oyed as a
cook the Dhimar or his wife is permitted to knead flour with water
and make it into a cake which the Brahman will then take and put on
to the girdle with his own hands. He can also boil water and pour
pulse into the cooking-pot from above so long as he does not touch
the vessel after the food has been placed in it. He or she will also
take any remains of food which is left in the cooking-pot as this
is not considered to be polluted, food only becoming polluted when
the hand touches it on the dish after having touched the mouth. When
this has happened all the food on the dish becomes _jutha_ or leavings
of food, and as a general rule no caste except the sweepers will eat
the leavings of food of another caste or of another person of their
own. Only the wife, whose meal follows her husband's, will eat his
leavings. As a servant the Dhimar is very familiar with his master;
he may enter any part of the house, including the cooking-place and
the women's rooms, and he addresses his mistress as 'Mother.' In
northern India Mr. Crooke states that the Kahars are sometimes known
as Mahra, from the Sanskrit Mahila, a woman, because they have the
entry of the female apartments. When he lights his master's pipe he
takes the first pull himself to show that it has not been tampered
with, and then presents it to him with his left hand placed under
his right elbow in token of respect. Maid-servants also frequently
belong to the Dhimar caste, and it often happens that the master of
the household has illicit intercourse with them. Hence there is a
proverb, 'The king's son draws water and the water-bearer's son sits
on the throne,' similar intrigues on the part of high-born women with
their servants being not unknown. The Dhimar often acts as a pimp,
this being an incident of his profession of indoor servant.

11. Other occupations.

Another occupation of the Dhimar's is to sell parched grain and rice
to travellers in markets and railway stations like the Bharbhunja
and Dhuri. This he can do because of his comparative social
purity, as all castes will take water and cakes and sweetmeats
from his hands. Some Dhimars and Kewats also weave hemp-matting
and gunny-bags, but such members of the caste rank lower than the
others and Brahmans will not take water from them. Another calling
by which a few Dhimars find support is that of breeding pigs. One
would think it a difficult matter to make a living out of the village
pig, an a