The bridegroom's father makes them
a present of from one to twenty rupees according to his means, and
also gives suitable fees to the barber, the washerman, the Barai or
betel-leaf seller and the Bhat or bard. The maid-servants then bring
vessels of water and throw it over each other in sport. After the
evening meal, the party go back, the bride and bridegroom riding in
the same cart. As they start the women sing:

Let us go to the basket-maker
And buy a costly pair of fans;
Fans worth a lot of money;
Let us praise the mother of the bride.

8. Widow-marriage

After a few days at her husband's house the bride returns home, and
though she pays short visits to his family from time to time, she
does not go to live with her husband until she is adolescent, when the
usual _pathoni_ or going-away ceremony is performed to celebrate the
event. The people repeat a set of verses containing advice which the
bride's mother is supposed to give her on this occasion, in which the
desire imputed to the caste to make money out of their daughters is
satirised. They are no doubt libellous as being a gross exaggeration,
but may contain some substratum of truth. The gist of them is as
follows: "Girl, if you are my daughter, heed what I say. I will
make you many sweetmeats and speak words of wisdom. Always treat
your husband better than his parents. Increase your private money
(_khamora_) by selling rice and sugar; abuse your sisters-in-law to
your husband's mother and become her favourite. Get influence over
your husband and make him come with you to live with us. If you
cannot persuade him, abandon your modesty and make quarrels in the
household. Do not fear the village officers, but go to the houses of
the patel [393] and Pandia [394] and ask them to arrange your quarrel."

It is not intended to imply that Panwar women behave in this manner,
but the passage is interesting as a sidelight on the joint family
system. It concludes by advising the girl, if she cannot detach her
husband from his family, to poison him and return as a widow. This
last counsel is a gibe at the custom which the caste have of taking
large sums of money for a widow on her second marriage. As such
a woman is usually adult, and able at once to perform the duties
of a wife and to work in the fields, she is highly valued, and her
price ranges from Rs. 25 to Rs. 1000. In former times, it is stated,
the disposal of widows did not re