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During 3 years I worked about the plight of ostracised Indian widows. This is the incredible story of social reformer Bindeshwar Pathak bringing happiness into the lives of Indian widows, a story from despair to hope. A book, Angels of Ghost Street, has been published by Edition Lammerhuber.

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A Child Gets Shower Of Flowers On The Day of Holi, The Hindu Festival Of Colours, Celebrated By Widows, In Meera Sehbhagini Mahila Ashray Sadan In Vrindavan
2013-2014
VRINDAVAN, INDIA - MARCH 27: A child gets shower of flowers on the day of Holi, the Hindu festival of colours celebrated by widows, in Meera Sehbhagini Mahila Ashray Sadan in Vrindavan in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on March 27, 2013 in Mathura, India. The child belongs to a woman inmate of a widows’ ashram or a commune. Holi was played by the elderly single women recently at a scale never seen before. Played with flowers followed by dry colours, the event was organized by a non-government social organization Sulabh International that has taken up countrywide welfare initiatives for the cause of widows. Traditionally, widows in conservative regions of the country avoid or have been denied social sanction for remarriage, are expected to wear white, eat simple food and abstain from participating in social events. Historically, they generally faced contempt from the families of their in-laws and community at large, who would attribute their men’s death to themselves, believed to have brought bad luck to the families. They led, and in several places in the country still lead a lonely life. Often women cover their heads and faces as a mark of dignity. A widows’ ashram in the ‘city of devout widows’, believed to be birthplace of Lord Krishna, as Vrindavan is known as, and the activities like celebration of festivals offer an apt platform for camaraderie and socialising, thus giving widows a sense of belonging among the fellow inmates. (Photo by Xavier Zimbardo)
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