0:00:00.000,0:00:00.500


0:00:00.500,0:00:02.330
It's called polyandry.

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One woman, several

0:00:04.300,0:00:05.689
Husbands.

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It's an unusual arrangement.

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Today, polyandry[br]only persists in

0:00:11.870,0:00:13.590
isolated villages[br]in the Himalayas.

0:00:13.590,0:00:16.180


0:00:16.180,0:00:18.230
When it was time[br]for Sunita Kumari to

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wed, her family, like[br]many in India, made

0:00:21.020,0:00:22.310
arrangements.

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But they involved more than

0:00:24.010,0:00:26.300
a dowry and celebration.

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Sunita has not

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one husband, not two[br]husbands, but three,

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all brothers.

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What must their life be like?

0:00:37.780,0:00:40.720


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Westerners might[br]find the practice

0:00:42.350,0:00:44.820
Shocking, but for this[br]community it works

0:00:44.820,0:00:47.060
fine.

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One reason: sheer practicality.

0:00:49.950,0:00:50.560
In the

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Himalayas, arable[br]land is scarce.

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Farms

0:00:55.771,0:00:56.270
are tiny.

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If each generation divided

0:00:57.620,0:00:59.890
each family's holdings,[br]everyone would

0:00:59.890,0:01:00.880
starve.

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Polyandry preserves the farm and

0:01:04.140,0:01:05.890
the family's future.

0:01:05.890,0:01:07.860
Unlike most men in

0:01:07.860,0:01:10.660
India, husbands[br]here handle domestic

0:01:10.660,0:01:11.340
duties.

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They're willing to help with the

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cooking and childcare.

0:01:14.750,0:01:15.970
In fraternal

0:01:15.970,0:01:18.320
polyandry, a family[br]picks a wife for its

0:01:18.320,0:01:19.550
oldest son.

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The marriage can also include

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his younger brothers.

0:01:22.960,0:01:24.160
They don't have to

0:01:24.160,0:01:26.060
join in, but most do.

0:01:26.060,0:01:28.930


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No one takes a

0:01:29.580,0:01:32.050
decision regarding[br]one's own marriage.

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Everyone at home sits[br]down together and

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then it is decided[br]with the consent of

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everyone.

0:01:37.060,0:01:38.920
Polyandry also functions as a

0:01:38.920,0:01:40.390
form of birth control.

0:01:40.390,0:01:41.630
No matter how many

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husbands she has, a[br]wife can get pregnant

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only so often.

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If each man were to wed

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separately, the[br]population here would

0:01:50.230,0:01:51.490
explode.

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But what about sex,

0:01:53.930,0:01:57.550
the forbidden core[br]of a polyandry taboo?

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In truth, it's a matter[br]of scheduling and

0:02:00.500,0:02:04.180
on the wife's part, forbearance.

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Tolerance is

0:02:04.950,0:02:06.030
very important.

0:02:06.030,0:02:07.370
The wife has to

0:02:07.370,0:02:09.400
understand everything.

0:02:09.400,0:02:11.320
The older brother’s nature.

0:02:11.320,0:02:11.820
The

0:02:11.820,0:02:12.861
younger brother’s nature.

0:02:12.861,0:02:15.850


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What about jealousy,[br]that bane of

0:02:18.290,0:02:22.320
even the most mundane marriage?

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If the wife

0:02:22.870,0:02:28.700
is smart, she will[br]take turns each night

0:02:28.700,0:02:30.530
and sleep with all the brothers.

0:02:30.530,0:02:34.680


0:02:34.680,0:02:38.040
It's not like the older[br]brother wants her the

0:02:38.040,0:02:38.550
whole time.

0:02:38.550,0:02:42.360


0:02:42.360,0:02:44.850
Until recently, no[br]one here much cared

0:02:44.850,0:02:46.620
what the outside world thought.

0:02:46.620,0:02:47.930
Isolation had

0:02:47.930,0:02:49.650
preserved a way of life that had

0:02:49.650,0:02:53.060
withered everywhere else.

0:02:53.060,0:02:53.970
But a road now

0:02:53.970,0:02:56.660
links the region[br]to distant cities.

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And

0:02:57.750,0:03:00.400
on roofs once decorated[br]only with prayer

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flags,

0:03:01.530,0:03:05.020
satellite dishes sprout.

0:03:05.020,0:03:06.060
This village has

0:03:06.060,0:03:09.180
entered the modern[br]world whose images of

0:03:09.180,0:03:11.990
romance stand in[br]sharp contrast to

0:03:11.990,0:03:13.610
polyandry.

0:03:13.610,0:03:16.490
But polyandry here faces a

0:03:16.490,0:03:17.863
bigger threat: education.

0:03:17.863,0:03:21.440


0:03:21.440,0:03:22.830
As more people

0:03:22.830,0:03:25.070
are becoming more[br]educated we are also

0:03:25.070,0:03:26.810
practicing family planning.

0:03:26.810,0:03:27.700
If a father

0:03:27.700,0:03:29.700
has only one son[br]there will be no

0:03:29.700,0:03:32.320
question about the[br]land, therefore, common

0:03:32.320,0:03:34.780
marriages will come to an end.

0:03:34.780,0:03:36.210
In two,

0:03:36.210,0:03:38.800
perhaps three[br]generations, polyandry may

0:03:38.800,0:03:40.170
vanish here.

0:03:40.170,0:03:42.400
But for now, those who

0:03:42.400,0:03:45.100
practice it find[br]comfort in the familiar.

0:03:45.100,0:03:47.960


0:03:47.960,0:03:52.540
I, myself, feel that common[br]marriage is very good.

0:03:52.540,0:03:53.690
I feel

0:03:53.690,0:03:55.330
like everyone[br]should live like our

0:03:55.330,0:03:56.670
family.

0:03:56.670,0:03:59.150
Even if we do not have anything

0:03:59.150,0:04:02.910
to eat or drink, we[br]sit happily, we live

0:04:02.910,0:04:04.680
peacefully.

0:04:04.680,0:04:06.440
English (auto-generated)

0:04:06.440,0:04:09.288