Tag: Widow

Posted in Life and After

At the End of the Rainbow

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

I run a rosary in my gnarled fingers at peace with my aloneness. Then I hear it–my bane, the jingle of bangles and anklets.

Vexed, I grit my teeth.

Why does she wear the abomination? Of course, I know the reason–the custom. She still has a husband.

I picture her in my mind–standing in the kitchen, face glowing after a night full of love, in a saree of red… green… yellow… It was me many years back. Now white and cream mark the end of my rainbow.

Bile rises in my throat.

She hums a song I have loved all my life–it speaks of hope and love that I once had.

I crush the rosary in a death grip.

She drops something trivial and I lose it. I shout abuses at her and curse my stars for wedding her to my son. I shout until I’m hoarse and can shout no more. I shout until she’s in tears and smiles no more.

Placated, again, I hold my rosary to look for that elusive peace. Sure there will be hell to pay later, literally. But life isn’t exactly heaven for the likes of me.

Posted in Life and After

Tiny Story: Cast Away

Posted on by Shaily Agrawal

She was a torn garment, not worth mending.

After her husband crossed, his family cast her away to her old home.

Her parents cast her away to the backyard storeroom.

And now, the river had cast away her empty shell to the shore.

-Hindu widows, traditionally, give up all pleasures in life: good food, good clothes, music and human company. Often, they are dumped in widow homes and take up begging to survive. Not allowed to remarry, a lot of them choose to die instead.