Badlega India
Days of Mahabharata are gone and so the practice of fraternal polyandry where all Pandavas married one woman, Draupadi’s existence. But there are some communities where the tradition is kept alive, and for them, it’s a way to a prosperous living.
Rajo Verma, 21, lives in one room with the siblings and they sleep on blankets on the floor. She is married to five men, all of them brothers to each other. She has a child but she doesn’t know which brother does the baby belongs to.
Her first husband was Guddu, the eldest of four brothers whom she married four years back. After that, she has married to all the other brothers according to the tradition.
“We all have sex with her but I’m not jealous,’ said first husband Guddu who remains the only official spouse. ”We’re one big happy family.”
Another family in the remote Himalayas who follow this unusual practice is of Sunita Devi’s. She is a wife to Ranjit Singh and his brother Chander Prakash.
Sunita calls herself lucky to found affection of two husbands. Husbands in polyandrous marriages, she reveals, handle domestic duties and help with cooking and childcare, while women are in charge of the money.
She also said that there about 15 families in her village who practice the same tradition and everyone lives happily in the family without any conflict or jealousy.
Buddi Devi has another interesting story to share of her life. She was 14 when she got married to a boy who was two years younger to her, they live happily near Lahul Valley, remortest corners of India. But once she got old, she was married off to his younger brother as well.
Now 70 and a widow who is still married, Devi’s first husband is dead while she lives with other family members who do not believe in the concept of polyandry.
“We used to work and eat,” Ms. Devi said, her face etched by decades of blistering winters. “There was no time for anything else. When three brothers share one lady, they all come back to one house. They share everything.”
After centuries of static isolation, a lot has changed in Lahul valley which has now modernized in its infrastructure as well as mindset. “Times have changed,” Ms. Devi said. “Now nobody marries like this.”
This system of polyandry is based on practicality, not necessarily ‘love’ in a Western sensibility. The primary reasons polyandry remains popular in the Himalayan region are the economic benefits as well as population control.
Such kind of practice does not come as a surprise owing to the richness of our land, with diverse cultures and traditions being a part of it. They might not hold any relevance in the modern era, but they’re reminders of our ancestors and primeval India, and there are certain things which still remain the same.
