Diwali lights up lives of Vrindavan widows

Earlier this year,some widows celebrated Holi,and some even went to Kolkata to celebrate Durga Puja.

She cant see much,but at her age,Lalita Adhikari doesnt need perfect vision to feel happiness. Having lived 35-odd years in the forests of Vrindavan fending for herself,the 107-year-old widow has seen enough to know what happiness looks like.

Lighting a phooljhadi,watching other widows celebrate Diwali for the first time,is reason enough for her to feel delight. She hasnt been used to such festivities,not since her husband died and she fled to Vrindavan. This year has been different though.

Akin to starting a fresh chapter in their lives,thousands of widows from Vrindavan got together to celebrate Diwali,coming out of their solitary existence and defying traditional norms,which hold it inauspicious for them to celebrate festivals.

For years,the widows led a nomadic existence,getting by with whatever little they got from singing at local temples. Any day was like any other day, she recalls. That was,until last year when the pitiable condition of widows shocked the Supreme Court into asking NGOs to do something about their state of affairs.

A lot has changed for the widows since then,who now stay at shelters built exclusively for them,get free food and an allowance of Rs 2,000 per month. What gives them the most satisfaction,however is the feeling that they finally belong. As they celebrated the festival for the first time,singing and lighting phoolhjhadis,it was this happiness that was the most apparent.

For the first time in a long time,theres reason to celebrate, says Adhikari,visibly excited about the festivities.

Besides lighting diyas and phoojhadis,many also designed their own rangolis and indulged in diya painting. In the afternoon,the women went shopping,buying sarees and shawls for themselves.

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Earlier this year,some widows celebrated Holi,and some even went to Kolkata to celebrate Durga Puja.

Courtesy the NGO Sulabh International,Diwali celebrations will take place at a century-old widow shelter Meera Sahabhagni Ashram between October 31 and November 3.

The aged women,many of them child widows,were abandoned by their families or had fled their homes,eventually landing at Vrindavan a waiting place before death.

I used to think of festivals as a thing of luxury,something I had no right to do. I was told it was wrong for me to think about it. Doing it,though,doesnt feel so wrong. I think I could get used to it, says Draupadi Jha,75,as she dances to a holy Ram bhajan.