Category Archives: Indian

Indian Village Bans Unmarried Women From Using Mobile Phones

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photo of indian woman talking on a cell phone which is now illegal pictures photographs

An Indian village has banned unmarried women from using mobile phones. The reason? Village elders fear that unmarried women will use mobile phones to arrange their own marriages behind their father’s backs. Yeah, I’m not kidding. Three words spring to mind here, and I can abbreviate them by just writing – WTF.

The Lank village council has decided that unmarried men can use mobile phones only under parental supervision, whilst unmarried women face a blanket ban on their use. Local womens’ rights groups have criticized the measure as backward and discriminatory, but the council has defended the move, saying that the arrangement of forbidden …

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Food For Thought on Thanksgiving (Or, My First Grade Teacher Lied to Me)

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Drawing of a Pilgrim Couple

It turns out that, like with seemingly everything else, there are a lot of misconceptions and rewritten history regarding Thanksgiving. So, while you’re sitting down to your turkey dinner tomorrow, here are some conversation starters.

George Mason University’s History News Network recently debunked ten Thanksgiving myths on WMUR through historian Rick Shenkman:

Myth #1: The Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving.

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Tradition of Polyandry Rapidly Vanishing in Remote Indian Villages

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Having grown up in a place that is infamous for its creative forms of marriage, I take great joy in seeing other innovative (I’m about half being snarky and half being serious with the word ‘innovative’ here) responses to a social institution that most societies have settled similarly . The mountain towns of the Himalayas take an opposite approach to the founders of the great state of Utah, and allow many men to marry the same wife; specifically many brothers to marry the same wife. Interestingly, however, the practice has faded within the past generation. The New York Times describes why this is a notable development:

Polyandry has been practiced here for centuries, but in a single generation it has all but vanished. That is a remarkably swift development in a country where social change, despite rapid economic growth, leaping technological advances and the relentless march of globalization, happens with aching slowness, if at all.

So, there are certain questions we all have (or maybe it’s just me?) about sharing a wife among brothers (admittedly, most of mine are sexual, probably because I’m not terribly mature). The article goes on to address a few:

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Nikki Haley Wins Republican Runoff, Poised to be South Carolina’s Next Governor

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photo of new governor nikki haley sitting behind at desk at a computer terminal

Nikki Haley won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in South Carolina on Tuesday in a runoff election with Congressman Gresham Barrett.  South Carolinians will choose between Haley and Democrat Vincent Sheehan on election day, and Haley is the hands down favorite to win.  Haley overcame challenges including cheating allegations, an increasingly common charge in this day and age, and ethnic slurs.

From the New York Times:

Ms. Haley, 38, rose in the polls by promising to break an entrenched network that has dominated state politics for decades. She portrayed the unsubstantiated charges of sexual affairs as retaliation for taking on special interests.

In the general election, Ms. Haley faces the Democratic nominee, Vincent Sheheen, who won his primary on June 8. Republican candidates in South Carolina hold a considerable advantage in the general election, and even Democratic leaders in the state concede that something unforeseen would have to unfold for Ms. Haley not to win in November.

The two are competing to succeed Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, who confessed to having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman last year and is barred by term limits from seeking re-election.

Haley, “a first generation American of Indian descent,” has been increasingly popular in the national news.  Her meteoric rise can be attributed to many factors, not the least of which is an endorsement from Sarah Palin.
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