Holi a day of humbling for son-in-law

Beed, Mar 20: Sons-in-law are a pampered lot in India. But on Holi, the wife's side of the family has a nice revenge in the Vida village of Beed district in Maharashtra. On the day of Holi, a son-in-law is ritually disgraced here. He does not mind, of course, it being a tradition.

He is made to sit on a donkey, and paraded through the village. It is called Gardabh Sawari (donkey-ride), and village elders say that the tradition started some 75 years ago. Every year one of the men who has married a girl from the village is picked for this honour.

Talking to PTI, Datta Deshmukh, a villager, said, "The tradition has its roots in the Nizam era. Story has it that it started when one Jahagirdar (grandee) Anandrao Deshmukh from Chincholi village in Latur district once visited Vida where his in-laws lived.

He had a spat with the in-laws, so they made him sit on a donkey, and paraded him. Then it became a ritual. People from all the communities take part in it." Parade is accompanied by a band, and since it is Holi, colours are splashed throughout.

Dadoji Barkase, another villager, said, "The selected son-in-law gets a new dress at the Hanuman Temple from the villagers after the procession."

PTI