To the Indian society which is so modern today,
You still see a woman on the road with a white Saree and assume her husband is dead, don't you? When a man dies in the family, instead of calming down his wife, you prefer ruthlessly rubbing away her vermilion and snatching her "mangalsutra", don't you? You hurl a white Saree on her to let her understand it well that just because her husband has perished, she has no colors left in her life. Tell me, why a white Saree?
White color indicates peace and you call this peace?
Only abolishing Sati, doesn't show your modernity. We ought to respect a woman as an individual, not as a man's wife. Why do we let the mirror show a widow that she will only wear white clothes because there are no more shades of happiness with her.
And personally, I don't get why do we have the word "widow" at all. We don't have a name for women WITH husbands. Then why do we have a name for those whose husbands are dead. Death is a natural process and we're all going to be in it's grip one fine day. Why don't we just accept it as our fate and let that woman breathe in harmony. Dear society, you call yourself modern, so BE modern.