[3] The painting shows three colourfully dressed women contemplating a destiny they are unable to change.

Amrita Sher-Gil did not sensualise her women but instead portrayed them as facing great adversity yet having the spirit to transcend a destiny that they were unable to change.

[4] Sher-Gil wrote:[1] I realized my real artistic mission, to interpret the life of Indians and particularly the poor Indians pictorially; to paint those silent images of infinite submission and patience,... to reproduce on canvas the impression those sad eyes created on me.The painting reflects the influence of the works of French painter Paul Gauguin on Sher-Gil's work.

[6] There, the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung, requested that it be delivered to him, along with the Nude of Indu.

[7] Hoping that he would purchase it, Sher-Gil also sent him Villagers, and extended her visit, but he returned it, commenting that he had "no use for these Cubist pictures".