray's film shows the difficulty of poverty and the pain that it causes. First Indir dies after being turned away by Sarbajaya, and then Durga dies of a horrible fever. While they manage to keep their spirits up in the face of great struggle, in the end the cycle of poverty only gets worse as death comes twice upon the family. Sarbajaya does her very best to keep her kids fed and in line while Harihar seeks work and dreams of becoming a writer, someone the town respects and a man who can educate his son. We watch the family struggle over a period of years to get by and attempt to get out of the debts that hover over them. Poverty is a major theme in Pather Panchali.
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