a criminal case would certainly help.

so would some irrigation, so that people don't have to blame women for the drought.

This is sad. I hope some kind of punishment is meted out. Do you really need the victim to file charges, isn’t the testimony of the witnesses enough?

I think stuff like this happens because the elites have moved out of villages and small towns. I am not saying all the elites are progressive, but some are. And they are not there to serve as role models or voices of reason. I am not sure how much social change you can bring about in these teeny little unconnected villages.

ANNA,

Cheer us up with an Onam post will you : )

so would some irrigation, so that people don't have to blame women for the drought

Yes, irrigation is the problem! I am sure once there is water they will run out of things that could be blamed on women.

the mention of a rain god and the reference to the law against witchcraft makes me think all of these people are adivasis/tribals. in that case, does the reference to caste really hold?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4250506.stm

I think stuff like this happens because the elites have moved out of villages and small towns.

>>So much true. All english speaking people are so much gentlemen/women. The mostly uneducated people in India/elsewhere indulge in such stuff. tef you sound so much intelligent. Amazing really.

I think stuff like this happens because the elites have moved out of villages and small towns.

Huh!!!

I am sure once there is water they will run out of things that could be blamed on women.

No, they wouldn't run out of things to blame on women, but there would be one less thing.

Social change doesn't happen in isolation. Survival is an issue. I'm obviously not justifying this kind of bizarre practice, but I am trying to point out that droughts, year after year, can be pretty desperate times. And irrigation is a real issue when farmers are committing suicide because of their debts.

Vick,

I clearly stated that not all elites are progressive, but some are. I also did not mean to imply that some uneducated villagers can’t be progressive. Btw, by elites I meant the educated, the liberal, the progressive. And they certainly are not graduates from English Medium schools, in villages like these, there aren't any English Medium Schools. Actually I find that some of the city-based english-speaking Indians are not necessarily concerned about the urban poor, and at times totally unconcerned about those who live in the villages.

Vick & dhaavak,

I have never lived in an Indian village. I am making my observations based on my dad's village. A very poor village by American standards and perhaps even by Indian standards. This village did not even have a high school at one point. The village I think has about 2500 people. And from this village I think there are now six or seven that live in America. This cohort that “got out” had to leave the village just to go to High School. And then on to cities for College. And then abroad for jobs (even though all of them were well educated enough to find jobs in India). I look at them, and their attitudes about things and compare them with the views of those who still live in the village -- and there is a huge difference.

A difference that I can’t attribute simply to their having lived in America. All of them by nature are liberal and “reformist” and I am sure their educations must have also had some kind of transformative effect. I wonder what would have happened if some of them had stayed back. Now, I am not saying anyone should be forced to stay back. I think people will leave until it becomes worth their while to stay back. I hope that day comes soon.

I will give you a real life example. My father was talking to a distant cousin. A young man in his twenties, looking to be married. And there was talk about a certain girl, who by Indian criteria was a “suitable girl” (educated, pretty, nice). Except this guy still seemed reluctant. At this point in the conversation, I had no idea what the cause of this reluctance was. And then my father asks the guy if it is because the girls is from x subcaste and that they are acceptable to “dine with”; but not acceptable to “marry into”. I had no idea there were these fine distinctions within the caste.

Anyway, my father launches into a mini lecture. And the guy listens patiently. I am not sure if he agreed with my father but disagreeing with my father, I gather was not an option. I am surprised at the amount of status that education confers on people in the villages.

perhaps a screening of 'mother india' would help.

tef - appreciate your candid reply... - just felt it was a generalization - and a view from the outside... a lot of the postings on this (and parallel) threads are in the same vein - an outside-in view of what's wrong, what's right and what needs to be done to fix it - doesnt work that way - my experience with policy planning and social service is zippo - but I do work with large corporations - and help frame org strategies and roadmaps - it is funny how something with a clear purpose and direction gets so warped when one gets down to the weeds - all because of individual agendas and politics at the middle mgmt level. I just extrapolate this experience - from a corporate "social system" aligned on the $ to the real-world where societies have divergent valuations and operating models - I am just surprised things dont descend into chaos and anarchy more often.
My grouse was with your comment about elites versus non-elites defined on their respective abilities to leave. How can one be an elite in a social system if one chooses to leave the system? It is the anarchists who stick around to create a new social order who are the true elites - not in the sense that they are better - but in the sense they have a different sense of right and wrong in spite of having grown in a system that taught them otherwise and they choose to work within this system through alternate politicking and force to create change .