Answers to some questions
Ruth Kapinskis

Bimala is being seduced by Sandip he is definitely a perpetrator and manipulator he is using his political standing and relationship with Nikhil to stay as a guest at his house so he can be close to his newest conquest Bimala. Sandip is relying on the naivety of Bimala and the righteousness of Nikhil to drive the situation and get Bimala.

What within Bimala’s religion or social situation would make her predisposed to behave as she does? That is, what is specific to the Indian culture and religion that might influence her education and readings?

Bimala was not exposed to male and female relationships before her marriage to Nikhil. The marriage as was tradition in India was arranged and she was chosen because she was not too beautiful and her palm was read by an astrologer who found her fit to be a good wife.
She was then married and moved in with her husbands family. Every girl dreams of being married and Bimala was very happy with her husband and her life until she was given attention by a man who used charm and calculated actions to seduce Bimala. Sandip by calling Bimala a Shakti the muse that motivates India, a goddess brain washes her into believing she has some magical powers. I believe Sandip is very charismatic and could convince the uneducated masses to believe and do what ever he wanted in the name of Mother India. Bimala was flattered and started to believe that she actually was Shakti incarnate. It was a ruse that engulfed her and caused great turmoil within her. Sandip is a snake.

Do you think there’s any way that Bimala might have avoided being treated as a Queen Bee?
I think that if she had a confidant, a close friend who could advise her and see the real Sandip for what he really was she may have had her eyes opened sooner. If her husband would have confronted her or told Sandip that he should leave. Her sister-in-law was trying to intervene on several occasions but Bimala views her as a snide trouble maker.

Are there any women within Indian culture that have been treated otherwise within social movements? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratibha_Patil First Woman President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa First Indian woman to win Nobel Peace Prize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijaya_Lakshmi_Pandit First Indian woman President of the United Nations.
and many more. In the past woman were considered equal to men then for a time in history they were not. Now in present day woman and man are equal by law even getting equal wages for doing the same job as a man. Something that we do not have as a law in the U.S.