This pilgrim town witnessed an unusual sight on Sunday. It was surprising to see widows from Vrindavan getting united with their counterparts in Varanasi. The atmosphere was a poignant mixture of joy and sorrow when the widows interacted with each other in the Ashrams of the city.
On the verge of death, hundreds of widows exchanged their experiences - mostly bitter and rarely sweet, except for the fact that noted NGO Sulabh International has intervened to improve their lot.
It's a lifetime experience for us," said a widow Manu Ghosh in her eighties, recalling how she and a dozen others enjoyed a flight to Varanasi for having a holy dip in the Ganga and offering prayers at the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple here. Widows who landed on Sunday visited Nepali and Birla ashrams situated on the bank of
Ganga and participated in Bhajans. Widows from Vrindavan are here to participate in a national seminar on the ‘Condition of Widows’ at the prestigious Benares Hindu University (BHU). Some of them will share their experiences about their transformation in a short span of just a year.
Sulabh takes care of around 1500 Widows living in various ashrams in Varanasi and Vrindavan. Thanks to the efforts of Sulabh International, widows of Vrindavan have succeeded in observing Holi, Dipawali and other rituals which are not meant for women after death of their husbands. The man behind this initiative, Dr. Bindeshwar
Pathak said it's an effort to give them joy at this stage of life. "We are trying our best to bring them back into mainstream of the society," said Dr Pathak, who has led a team of widows to Kolkata recently to participate in Durga Puja celebrations and other festivities in their home town of West Bengal.
Dr Pathak was recently honoured with the "Banga Moni" award, instituted by the Michael Madhusudan Academy in Kolkata for spearheading the Sulabh sanitation movement and for his efforts to uplift the down trodden sections of the society, besides paying attention towards improvement of condition of the widows from Bengal who have been languishing in Ashrams of Vrindavan.
In the ashrams of Varanasi and Vrindavan widows who could not live on paltry doles from the ashrams now get Rs 2,000 per month and medical assistance provided by Sulabh. Moreover, the NGO conducts literacy drive for the widows and imparts vocational training to them. The NGO takes care of their health and other needs, even entertainment in the form of organizing kirtans’ and ‘bhajan sandhyas’ and providing Television sets, with satellite connections, so that they can see serials of their choice.
Sulabh foundation has provided the government-run shelters in Vrindavan and Varanasi well-equipped ambulances along with medical equipment for providing timely and adequate medical attention for their treatment. Regular medical checkups for their eyes, teeth are also being taken care of. Facility has also been provided to carry dead bodies for cremation.