// Shamsul Basunia//
Self-immolation, sati, on a husband's pyre may have been banned
in India, but life for many widows in India is still disheartening as they are
shunned by their communities and abandoned by their families.
"I used to wash dishes and
clothes in people's house to earn money, but the moment they heard that I am a
widow, I was thrown out without any notice," said 85-year-old Manu
Ghosh, living in Vrindavan, a city in the Northern Indian
state of Uttar Pradesh.
Vrindavan is home to more than
20,000 widows, and over the years, many shelters for widows run by the
government, private enterprises and NGOs have mushroomed in the city. The city,
which is considered holy by Hindus, has become known as the 'City of
Widows'.
"I had to sleep on the
street as even my family abandoned me after my husband's death. I was married
off to him when I was 11 years old and he was 40.
"My daughter died of
malnutrition as I could not give her food since nobody wanted to help a widow.
"After her death, I
decided to come to Vrindavan. A woman should die before her husband's death so
that she doesn't have to live through hell like this," Gosh says.
The women often live in acute
poverty and are ostracized by society due to various superstitions - even the
shadow of a widow can wreak havoc and bring bad luck, people believe. Lack of
education and any source of income forces them to beg on streets and many turn
to prostitution for survival.
"My children threw me out
of the house after my husband died," says Manuka
Dasi. "I try to earn money by singing devotional songs in
temple and manage to get one meal for the day. I am just waiting to die so that
I can be out of this life of misery."
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