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The Widows of Varanasi


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.

The meandering lanes of Varanasi are filled with such widows. Widows who do not have a place to call home. You will find them standing with whatever strength they have left. Their backs are bent, skin is wrinkled, bodies frail, veins vividly showing and skin slowly becoming wheatish. All the women stand bravely with their arms stretched out and palms opened. The women's ages may differ. But, they all are united by wearing the same white sarees, the same white pain smeared onto their foreheads and the same hopeless expression in their eyes. 

Returning to my first point; as soon as a woman wears a white cloth, her individuality is taken away. She is considered to be an outcast. It is believed that since practices like sati have been abolished, widows are free to love their lives as they desire. However, this is not true. These days widows may not jump into fire. Instead, they live in ashrams where they are treated with disgust and are ostracized. Older women are forced to beg for food and the younger ones are forced into prostitution. All the women are treated as if they have no place in society. All of this is due to the fact that they lost their husbands. Husbands who they loved dearly and whose loss devastated them. 

I believe that widows should be given respect. Respect for being brave enough to deal with such a huge loss. It is high time we give them the honour that they truly deserve. When their husbands die, a huge part of their life is taken away. Why do we further add to their pain by taking away the most important thing- freedom? The constitution states that Indians have the right of freedom. We are free to express our emotions, free to practice our religion and free to be ourselves. If we have all these rights, why shouldn't widows? What makes widows so different from us that they are stripped of their human rights? The fact that they lost someone extremely close to their heart is no reason to treat them as people who do not deserve a place in society. Dear readers, now you tell me if social evils have genuinely been eradicated from India?











 

 

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