Mina Pradhan (60) starts her day by chanting Radhe, Radhe, singing Bhajans and goes to bed with devotional chanting. For last 10 years, she is living in Chaitanya Vihar Mahila Ashrama, Vrindavan and wants to spend the rest of her life like this.
On the occasion of celebrating International Widows’ Day in New Delhi on Monday, Pradhan urged the Government to pass law for the welfare of the widows.
Pradhan left her home in Sambalpur 10 years ago after her husband got married to another lady and her two kids died of serious illness.
“I felt lonely and deserted. Thus, I decided to dedicate rest of my life to lord Krishna and lead a peaceful life in Vrindavan, the pious place. Sometimes, the memories of loved ones hunt me. life is like this. One has to face the reality of life and live with that,” said Pradhan with a heavy heart.
She is not one widow from Odisha. There are about 40 Odia widows living in Vrindavan. Some are deserted by their families; some have fled their home in search of peace and salvation.
“I have been living in this Mahila Ashrama for last one year. I have three sons and two daughters. My sons were non-vegetarian which I did not like. They did not listen to me and did not allow me to live in peace. Thus, I left for Vrindavan,” said another Kuntala Bala who hails from Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar.
They are being paid Rs 2,000 by Sulabha International every month. They live on donations from tourists and visitors who used to visit Vrindavan. Sometimes they go to temples for Bhajan and Kirtan to meet their day-to-day expenses.
“We want that the Government takes some measures for the welfare of the widows in Varanasi. We want to live with dignity. But many widows in country live a life of misery. They are also deserted by society. We appeal to the Government to bring laws for our welfare,” said Pradhan.
“We pay Rs 500 when we wish to visit our home in Odisha,” said Kuntala Bala while reminding the daily lives in Vrindavan, Notably, the International Widows’ Day is being observed every year on June 23 to highlight the plights of widows and create a social awakening