WEBVTT

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It's called polyandry.

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One woman, several

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Husbands.

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It's an unusual arrangement.

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Today, polyandry
only persists in

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isolated villages
in the Himalayas.

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When it was time
for Sunita Kumari to

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wed, her family, like
many in India, made

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arrangements.

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But they involved more than

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a dowry and celebration.

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Sunita has not

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one husband, not two
husbands, but three,

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all brothers.

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What must their life be like?

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Westerners might
find the practice

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Shocking, but for this
community it works

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fine.

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One reason: sheer practicality.

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In the

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Himalayas, arable
land is scarce.

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Farms

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are tiny.

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If each generation divided

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each family's holdings,
everyone would

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starve.

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Polyandry preserves the farm and

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the family's future.

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Unlike most men in

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India, husbands
here handle domestic

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duties.

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They're willing to help with the

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cooking and childcare.

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In fraternal

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polyandry, a family
picks a wife for its

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oldest son.

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The marriage can also include

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his younger brothers.

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They don't have to

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join in, but most do.

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No one takes a

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decision regarding
one's own marriage.

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Everyone at home sits
down together and

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then it is decided
with the consent of

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everyone.

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Polyandry also functions as a

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form of birth control.

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No matter how many

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husbands she has, a
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
population here would

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explode.

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But what about sex,

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the forbidden core
of a polyandry taboo?

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In truth, it's a matter
of scheduling and

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on the wife's part, forbearance.

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Tolerance is

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very important.

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The wife has to

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understand everything.

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The older brother’s nature.

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The

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younger brother’s nature.

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What about jealousy,
that bane of

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even the most mundane marriage?

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If the wife

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is smart, she will
take turns each night

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and sleep with all the brothers.

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It's not like the older
brother wants her the

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whole time.

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Until recently, no
one here much cared

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what the outside world thought.

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Isolation had

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preserved a way of life that had

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withered everywhere else.

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But a road now

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links the region
to distant cities.

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And

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on roofs once decorated
only with prayer

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flags,

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satellite dishes sprout.

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This village has

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entered the modern
world whose images of

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romance stand in
sharp contrast to

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polyandry.

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But polyandry here faces a

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bigger threat: education.

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As more people

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are becoming more
educated we are also

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practicing family planning.

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If a father

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has only one son
there will be no

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question about the
land, therefore, common

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marriages will come to an end.

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In two,

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perhaps three
generations, polyandry may

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vanish here.

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But for now, those who

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practice it find
comfort in the familiar.

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I, myself, feel that common
marriage is very good.

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I feel

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like everyone
should live like our

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family.

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Even if we do not have anything

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to eat or drink, we
sit happily, we live

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peacefully.

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English (auto-generated)

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