ges, have been definitely in opposition to Christian
efforts in the same direction, and they did not deserve to prosper,
and few survive. But there is one institution, which was founded with
a genuine desire to ameliorate the position of young Hindu widows,
which has not only held its ground, but has steadily enlarged its
sphere of usefulness.

[Illustration: SARLA KALU WITH HER GREAT-GRANDSON.]

This Hindu Widows' Home is out in the country, two or three miles
beyond our own village Mission. Its aim and object, as expressed in
their report, published in English as well as Marathi, is as
follows:--"To educate young widows from the higher castes that do not
allow widow remarriage, so as to enable them to earn an honourable
living and to cultivate their minds." The work, begun on a small scale
several years ago, has gradually developed. The inmates of the Home
number eighty or more, and nearly all of these are Brahmin widows. But
even Brahmins are divided into sections, and although in the Home they
are all able to eat in the same room, they sit in different groups
according to the section to which they belong.

A visit to the Home is an interesting, but rather pathetic experience.
The buildings are excellently adapted to their purpose; substantial,
well designed, and conveniently arranged. Extreme neatness and
cleanliness, so rare in India, prevail. The young women study
diligently under competent masters, and they all share in the
housework. The daily bath and the washing of their principal garment,
which is part of the necessary routine of a high-caste Hindu before
their chief meal, takes some time. Hindu schools never open till late,
except in the very hot weather, because these operations, including
their meal, have to be got through before the real work of the day
begins. The widows have only two regular meals, the one at 10, the
other at 6.30. But prosperous Indians eat largely at one sitting, so
that when people eat only two meals a day, which is the custom in most
Indian families, it does not mean that they are put on short commons.

They have a large prayer-room at the Home, in which they assemble for
the reading of Hindu scriptures and explanations of the same, and
occasionally there is a short discourse. There was no idol in this
room at the time of my visit, but I was informed that one would be
placed there eventually, not because it was in any way necessary for
their worship, but because it was customary