The true story of a village woman

 The true story of a village woman

In Indian culture, since ancient times, women have been treated as inferior to men. Even in the 20th century, with new technology and social reforms, women who manage the household and work are not given the same respect as men.

There's a saying, "One woman can understand another woman," but sometimes women are the ones causing trouble for each other. This is a true story from the 19th century.

                Her name was Dagda. People didn't want daughters back then, so they'd give them names like Dagda (meaning "stone") or other unpleasant names. Dagda lived in a large joint family with her husband, children, and in-laws. They had a lot of land and made a living from farming.

Her mother-in-law treated her very poorly, making her do all the household chores, farm work, and taking care of the cattle. If Dagda didn't do these tasks properly, her mother-in-law would beat her.

One day, while her mother-in-law was out in the fields, Dagda decided to make an omelette from a chicken egg. As she cracked the egg, a chick fell out, and Dagda felt guilty for killing it. From then on, she stopped eating eggs.

Dagda's husband would initially scold her, comparing her unfavorably to his first wife, who was beautiful, tall, fair, and slender. His first wife had died in childbirth, and they had no children together. After marrying Dagda, they had four sons and three daughters.

After her in-laws passed away, the joint family split up, but they still worked together on the farm. Dagda's brother-in-law and his wife, who had no children, gave 60 acres of land to Dagda's husband. The other brothers were allowed to farm on this land, and their financial situation improved. They became prominent farmers in the village, with a prosperous household and a thriving farm.

However, fate had other plans. The 1972 drought brought a massive crisis to their lives.

Next part of this story coming soon....