ABSTRACT
Several crises beset Muli’s family members, particularly Grandfather Dharma. He fights with his high-caste landlord, and as a consequence receives no further payment for his season’s work. When Muli’s aunt, a notorious thief, hides out in Muli’s house, the police arrest her and all the men of Muli’s household. After they are released, Grandfather Dharma becomes ill, seeks magical cures, accuses the drama teacher of causing his illness, and fires the teacher. Grandfather Dharma possibly wished to dismiss the teacher because of his scandals with Muli but did not want to mention this.
Four Bauri families, including Muli’s, become embroiled in an expensive court case over the assault of a man caught sleeping with another man’s wife. High-caste lawyers drag out the court hearings for eighteen months, charging the Bauris exorbitant fees, then force them to settle out of court so that neither side wins anything. Court cases in India often last years and cost thousands of rupees. Poor families drawn into such cases are ruined financially (for examples of expensive cases in Muli’s village, see Freeman 1977a:133–34).
The final crisis is Grandfather Dharma’s sudden death.
