ABSTRACT
Among the tribes of Middle and Eastern India, romance before marriage is tacitly assumed. N. E. Parry says of the Lakhers, ‘apart from the fact that discretion in love is essential, there is no bar to the freest of intercourse between unmarried persons and no fine is inflicted merely because a young man and a girl have slept together.’ Elder people are amused and tolerant of the sexual adventures of their children. It is not surprising therefore that once a Santal boy has reached puberty and a girl has ‘flowered’, they enter a romantic period which lasts until marriage. Earlier experiments now give place to serious affairs of the heart and it becomes a point of honour for a boy to have his village girl and for a girl to have her boy. In most cases these relationships do not last for more than five years and barring certain developments they are not expected to be trial unions.
