He had departed from this realm,leaving behind an heir
The sindoor had been wiped off her,left was a pallid face..
while she could still feel his touch,his comforting embrace..
Her bangles were broken, but her tears were not wiped
she was stripped of all ornaments,while none saw the way she cried..
they made her don bleached apparels, immaculately white..
Tried to hide the darkness of her life under a garb, bright
A few days gone, the poor widow was made outcast..
cited as a bad omen, one under whose spell a life did not last..
She had refused the pyre, considering the future of her child..
Judging her act as selfish, the harsh society riled..
The caretakers of society failed to see her misery,her pain..
she appealed to the lords of the place for help,but in vain..
She had faith in humanity,lost belief in her being human,
In response to her cries and pleas for help,had responded none ...
Many sought her body,some laid eyes on her children too,
They deemed her fit for prostitution,and her children too
they romped her and her children,judged that to be her life..
For she was held responsible for the natural end of a healthy life..
Once in a while a benign hand reached out,only to be cut
How dare they break society's TRADITIONS, question the cult.
How dare they think of themselves to be more righteous,more humane
how dare they question our laws,brand our practices inhumane...
The poor woman died one day, and not a single soul cried..
she was already dead for the "society", civilisation's greatest pride..
Justice was blind to be righteous,but they turned it into her bane..
Where was the mercy,the kindness they preaced,where has it waned ???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A widow... a woman who has lot her husband, her lover, the father to her children, her soul mate.. a woman who is emotionally wrecked .. and how is she treated by this cultured society..?? Made to give up all happiness and anything that could bring her a mere smile ??
How is her agony reduced ?? by treating her with such cruelty and discrimination that she becomes immune to it ?? I ask of the vanguards of our society .. where is thy humanity ..?Where is thy kindness.. to hell with thy ... where is your COMMON SENSE ???
51 comments:
its really sad that its still happening in this day and age. That's one of the reasons I think women's rights NGOs are doing a great job rehabilitating prositutes, finding work for outcasts etc. But the problem is one of awareness. I'm not optimistic enough to hope that the perpetrators of these terrible social norms will stop, which is why the counter movement against it is important.
And I love the new template...the night sky from a poet's mind!
Now it looks professional nd all.
widows in India been treated in an inhuman manner from times immemorial. Eventhough such atrocities like sati are banned, there is a social stigma attached with widows which follows them wherever they go. And you have brought it out clearly in that poem. nice work man. your poems are getting better by the day.
BTW, I need some help in changing my template. I downloaded a cool looking template. But am not able to install it. Also I want to keep my existing widgets
this was prevalent earlier..
do we have the same situation nowadays also..maybe..!
nicely written..!!
"A widow is destined to suffer"
This statement has a very strong existence in the place I belong to. Rajasthan has widows crying for their lives. I had seen my own grandma after my grandpa died. She wasn't allowed to wear colorful clothes and was another "old maid" of the house...
Its sad that in our country, with literacy increasing, there is not much attention given to issues like these..
Amazing work..
Double Thumbs Up To You Siddharth
Hmmm... I remember my dad telling me how widows would be treated in his [younger] days. Especially in the villages. And it was quite shocking to hear those anecdotes.
Fast forward to this day... No change. May be some are spared from getting their heads shaven and stuff, but overall... Nothing 'significant'. They are continued to be harassed. Any small reason will suffice...
"Justice was blind to be righteous"- ask her to remove her blindfold... at least once... For once let her see.
Peace.
I mean hats off man!!
how d u manage such touching and shaking content??
@Praveen,
all you gotta do is
dashboard> layout> edit html> paste the html of new template and check the option called "expand widget templates"
do not forget to dld thetemplate of ur current template, in case u want to put it back. it will be asked..
Bhai ... i thought activists were a rare species...i c one in u nevertheless...gr8 goin ..we need ppl to stnd up ..in need of liberation
hope to see a future where ppl are sensible and women being treated as human beings too.
very well written Sid..but I guess the scenario is way different now..widows arent made 2 feel like social misfits or ostracized by the society any longer..
of course the scene in rural areas is different..ur poetry is apt in this regard!
@akshaya .. thanks for dropping by .. and well this post specifically targets those sections of the society where women are still not financially empowered...
@pravenn yep things like sati are a literal human rights abuse ... in the real sense of it ..
and as far as template thing goes .. sorry dude .. a friend did all this for me .. i am totally ignorant .. btw i think richa has already obliged .. :)
@vinz..
well maybe not in the cities ... in cities though if you carefully look you will still find that cold stare and an air of awkwardness being created around them ...
thanks for dropping by
@shruti thanks dear .. yeah it is sorry plight in a country which worships God(desses). Which other religion has that ..?? heh he hypocrites..
@kartz .. dude ... she does not have to remove her blindfold .. the people have to learn to abide by her and follow her solemnly.. The system is not flawed .. it's implementation is
@richa .. double thanks to you ... one for answering praveen and saving me the trouble and him disappointment ...
and I dunno .. what i write is something we see and know .. i do not write something out of the ordinary ...
thanks for dropping by
@ vicky ... well more than hoping i will work towards doin tht for those whom i associate with in my life ...
thanks for dropping by be
@swats .. well there you go again hinting towards me being a moron .. ;)
i know ... but then it's like what i told vinz
"well maybe not in the cities ... in cities though if you carefully look you will still find that cold stare and an air of awkwardness being created around them ...
and well this post specifically targets those sections of the society where women are still not financially empowered.."
thanks for dropping by .. :)
@ think tank .. ha ha not an activist ... I don't believe in that .. am just expressing ... not trying to preach ... just highlighting facts not drawing inferences .. i leave that to the discretion of the reader..
thanks for dropping by dear ..
@richa
thanks for the help..anyway I fixed it
it s really tough, I read in a book about India, that years ago (i can t retrieve the time period) when a husband died, the wife was burned alive with her dead husband (they gave a particular name for it, which i can t remembered). I don t understand it, after all it s not her fault why people have to be so cruel for that!
tc
Di.
@ cess
it was called SATI
read here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suttee
Very touching poem.
It is cruel and inhuman the way they treat widows in some parts of our country.Thankfully this kind of abuse in on the receding path.
Thank God I live in a country where such social stigma dun exist. Widow or not, a woman is respected and appreciated for the person she is over here.
**she was already dead for the "society
Such retarded mentatlities exist only in countries like India and Sri Lanka, sadly. High time ppl stop n think...and use some common sense.
Well-written Shadows!
Keshi.
**mentalities
sorry abt the typo before.
btw I also wanted to say that Mentalities r the HARDEST to change.
Keshi.
Very well expressed!
that was simply jaw-droping!!
Beautifully written.. very touching.. :)
I don't think my words will do enough justice.
Not all widows are like this and neither are all familes who loose a son n get a widowed daughter, not forgetting the offsprings the son left behind.
There are widows who are taken care of by their in-laws n her children raised in proper care, and ironically she doesnt see all that and goes on to demand her dead husband's share in the family property - instigates her kids to keep their distance - turns then into unthankful indivduals just like her.
Dont get biased Siddharth. You have seen one side of the coin.
@ sameera .. as always thanks dear ..
@keshi .. thanks and thats nice to hear about australia actually .. am surprised though ... guess had just made certain unfounded assumptions
@ gauri .. thanks dear ..
@anwesa .. thanks ... am flattered
@crepuscule thanks for dropping by .. glad you liked it
@ cinderella ..
I am not at all biased dear ... Nor did I mention that all women are saints ..nor did I mention that all widows are treated that way .. but yes in many places they are .. and for the kind you described well that's a totally different topic ... I am not writing about harassment of women here .. I am writing about an act perpetuated against humanity in many parts of our county ... things are changing in places where people are more broad minded but what % of indian population is that ...
Thanks for dropping by .. hope to see more of you
hi first time here came through cess...liked some of ur posts buddy good work there..and this post is very touching ..the situation is continuin thse days...?
urs..hemu..
I agree with you, but having undergone certain things I cant really accept it on the face.
But yeah, it pretty much so in may parts of the country - specially the socially undeveloped ones.
I liked your piece none-the-less. And I will be back.
:)
u write amazingly sid!
do v still com across many such widows...well, here n kerala , i hvnt seen any such incidents ...women r treated a lil better here , thnk god!
but i suppose dis is still goin on n some places ...prayers 4 them..
wht thnx for dropping by moron :D
u dont have to b so formal
Does blogger eat up comments?
I wrote a comment up here.
*humph*
Okay.
I wrote abt this some time back..
Things like Sati might have been banned..bt the behaviour with widows still hardly has any change.Maybe it never does,if we just idly write here ,and take no step.But on the flipside,nothing is in our hands.Its a bad bad world.
Amen.
Nicely presented.
wat do i say to u for bringing this out Sid?
Kudossssss!!
Its really sad tat it still happens in many of the places in our country.
Ah!
@hemanth .. thanks dude .. welcome here
@crystal ..
thanks dear .. and I am sorry you had to type it out twice .. bad bad blogger
well we cannot change the world .. atleast I cannot but I can practice it .. so can others who read it ..
that will make a difference .. even if only to one life .. even one life is significant
@swats ..
ok if you say so .. :)
@enchanted ..
well no not in cities or URBAN areas .. no but in the rural areas yes ... we have many such cases still.. and they make the majority of our society in india
@ priya ..
thanks dear .. appreciate it ..
@cinderella
well I dunno the context but yeah i will agree with you because it is pretty common ,the scenario you mentioned.. see its the system i questioned not the individual ..
:)
peace...
well eradication of this stigma has a long way to go... ngos help those who come out..but there are countless others.....both in rural and modren places... locked up behind the walls of their homes... if u can call it a home...
thearmyguyspeaks.wordpress.com
@story teller .. welcome here ..
and that was well said ...
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