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The Sentinel CMYK CMYK JUNE 30, 2018 POTPOURRI Karishma's Fashion Charisma Useful Apps & Websites Sight & Sound Recipes from the Pocket Casts, Stitcher for Podcasts, 'Aru Kunu Nari Gandhari Award Winning Author Handcent Next SMS and others Nohoba' - a Visual Treat Mridula Baljekar Lights, Camera & Action Present Status of Widows in India vis-a-vis International Exploring the Art Buddhadev Nandi Unlike other UN days, International Widows Day is the society. Besides, an age gap between men and wom- of Filmmaking observed without much hype and fanfare. Unobtru- en during marriage and the increase in life expectancy, sively, the day takes place annually on 23rd June with particularly of women, are the two major reasons for a view to raise awareness of the violation of human the jump in the widowed population. In India, about with rights that widows suffer globally. International Wid- 10% of the country's female population is plodding ows Day was first launched by the Loomba Founda- through dreadful widowhood. According to census 2011 tion in the House of Lords in London in 2005. The data, India's population in 2011 was 121 crores and of Prerana B Loomba Foundation, aiming at alleviating the plights this, 5.6 crores were widowed with women outnum- of the widows globally, attracted the attention of the bering men by a great margin. India, leaving behind United Nations to declare International Widows Day China, has become the country with the largest num- in 2010. The first International Widows Day was ob- ber of widows in the world. All the southern states in served by the United Nations Organization on 23rd India have a significant percentage of their respective June, 2011. populations widowed, that is nearly 6% against the Unfortunately, after eight consecutive years of the average national percentage of 4.6%. observation of the day, the plight of the widows in It is also a global problem. There are estimated nearly India still seems to be hushed-up stories, despite a 260 million widows globally. One third of widows substantial number of ill-fated women existing world- worldwide reside in India and China. The number of wide, thanks to widowhood; traversing through a pains- widows is soaring alarmingly in the Middle East and taking and humiliating living condition-physically, North Africa. The number of widows rose to 24% mentally, socially, economically, psychologically, emo- between 2010 and 2015, partly because of the Syrian tionally and what not. War and civil wars in African countries. The number of Needless to say, the demise of a marital partner, spe- girls widowed in childhood is rising because of the cially the bread earner, is always a catastrophe in a prevalence of child marriage in developing and unde- family. There is plethora of problems confronted by veloped countries. Besides, there is a tendency of aged widows particularly in India. Denial of inheritance is men to marry young girls. What could be more mesmerizing than a heart, which feels that campus and pushing those heavy doors, to see my mother work. the foremost among them. Despite the existence of the According to Loomba Foundation's World Widows life, in itself, offers a huge resource of life-building blocks, and This, definitely, has carved a positive impact on me. And, I realize Hindu Succession Act 1969 making women eligible to Report, one out of seven widows globally is living in that a smile on a face helps in cementing them? What could be it now. My mother is also a lyricist and a poet. We are like best enjoy equal status with men, majority of them are extreme poverty. As most of the women's status is sharper than the eyes that never miss out the details, including friends, we work together now. She is my producer and we are co- deprived of land rights and other immovable proper- inextricably entwined with their husbands, the wid- the ones that are not visible outside? Well, we are talking about writers. It is a wonderful bond that we share beyond the mother- ties. They are even evicted from their homes. They are ows are in deep waters immediately after the demise of a person, who is immensely graceful, positive and meticulous. daughter relationship. Both the parents are a big support to me. accused of their husbands' death, to project them as their hubbies. She has studied Psychology, but she has the knacks of a What is your daily routine like? inauspicious and to also deprive them of burial rights. The 8th International Widow Day was observed on 23rd June, 2018. The main objectives of the observa- productive & methodical filmmaker, which she is. Born just a There are two schedules for me, based on whether it's a weekday In this regard, the observations of Lucy Carroll, a fa- day before the Valentine's Day, this Guwahatian lady (a mother mous personality, deserve special mention, "Irrevoca- tion of the International Widows Day are to recognize or a weekend/ holiday. On a weekday, since my kids have school, their plights and establish their full rights. Unfortu- of two) is a heart-winner, for she believes in spreading positivity I would have to get up at 6 am, and the whole routine of getting bly, eternally married as a mere child, the death of the and love around. husband she had perhaps never known left the wife a nately, no remarkable progress has so far been made to them ready, begins: telling them to shower; have breakfast and so address poverty, violence and discrimination still suf- Team Saturday Fare had an opportunity to gather some positive on. After they are gone, at around 7.30 am, I sit with my coffee and widow, and inauspicious being whose sins in a previ- vibes through a deep chat with none other than Prerana ous life had deprived her of her husband, and her par- fered by the widows. The loss of the husband by a read the morning newspaper, get ready and by 9.10 am I'm at my widow is, in many cases, the loss of her identity. Thou- Barbarooah, an Assamese filmmaker and a deep (yet crystal clear) work place. Sometimes, we have to go out for the meetings and ents-in-law of their son, in this one" thinker. As you read the interaction, you would know that she is The widows, often perceived as ominous, are subject- sands of widows in Vrindavan, popularly known as other plans, which takes place between 10 am -1pm. After that my "the city of widows", still have to perform prayers for a kind of person who moves forward together with the people as kids return from school. I love having an afternoon nap, which I ed to various kinds of discrimination and even ostra- a perfect leader and strikes a perfect work-life balance. There's cism. They are even stigmatized and associated with hours a day, to earn meager wages for survival. Death sometimes manage to have between 3-4pm. After that, I’m back to from malnutrition is much higher among widows than more to her, turn the leaves with this rendezvous. work again like writing, planning and all that. And evening routine, witchcraft. All these are deliberately done by the rela- tives of their in-laws' house only to fertile the ground married women. Ironically, the percentage of the num- Tell us about you. it all depends on the work scheduled. I like to watch television, ber of widows has hiked by 9% due to conflicts and before going to bed (after kids go to bed). for depriving them of their legal rights. Even after the I had a simple childhood that was loaded with tons of lovable enactment of the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of ailments since 2010, the year when the UN declared memories. Guwahati was a little different then. It was not a concrete The difference in the schedules during holidays or weekends is 1856, in many societies in our country, widow remar- International Widows Day. Except a few familiar fig- jungle as it is now. There were lots of fields to play around. During that I wake up at around 9 am. I have no problem in sleeping. I can riage is strictly prohibited. In many cases, they are ures like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Iswar Chandra monsoons, we used to play with the fishes in the field. We use to sleep anytime. I take my kids outside; meet my friends and so on. forced to marry a brother-in-law, accepting the custom Vidyasagar, few dedicated social reformers have come have secret hiding places, where the girls used to have a club. You took Psychology, but later, you switched to media studies. of levirate. forward for the upliftment of widows. Ours was a small family, comprising of my parents, brother and What were your objectives behind this transition? Widows are compelled to observe some mourning rites, The governments all over the world should take initia- me. We used to have a lot of social visits, which we don't have I really enjoyed the subject psychology, during college time. It's including wearing white sarees, shunning all cosmetics, tives to ensure the rights of widows, as enshrined in now, but that plays a key role in the development of a child's also difficult to get a psychology single major there, because there ornaments and jewellery, living on a vegetarian diet, avoid- the international law, including the Convention on the character. I studied in the Holy Child School. After I passed 10th were only 24 seats available, so I got into this whole idea that I ing social and particular religious gatherings and so on.

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