The Unabridged Journals of Karissa Gupta

I, as an Indian have been hearing tales ever since I was born about practices that used to take place in my country. These practices involve women sacrificing themselves, their lives and their freedom when their husbands die. Yes, I am talking about Sati and the fact that widows were not allowed to remarry. However, I was always told that such things have been abolished long ago. Times are changing, they say. But, if times really are changing, how does one explain the horrifying truth regarding what the widows of Varanasi go through? In the city of Varanasi when a woman's husband dies, her life is rendered meaningless. She is forced to wear white attire as a religious symbol. Apart from being humiliated by forceful wearing of white garb, women are required to shave off their luscious locks and wipe clean any traces of being married. The holy water of Varanasi washes away happiness that was once possessed by them. After all of this, they are driven out of their own so called homes. ...