PERSISTENCE OF A CUSTOM: CULTURAL CENTRALITY OF GHUNGHAT 111 foreign liquor vends in this small state. Information supplied by Yushvir Singh Thekedar; born 1960, a liquor thekedar and brick kiln owner in village Dulhera; lives in village Chhara of district Rohtak. Interestingly, his caste name 'Thakran' has been changed to 'Thekedar', in view of his profession. Also see a report from the Tribune Bureau, titled, 'Rum, Gin through Thekas in Haryana', Tribune, Chandigarh, 13 February 1990. 51. For similar opinion and observation of women of different classes on liquor in Rajasthan, see Miriam Sharma and Urmilla Vanjani, 'Women's Work is Never Done: Dairy Development and Health in the Lives of Rural Women of Rajasthan', Economic and Political Weekly, (29 Apr. 1989), Vol. XXIV, no. 17, pp. WS38-WS45. Also see Mukul, 'Sharab Virodhi Andolan', Navbharat Times, (Hindi), Delhi, 18 May 1987, p. 3; 19 May 1987, p. 3; 20 May 1987, p. 3. 52. For details of this Act and its comparison with the earlier situation existing in British India, see the Hindu Succession Act, No. XXX of 1956, in Sunderlal T. Desai, Mulla Principles of Hindu IM.W, (Bombay: N.M. Tripathi Private Ltd., 13th edition, 1966). 53. See author's forthcoming article, 'Culture, Ideology and State: Subverting Female Inheritance (Act of Succession, 1956)', in Modern Asian Studies. 54. For details of these cases see Prem Choudhry, 'Conjugality, Law and State: Inheritance Rights as Pivot of Control in Northern India', National Law School Journal, Bangalore, special issue, (1993), Vol. I, pp. 95-116. 55. Prem Chowdhry, 'Customs in a Peasant Economy: Women in Colonial Haryana', in Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid (ed.). Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, (Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989), pp. 302-336. 56. Haryana District Gazetteer, Bhiwani District, 1982, (Chandigarh, 1983), p. 67. 57. A common observation heard in all the villages. 58. The forced levirate practice and the repression of women can be estimated from these runaway cases. Some of these cases take place even after the levirate alliance has been effected. In many instances these matches are between much older widows and their very young dewars. All such cases which have come to my notice have requested anonymity. 59. Interview with Vidya Vati, Delhi, 24 Dec. 1987. (Several other women confirmed this observation), born 1918, married to Hardwari Lal, ex-member of Lok Sabha from Rohtak; she has kept a very close touch with rural life despite having lived in different urban centres from the age of sixteen. 60. The India Code, (New Delhi: Ministry of Law, Covt. of India, 1956), Vol. II, Prt IX, pp. 149—56. A few changes have been made under the Marriage Law (Amendment) Act 1976, which by introducing categories of divorce by mutual consent has further facilitated the granting of divorce by either party. 61. Interview with Ram Meher Hooda, Rohtak, 17 June 1986; born 1933, village Makrauli-Kalan, district Rohtak, practices law at the district level. He and his brother own about 25 bighas of land in their ancestral village. 62. E. Joseph, Customary Law of the Rohtak District, (Lahore: Superintendent, Govt. Printing, 1911), pp. 35, 40; also see Govt. of Punjab, Gurgaon District, Gazetteer, 1910, (Lahore: Superintendent, Govt. Printing, 1911), p. 58. 63. Several people highlighted the chhordena form of socially accepted divorce. This customary arrangement had been considered by the rural populace as essentially different from the divorce instituted by law. That is the reason why till the late 60's, almost all denied the existence of divorce in the rural areas. Divorce was considered to be an anomaly of urban life and education. Now the fact that even informal arrangement means a divorce in reality seems to have dawned upon people. R.M. Hooda, Rohtak, 17 June 1986. 64. The rising cases of such divorces in the rural areas are not directly related to the 1955 Act, but to the changed society and its consumerist demands. Among these, dowry has emerged as the foremost cause for the practice of 'chhordena'. Or the