Faced with early widowhood and desertion, women in rural areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan have evolved a system whereby such a woman can live with another man with all social and emotional security without the bondage of marriage.

Called 'natru' in Gujarat and 'nata' in Rajasthan, the practice allows widows and those deserted by their husbands to live with men outside of marriage, a survey carried out by Centre for Health, Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness (CHETNA), an NGO based in Gujarat says.

"Natru or Nata makes the couple socially eligible to enjoy the privileges of a married couple. This system attempts to ensure physical, emotional and financial security to the widowed, divorced and deserted women in their late years of life," says Dr Gahver Kapadia of CHETNA which carried out the study on 150 older women and 150 young adults in the rural areas of Sabarkantha district in Gujarat and equal target groups in the rural areas of Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan.

However, there are others who are leading the life of a single woman and are happy with it.

"As a single woman I have emerged stronger and lead a contended life as a devotee of Lord Shiva," says Gulabbai of Rajasthan, who is also the member of the Ekal Nari Sanghatan (an organisation of single women.)

Though the survey uncovered a good social practice, it also brought into focus some problems which older women face in rural area, says Kapadia who was here for the National Consultation on older women which was organised ahead of the international conference on the elderly which will take place in Spain next year.

The study revealed that 40 per cent of the young adults prefered to live in a nuclear family and most elderly women stayed alone in a room adjacent to her son's hut or a short distance away from the son's residence.

"Studies in remote rural areas in India have brought out numerous instances where the elderly parents have to live in a cattle shed adjoining a one room mud house in which the adult couple and children live. And is such a situation the dietary and health situation of the elderly can be imagined", says gerentologist Kalyan Bagchi.

The study also found that 60 per cent of the women surveyed had become pregnant six to 13 times but were not averse to family planning.

Besides the social and nutrition problems, Dr Kapadia said women were also hard pressed economically.

Though there were only two social security schemes available for older women- old age pension and widows pension, few women were aware of them.

In Sabarkantha district, except one family, nobody was aware of those schemes, and while some people were aware of the schemes in Chittorgarh, only 4 per cent were receiving either of the two schemes.