Series: A Thakur and His Bahu

Chapter 07: The Women Celebrate HoliHoli, the Indian festival of colors and water was being played all over the city, and with equal gusto in Thakur Hari Singh's haveli. As festivals go Holi is the most liberating one in a society which traditionally demands restraint; at least outwardly, there is a demand to remain modest; for women not to indulge themselves; and for men to be careful in their flirtations. Married women were certainly out of bounds for any open flirtation. But not on Holi day.In fact, on Holi while the maidens are undoubtedly sought after by the young men, the greatest display of sexual energy is with the married women. You can often see them kissing openly, allowing their wet bodies (wet from the water splashed around at Holi) to be ogled, letting themselves be groped in stairways and corridors and indulging in the man or men that might be their fancy, but are socially out of bounds.Some of this sudden loss of inhibition is also from drinking bhaang, an intoxicating

Chapter 01: A Thakur Challenges Her WomanhoodThe marriage preparations were abruptly stopped. As usual, there was no provocation for it beyond a sharp exchange of words, and egos were bruised on all sides. The boy's father, Thakur Hari Singh, flew into a rage when his plans for the young couple's future were challenged by the girl in front of her father and other family elders.But what really set the stage for what happened next was the way in which the disagreement became a war of words. In the typical swaggering style of a feudal lord, the Thakur had pronounced that he would wait for exactly 9 months to become a grandfather and that his newly married son should set about propagating the clan forthwith.This announcement was made at a gathering of the two extended families. Binita, the bride-to-be was expected to sit in on the proceedings only to know what was expected of her and not to respond, react or offer comment. But her father had not brought her up in that manner, even though