I find the mates (nepali laborers) marriage to be very modern…
Love marriage is very common among mates. They call it bhaga lena in hindi, literally mean ran away (with the bride). If the marriage does not work then flee away from that person again with somebody else. It’s also not rare for woman to flee [...]
Among the villagers within a village, they don’t sell their products (mostly agricultural) or service. They exchange for something else that the other person can offer. Villagers never have to buy things like milk and vegetables. Mostly they will have cows or buffalo if not they will have small garden around their houses where they grow vegetables. Most villagers in this Himalayan part of India, with their limited land grow cereals, more or less adequate for their family.