The Hindu man,
who invariably wears a moustache, shaves it off when he loses some
near relation, such as a parent or a brother. The plain white garments
which the Indian widow usually wears have nothing of the dreary
severity of the garb of the veiled English widow, to whom also scanty
food, hard work, and humble station often becomes her portion from
necessity.

Easterns are always demonstrative in their expressions of grief. Hence
the removal of the ornaments, the cutting off the hair, etc., is
performed in a demonstrative way. But the Hindu widow would not wish
it otherwise; and although all the ceremonies may not be exactly
congenial to her, she is at any rate a person of importance even in
her humiliation, and that is a great compensation to her. If she has
money--and some Hindu husbands leave all their wealth to their
wives--she will find herself surrounded by affectionate relations, all
of them ready to undertake the management of her property, and each of
them warning her of the necessity of being on her guard not to trust
any of the others.

At a Hindu Widows' Home, to be described presently, the inmates dress
as they like, wear what ornaments they please, and let their hair
grow. Someone visiting the Home was surprised to see a widow with her
head shaved, and wearing the unadorned white garments. On inquiry, it
transpired that this woman refused to avail herself of her freedom,
and that she preferred to bear the outward marks of widowhood out of
respect to the memory of her husband.

One of the most influential of the residents in Yerandawana village is
a widow, and she is much looked up to. She is well-dressed, wears a
good deal of gold jewellery, and her white hair sets off her wrinkled
brown face. She was photographed in a group with her grandsons; and
her relations and other villagers not unfrequently call at the Mission
bungalow and ask to see the photograph.

The real hardship for the young Hindu widow is that she cannot marry
again. In spite of much talk amongst so-called Hindu "reformers" about
the advisability of allowing the remarriage of widows, very little
practical progress has been made in this direction. Many young girls
are thus condemned unwillingly to lead unmarried lives, their
widowhood having often begun in actual childhood. The result of this
is, as might be expected, in too many cases disastrous.

Many of the attempts of Hindus to establish charitable institutions,
such as orphana