INDIA-HOLI-WIDOWS

An Indian widow dances as they celebrate Holi or "festival of colors" in Vrindavan on March 3, 2015. Widows congregated on a small patio of the ashram in which they live and danced and played with colored powder to celebrate the occasion. The widows of this and other ashrams in this northern town are sponsored by the NGO, Sulabh International which funds most of their needs. Shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition, many Indian widows have been otracized from society and no longer live with their families and are forced to beg for food. Almost 2,000 of the estimated 34 million widows currently living in India live in Vrindavan and benefit from the welfare extended by the NGO. AFP PHOTO / Roberto SCHMIDT / AFP / ROBERTO SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)