Bigamy

The ancient shortage of men in the society ( due to childhood mortality, wars, and religious dictates of celibacy ) contributing to the prevalence of polygamy happens with a twist in these modern times due to men migrating to the Middle East to work in skilled trades. The men are in their primes, lots of them with wives in their desi hometowns. The two-year absent male retuning home with gifts for a one year old child, and the wife is not out of the ordinary. The "care taker" of the homestead is usually a first cousin or a brother.... who might in his turn go away to Qatar for a couple of years, and let his phoren-return brother return the favor. The quirky Indian law on adultery treats wives as property, and use with the permission of the owner is no trespass.

 

I truly admire bigamous and polygamous people. zHow do they cope with more than one set of in-laws? The Hindu Marriage Act is a joke because the husband can be hauled up for bigamy only when the first wife files a complaint. And most first wives either due to economic reasons or fear keep mum.

 

On this forum we can shake a stick and hit so many suffering a terrible husband. I am sure that a fraction of a horrible one would be far better than an exclusive monopoly on the misery. Perhaps that would explain why the senior wife wants to let another share the burden. Altruism could explain why one would offer shares on a good one.

 

interesting incident !

 

Food for thought. Draupadi did a fine job. It proved the dynamism and strength of the woman. A man would be quite messed up given such a situation, I don't think any man could have pulled it off, it needs a woman of fire to accomplish such a Draupadian task, I would say.

 

@MonikaSG @nakshatra1 thanks to each of you for pressing the "like" button.
Regards. God Bless Us All.king my FB. Happy New Year 2018

 

Was just thinking what will you do if I like it again...just kidding...

 

Dear Smt. Jayasala:

The actual loophole appears to be allowing a man to marry a second woman with the consent of the wife. In a patriarchal society and with the wife in the previous generation not having any sources of income of their own were considerably coerced to give consent to bigamy. I remember when a question is asked to the CM Karunanidhi in the assembly, "Dharma ungal manaiviya? (Is Dharma your wife?), he quipped, "Illai. Aval enn magal Kanimozhiyin thayar" (No, but she is the mother of my daughter). I have not heard of a woman getting married to multiple husbands other than in the epic.

But I have heard a horror story about clubs in Chennai and Mumbai (when I was in India) having a game of wife swap based on the car key picked up the wives attending a club activity. But there is no way to corroborate such stories. This was described to me as married dating others for fun or being a one night stand.

Viswa

 

never mind..