Q1 (INTERVIEWER): Tell us something about yourself.

A1 (SARASWATI DEVI): The name of the elder brother of my father in law is Rajendra. My mother's name--my mother in law that is--is Shushila. My name is Saraswati Devi.I have three children,.

Q 2 (INTERVIEWER): And you were born in this village?

A3 (SARASWATI DEVI):: No, near Mohnia, in the village Shivpur near Bhabua road.

Q 4 (INTERVIEWER): How old were you when you got married?

A4 (SARASWATI DEVI):: 16 years old.

Q5 (INTERVIEWER): Tell us something about the life of women here. What do they do?

A5 (SARASWATI DEVI):: Some women do farming but some do not go out of their house. The women from the labor classes work the fields. Women of the upper castes--Raput, Brahmin--do not leave their homes.

Q6 (INTERVIEWER): And you?

A6 (SARASWATI DEVI):: We don't go out. We only do domestic chores, at home.

Q7 (INTERVIEWER): So, what do you do after getting up?

A7 (SARASWATI DEVI): Cooking, kitchen work and so on.

Q8 (INTERVIEWER): Tell us something about this because Americans know very little about life here--things are different.

A8 (SARASWATI DEVI): Yes but then our food is different--lentils and rice, vegetables and bread. This is what we eat in the daytime. At night we eat vegetables and bread. In the morning the kids have their breakfast and go to school. They come back in the afternoon to eat lunch.

Q9 (INTERVIEWER): When the kids go to school then do you cook all day?

A9 (SARASWATI DEVI): No, we are free after 12 noon. We cook, knit sweaters and so on. After cooking, we sew, replace buttons, mend clothes and so on. During the time of the rice harvest we dry the rice husks (paddy) in the sun and then send it to the rice mill to be pounded to get the rice.

Q10 (INTERVIEWER): Are there any special restrictions on women?

A10 (SARASWATI DEVI):: Yes, of course. We have our mother-in-lae who needs to be given her meals on time. Same with our father in law. It is our responsibility to do this. Also (it is our responsibility) to give our husbands our meals on time. After getting up in the morning we do cleaning and dusting and then take a bath and then perform puja. Regularly. We the read the Hanuman Chalisa in front of the pictures of the gods. We also read a little from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. We light incense before the pictures of the gods. Only after puja to we eat or drink anything. This village is called Arampur and villages don't have locality names. You find that only in cities. Among Hindus, localities are named after the caste who lives in them. Different castes live in different locations. The Muslims outnumber Hindus in our village. That's because there are no restrictions on the number of children they can have. They say that their Quran considers vasectomy a sin. Among us Hindus after he one or two children we decide to go have a vasectomy. Educated women do not want more children. The want only one or two children. We think that the less children we have, the better we can feed, educate and clothe them. This is what we (Hindu women) think. Muslims think the more children the better.

Q11 (INTERVIEWER): What should American students think about India, in your view?

A11 (SARASWATI DEVI):: I can't find the words to express my views.

Q12 (INTERVIEWER): What's unique about India?

A12 (SARASWATI DEVI): The tradition here is that if a woman gets divorced then she can get remarried only in exceptional circumstances--when her kids are very young and she needs a man to support them--and this is only allowed after consulting other people. Usually it is considered very objectionable for a Hindu widow to remarry. Hindu widowers generally remarry because they have to ensure that the family name and lineage continue. But o widow of an advanced age is not supposed to remarry because marriage is not her. Whether or not she has children she doesn't remarry. This the special responsibility of women in India that they have no right to remarry once widowed. But nowadays this is happening: educated people do not respect this ban but in rural areas they still do.