As thousands of married women across the States celebrated Vat Purnima or Vat Savitri on Thursday observing fast and tying threads around the banyan tree trunk seeking the same husband for the next seven births, a group of men in Aurangabad did a reverse parikrama around peepal tree seeking freedom from their wives.
Patni Pidit Purush Sanghatana (Organisation of men harassed by wives) founded in 2017 celebrates Vat Purnima in a different way.
“Gone are the days of Satyawan and Savitri. We don’t want the same wives not even for seven seconds. We are men who have suffered heavily at the hands of our wives and we are opting for legal and religious ways to get rid of them” said Bharat Phulare, founder of the Patni Pidit Purush Sanghatana speaking to BusinessLine. Phulare added that there are 9,000 members of the organisation spread across India and its members are setting the trend of Peepal Purnima against Vat Purnima.“ It is said that Munjas live on Peepal and are most destructive ghosts. To get rid ghosts in form of wives, we pray to Munja” adds Phulare who has also built an ashram for men who suffer at hands of wives.
Vat Purnima celebrations have created a fear in Raghav K’s mind (name changed). “You protect the identity of women who are harassed by a husband. Apply the same criteria here” he said. Raghav claims that his wife dominated him and his life has become “suffocative”.
But it is not just men who want to get rid of their wives. Vijaymala Kunte is not celebrating Vat Purnima. Vijaymala comes from Beed and works as a housemaid in Pune. “My husband is a drunkard. It is hard to tolerate him even in this life. Why should I pray for seven lives?” she asks.
Young Mohini Sharma has a different take on the matter. “Why women should pray for a husband? Even husbands should pray for a wife. Seven lives, if at all they exist, together are possible only if there is mutual respect and love” she insists.