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There are more than 40 million widows in India today – and for a large proportion of these women, their lives are what some have referred to as a living sati – a reference to the now outlawed practice of widow burning. A woman’s diet, dress, and even sexuality all suddenly become part of the public realm the moment her husband dies.
Producer Dheera Sujan is an Indian herself and the daughter of a widow. In A Life of Ashes she weaves her own experiences with those of the women she met.
A Life of Ashes was produced by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands. This program airs as part of the international documentary collaboration, Crossing Boundaries.
Links:
Widows Flock to city to die
An in-depth news article that centers on the city of Vrindavan,India, where Hindu widows flock in the believe that death frees them from the cycle of life and death.
Water
A review of an the Indian movie, Water, that centres on the problems widows face after their husbands pass away.
Books:
 Sati: A Historical Anthology
by: Andrea Major 2007
This colletion of literature tries to present a balanced understanding of the practice of Sati through the wide range of Indian and European sources collected over hundreds of years.
 Water
by: Bapsi Sidhwa, Deepa Mehta 2006
This brilliant book is the printed version of the movie with the same name
 Perpetual Mourning: Widowhood in Rural India
by: Martha Alter Alter Chen 2001
This book provides a complete picture of the day-to-day realities of widows in rural India and of the social and economic challenges widows pose to the social order.
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