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While the plight of Vrindavan widows is well-known, the recent report on them being denied dignity even in death, is shocking.
Till the other day I imagined that I had read all about the plight of widows in Kashi or Vrindavan, and that I could empathize with their plight. I knew of the sexual exploitation of widows by the pandas, the police and the pimps; I knew that they were paid a pittance for singing bhajans for hours on end; I knew of their shaved heads and the taboos relating to food and clothes; and I knew they died lonely deaths.
I believed that death would be a blessing for these unfortunate women till I learnt that the bodies of widows who die in the government-run shelters in Vrindavan are taken away by sweepers at night, cut into pieces, put into jute bags and disposed of (by throwing the bags into the Yamuna), as the institutions do not have any provision for decent funerals.
One such institution, started by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2006 and run by a non-governmental organization called the Akhil Bharatiya Maa Sharada Samaj Kalyan Samiti, says on record that it is not their responsibility to arrange funerals of these hapless women.
No, I am not hallucinating. I am quoting media reports which rely on a study (Plight of Forsaken/Forlorn Women- Old and Widows Living in Vrindavan and Radius) by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Mathura. The DLSA in its report quotes Mithilesh Solanki, a widow living in Swadhar Mahila Ashray Kendra, Chaitanya Vihar (Vrindavan), to reveal this horrifying state of affairs. The report says, and I quote, “the bodies of widows who die in government-run shelter homes in Vrindavan are taken away by sweepers at night, cut into pieces, put into jute bags and disposed of as the institutions do not have any provision for a decent funeral. This, too, is done only after the inmates give money to the sweeper!”
I thank Sapna Tripathi, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mathura and Vijay Bahadur Yadav, Chairman (DLSA) and District Judge, Mathura for bringing this horrific state of affairs to light, and I wonder if people like you and I can do something about this.
I am a former bureaucrat, and have worked a lot on gender issues, disaster management and good governance. I am also the proud father of two lovely daughters. read more...
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Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
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