ABSTRACT
In July 1982, Jumni, the older sister-in-law [HeBW] of Kamla in Dharmnagri, gave birth to a son. Celebrations were held, including the “taking outside” a few days after the birth, when Jumni would be briefly brought out of her house for the first time after the delivery by a younger brother of her husband, Jagram. And Jagram’s younger brother and other relatives (particularly his sister) would each receive honoraria. Jagram’s married sister had been called back from her in-laws’ village to participate. We always enjoyed her visits to Dharmnagri. She was lively with a quirky sense of humor. And this occasion was no exception. Before the “taking outside,” some of Jagram’s female relatives were to make a circuit of Dharmnagri, stopping briefly to pray at each of the three sati shrines on the village outskirts. 1 Patricia went along with them. Any piety attached to the prayers was thoroughly undermined by the antics of Jagram’s sister. At one shrine, she took on the persona of an aged woman with a quavering voice, beseeching the other women by turns to give her a blind bride for her son. Everyone dissolved in giggles, including the Brahman woman performing the prayers. But there was more to come. With evident planning, Jagram’s sister had brought a segment of sugarcane about a foot long. She positioned it horizontally at the top of her thighs and with a lascivious leer began making prancing lunges at the other women present. By this stage, we were all laughing helplessly.
