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Thursday, May 18, 2006

The Battle of life

From Steve McCurry's Journal:
Brindavan, India 1995
I was walking down a street in Brindavan when I saw her. I was fascinated at how someone in her condition could move around the ancient city streets.
I followed her and after a few minutes she noticed me. My translator explained that I was interested in her and wondered where she was going. She invited us into her home for tea and told us her story.
She told me that she had married and was widowed by age 13. In some places in rural India, being a widow carried a stigma, because it was a sign of bad karma. This woman had survived her entire life by accepting a few coins from people for whom she would recite prayers in a temple.
She had a wonderful sense of humor and I was touched by her indomitable spirit.
One can look at her image and feel admiration or pity, but the magic of the picture is its ambiguity. She symbolizes everyone who faces difficult challenges and has the will to persevere and survive.


WHITE RAINBOW is a movie based on the life of widows in brindavan. It is conceived by the nephew of the legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan - Dharan Mandrayar.
Statistics say there are about 10,000 or 15,000 widows in Brindavan, a very small town.
Why is the woman to be blamed when her man dies?

We have come past the days of SATI when women are burnt alive. Now we see living images of women lying like beggars in the streets of brindavan just because their spouse' have reached the end of the road. Why is she the vanquished?

This is not about women's liberation. This is about beleifs.
Question yourself about the thousand beliefs that encircle you and keep you tangled in their web. Are you willing to break free or can you break free? Do you have the freedom to make your own set of values and live by them.

We are the generation who have the power of knowledge with an oppurtunity to view different cultures. If we cant question the past and dictate the future for ourselves. Nobody else can.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sincerely thought provoking !

catch 22 said...

Agree wid every thing thats said here. I jus wish if at all everybody just formulates their set of values based on rationality it can be a harmonious world. You may call me a pessimist but the chances of this happening are very bleak :(

Anonymous said...

I just don't understand this cursed socity which sees her as a 'Bad Omen' for no fault of hers.Sadly they fail to understand that, the wretched guy was no more becase of his own misrable ways.
It high time the governement talks abt resevations and more social security for these helpless widows who are all by them selves.

Meera said...

@mythili: Thanks
@ catch22: Its true but we can hope that one day it happens !!
@j: Reservations.. thats a Taboo word :-))

Vasu said...

Yes, it is really true. Dalrymple shows this in its stark reality in his book 'Age of Kali'. Do read it sometime

:)

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