Based on a year’s ethnographic fieldwork in a village in the drought-prone Beed district of Maharashtra, this article explores the emerging ‘marriage drought’ phenomenon among Marathas, a dominant landholding caste. The crisis, popularly voiced as ‘shetkari navra nako (we do not want a farmer husband)’, reflects a broader socio-economic transformation in which agriculture has lost its prestige, and rural masculinity is being redefined through urban aspirations, consumerism and non-agricultural employment. This article analyses the strategies Marathas adopt to negotiate this crisis, including seeking brides beyond traditional caste and regional boundaries and challenging caste endogamy norms. While existing scholarship has linked this phenomenon to gender imbalances, demographic shifts and agrarian distress, this article extends the conversation by exploring a less examined dimension: the impact of the marriage drought on intercommunity relationships, particularly those across caste and religious lines, offering insight into shifting social boundaries in a transforming rural landscape.
Akshay Sawant (Tue,) studied this question.