Widows of Vidarbha

Farmer suicides are the most brutal and unforgiving indictment of the neglect of agriculture by the state and the politics, obsessed with power and the market. Every farmer who dies leaves behind a legacy of debt and desperation for his widow to deal with. They grapple with precarious financial conditions, fragile rain-fed crops, the needs of young children, the health costs of elders. As they fight against these challenges, they succeed sometimes but, mostly, they fail. Widows of Vidarbha is the story of 18 such widows of Vidarbha who have been invisible to the state, the community, and even their families.