In this age of Kalpana Chawlas, Aishwariya Rais and Sonia Gandhis it is sad to know that such heinous practices like discrimination of widows still exist. There are fourteen thousand odd widows living in institutionalized hell in Vrindavan,Mathura,India
Widows of Vrindavan
There are fourteen thousand of them,Carrying the ghosts of unforgettable past,
Singing Bhajans: "Mere to Girdhar Gopal..."
To a God who never smiles on them;
The Widows of Vrindavan
Marginalized by society,
Hiding in the garb of piety,
They perform their daily Pooja chores,
Trying to hide their bleeding sores,
Buried deep within their souls,
Souls, hollowed to their cores;
Overlooked by every one
The Widows of Vrindavan...
Married at twelve
Widowed at fourteen,
She mourns for a husband
She hardly knew,
That too at a time
She could not comprehend
The meaning of the word: Husband,
Life has taught her, at every bend-
Like a living 'curse', she on others descends-
Paying for someone else's death,
By a life which is living hell,
Paying penance for her 'sin',
She never committed on the nearest of kin,
Living with a sense of guilt-
Imposed on her by the religious guild-,
She often wonders:
"Won't it be better to be killed?
To be burnt on the 'funeral pyre',
Then to burn in this living fire,
Of guilt and sin,
And nameless desire...?"
Shorn and shunned by every one...
The Widows of Vrindavan...
Considered a 'bad omen'...
The Widows of Vrindavan...
Age-old heinous practices of society,
Perpetuated under the garb of piety-
Though, declared 'crimes' by our sense of propriety-
Still, continue to erode, I say with anxiety,
The very fabric of our society,
When man's hunger and insatiety,
Of ruling over the 'women of notoriety',
Continues unabated, as if he is Almighty...
In twenty-first century still,
She is considered a 'Bad Omen'...
The widows of Vrindavan...
With Radha mocking,
Govida making fun...
The widows of Vrindavan...
"Mere to Girdhar Gopal..."
(My God and Lord is Krishna),
My future dark and dun...'
"O When my savior, Kalki,
Will you ever come?"...
Sing the Widows of Vrindavan...
Author: Zoya Zaidi
Aligarh, (UP), India
Copyright©: Zoya Zaidi
In the medieval India, widows were made to shave their heads off, wear coarse white clothes, eat frugal meals (minus spices, believed to excite sexual desires), which they prepared themselves, sleep on bare floors or at best on rough mats; singing, dancing, even humming was a big no-no! Needless to say that remarriage was unheard of... Sad to say, such practices exist even today There are a total of three million widows in India....
In ancient Indian practice of 'Sati', women were burned alive on the 'funeral pyre' of their husband; this act of supposed self-emollition was considered holy and pious. By performing 'Sati' their place in the heave was ensured. Satis were even worshipped and temples were built in their honour.
Photo: Widow face; Geeta Devi from Nepal, marriaed and widowed one month later at the age of five; according to the age- old Hindu tradition never remarried.
http://www.sikhspectrum.com/012003/widows_h.htm
Poetry by Zoya Zaidi
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Written on 2005-10-02 at 13:29
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