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Words for widows
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The plight of the women abandoned at pilgrimage centres by a society that provides no succour to its widows is worse than words can describe. Yet people must know. ANJANA RAJAN speaks to Kusum Ansal, the author of "The Widow of Vrindavan".
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Kusum Ansal... A new effort, a new book
KUSUM ANSAL is prolific. There's no denying it. Her collection of poetry and prose in Hindi and English comes to a neat 23 books. Then there are two television serials - "Titliyan" and "Isi Bahane" - besides stage plays. This past week saw the launch of her seventh novel, "The Widow of Vrindavan", published by Harper Collins India, a searing story based on the even more searing reality of the widows abandoned in Vrindavan and other pilgrimage centres, at once neglected and preyed upon by a society whose conscience is all but lost.
The protagonist, Tapasi, a child widow finds herself in a `vidhwa ashram' run by a corrupt racketeer as a home for widows, but which, contrary to its name, carries not the slightest fragrance of refuge or protection. The torture endured by Tapasi and the other inmates of the ashram, victims of sodomy, forced prostitution, starvation, physical, mental and emotional abuse, are nothing, says the author, compared to the reality. "I am a discreet person. More horrible things happen. I have seen more than I can pen."
Ever since she first became aware of the plight of the widows of Vrindavan, Kusum Ansal says, she felt, "I must do something." This novel is the result of some years of regular visits where she attempted to talk to both victims and perpetrators of the injustice. "I go there very often," she explains. "I would park my car somewhere, sit in a rickshaw and go around to talk to them. Some of the women opened up. Some of them were angry. Most only wanted money. One of those I met had given away her children in bondage for a kilo of grain. Imagine, what is a kilo of grain - it wouldn't even last a day. She was always crying for her children. There were sights that were so horrifying."
Many of these tragic characters find their reflection in the novel. Though there are agencies genuinely working for the uplift of the widows, Kusum Ansal sounds rather pessimistic when she says that the problem is too large for them to make a dent. Hailing from the famous business family of Ansals, she admits that so far the corporate house has not officially entered this field either. She and a few associates do run a school there, called the Kusum Sarovar School due to its proximity to the lake. "Children still attend the school. We have about 350 students now. We used to have stitching and embroidery classes in the afternoons for the women. We also used to teach them about their rights and the law. But that fizzled out. One problem is that the area is considered unsafe in the evenings. The people are very rowdy. So that part has been moved to the town area. It is run by other, local people now. It is a trust," she says, but declines to give the name of the trust. Not very happy with the efforts made so far, she finds living away from Vrindavan a major hurdle. "We get preoccupied with our home commitments. We don't have anyone who is dedicated and can stay there on a permanent basis. We are on the lookout though."
And anyway, she feels, the magnitude of the problem is such that, "This needs to be done by the Government."
The Ansals are into education, though, she points out. Among their prestigious institutions she names Gyan Bharati school, the Chiranjeev Bharati schools in Palam Vihar and Sushant Lok, besides institutions for higher studies. "We are providing MBA and technological courses. Yes, these are for the privileged section, but they also need them, otherwise young people are leaving the country."
Pleased with Masooma Ali's translation of "The Widow of Vrindavan" - originally published in Hindi by Rajpal and Sons - the author says, "I worked with her. Some things you cannot translate, so we changed some lines and deleted some paragraphs, but I think the translation couldn't have been better."
Masooma Ali, an old friend and a teacher at New Delhi's Miranda House college, has previously translated Kusum Ansal's short stories and her autobiography. Autobiography? That was eight years ago, reveals the energetic author, adding that it's time for an update.
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