Widows in India moving on up thanks to Bindeshwar Pathak. Their story is told in photos by Xavier Zimbardo, a renowned French photographer. “I photographed for 32 years in India, depicting the beauty and uniqueness of the country. During my work at the Holi festival, a celebration of color, I got to know Indian widows and was overwhelmed by their stories and from Dr. Pathak's vision of changing the fate of these women for the better,” the photographer tells us.
There are 45 million widows living in India. Not so long ago, in some regions, a widow was expected to die with her dead husband on the pyre. While this is a thing of the past, widows still suffer from severe discrimination for the rest of their lives. Two years ago, Indian social reformer Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, following Ghandi’s example, decided to face the challenge of counteracting these deep-rooted ideas. In Ghost Street, Vrindavan, he opened a house for widows where they may find a new meaning for their lives. There they can learn to read and write and train for a profession.
Hoping for positive media coverage, Dr. Pathak planned a spectacular symbolic act to win over the public for his plans. As widows are excluded from religious ceremonies, he defied tradition and celebrated Holi, the festival of love, with hundreds of widows on 24 and 27 March, 2013. This sacrilege made the headlines of many Indian newspapers and sent positive shock waves through the entire country, along with the message that India will have to adapt its traditional structures in a peaceful way.
About - Xavier Zimbardo is among the most important French photojournalists and has published a dozen books in Europe and the US. His works have been purchased by several renowned museums. In the year 2006, he founded photsoc, an international festival for social photography. In 2011, he joined Getty images and now lives in Sarcelles near Paris.
About - Bindeshwar Pathak is a humanist and Indian social reformer. With the undying zeal of a missionary, he works on realizing is vision of a better India. With innovative initiatives of his organization Sulabh International, he achieves groundbreaking changes . Thanks to his efforts, former untouchables have been allowed into Indian society on an equal footing.
ANGELS OF GHOST STREET . 24 x 30 cm, 168 pages, 92 large-scale photos, hardcover, bound in linen, French fold jacket, ISBN 978-3-901753-95-4, € 59.00 . edition.lammerhuber.at//angels-of-ghost-street