Should Sati Be Reinstated As A Cherished Institution?
Sati, the Indian practice of women throwing themselves into their husband's funeral pyre while it is burning.
We all know the stories of spouses who die with weeks to mo ths of their partner's death from grief. But we all also know of a few ladies who go on for another 30 to 40 years seemingly fine, attending functions, maintaining friendships, socializing.
I see this alot in cemetaries. I'll go looking for the oldest graves, but along the way I'll look at mlre recent 19th and 20th century ones. I can spot the ones who really loved their husbands. They died quickly after. Then I'll see a guy long dead and the spot for his wife on the gravestone only has her date of birth. Who knows where she is buried. Or that big year gap. She really didn't love him very much now, did she? It's like that game girls play when they are kids plucking petals out of flowers saying "Forget me, forget me not".
Is it time to reinstitute Sati to bring accountability to these sort of women? Peer pressured into it by other women. If you don't do it, you get shunned. No quilting circle meetups for you? Sit alone at the cafeteria in the old folks home? These women are getting away with everything.