ABSTRACT
Within the village itself boys and girls can go about together and enjoy each other’s company. Among the tribes of Middle and Eastern India, two types of beauty compete in general esteem. The first is represented by the slim ‘tubular’ girl whose charm consists in a straight erect figure and perfectly moulded breasts. This ideal exists among the Ao and Lhota Nagas and is also favoured by the Murias. The second ideal is more rotund and buxom. Among Santals, it is this second type that evokes constant approval. A girl must be solid and supple, with small hips and hardly any waist. If a girl has a large bottom and then over-stresses it by bunching her clothes up like a bustle, her movements are slightingly referred to as laskae loskoe or lidgoe lodgoe - a wobble.
