In a small Rajasthan village, Khurshidan Bibi’s life revolves around a lone buffalo and daily walks to the forest. The forest is near her home, in Ghatmeeka village, where she takes her only buffalo for grazing. She returns home just before sunset and rests on a cot in a small courtyard. Then she goes to check on her small patch of wheat while her daughter-in-law prepares chapatis for dinner. On her way back, she sometimes chats with the women she passes. Now in her 40s, Khurshidan hardly recalls the time when she followed a different daily routine, when she lived a life that entailed more than observing the passing of time. In 2017, her husband Umar Khan was killed by cow vigilantes in Alwar. Seven years after his disappearance from her life, Khurshidan Bibi appears stuck in that moment, still navigating between loss and survival. “Umar used to look after…

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