I recently came upon an article that talked about the unique custom of ‘water wives’ in the drought affected village of Denganmal, in Maharashtra. This village has no taps. It has two wells at the foot of a hill, the only sources of water. The journey to and fro can take hours in the sweltering heat. For this reason, the village has developed a tradition of polygamy.
For SakharamBhagat, aged 66, and many others in the hamlet some 140 km (85 miles) from Mumbai, the answer is a contract upon which women are entitled to the designation of a ‘married woman’ while men get an unpaid servant to run all chores. Two of Bhagat’s wives were married solely to bring water to drink while the third takes care of the house.
The famous statement of Alfred Marshall about the housemaid and the housewife is pertinent here. Many tasks of the housewife have alternate market prices and hence every housewife is....
