With Krishna as saviour

desolate lives: From ‘Moksha’

‘Living and partly living…’ T. S. Eliot’s line from ‘Murder in The Cathedral’ instantly comes to mind as the story of the widows of Vrindavan unfolds in the documentary ‘Moksha-Salvation.’

Made in 1993 by Pankaj Butalia, who taught Economics for nearly two decades before switching professions, the images of the white sari clad, head shaven women tug at your heart strings, even as they go about their daily chores. These unfortunate women have been the subject of many books, films (including Deepa Mehta’s ‘Water’) and documentaries earlier.

The opening shot of a woman sitting on a boat on the Ganges with a temple in the background in the land of Lord Krishna’s birth is truly a telling moment.

For these poor and abandoned women, Lord Krishna is the only saviour. Incidentally, this practice of Bengali widows being left in Vrindavan has been prevalent since the 19th century.

Butalia’s award-wining film paints a heart-rending picture travelling through bylanes, moving into homes and the precincts of the Sri Bhagwan Bhajan Ashram where 2,000 widows, young and old, sick and healthy, sing prayers daily to earn their bread. There’s a Holi scene where a woman in white collects colour powder from the floor even as others play with it during a procession. It is almost as if she is trying to bring some colour into her dull life.

The film talks of a sect of people who are bereft of colour and laughter, and have been abandoned by their near and dear ones for no fault of theirs!

Yet, these women go about their lives with dignity and resilience. Like one of them says, “I remember nothing of my marriage. All I remember is that I had to wear a white sari and shave my head (the falling of a widow’s hair is considered inauspicious) and was left to fend for myself here.” She adds, “But I am happy today. I am independent. I love no one and I expect nothing from others.”

Another one, bent with age, laments, “We are discards. We are not respected in society. So why live?” And yet another prays every day for death to embrace her and relieve her of this loveless and colourless existence.

These women sing for four hours every morning and evening at the ashram in exchange for some grains and pulses and a rupee a day. But what is amazing is that some of them actually generously share a handful of grains with a beggar who sits outside the ashram!

Even as the film traces their lives, one wonders how these women can be helped. Marginalised by a society which believes woman is Goddess Shakti and where every other day women activists raise their voices against atrocities, will these women ever find true salvation?

‘Moksha’ will be telecast on Wednesday (March 18), 9 30 p.m. on NDTV’s Documentary 24x7. (Repeat on Sunday, 1 p.m.).

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