“In each village there is, as with the Oraons, an open space for a dancing ground, called by the Bhuiyas the Darbar; and near it the bachelors’ hall.... here the young men must all sleep at night, and here the drums are kept.  Some villages have a ‘Dhangarin bassa,’ or house for maidens, which, strange to say, they are allowed to occupy without anyone to look after them.  They appear to have very great liberty, and slips of morality, as long as they are confined to the tribe, are not much heeded.  Whenever the young men of the village go to the Darbar and beat the drums the young girls join them there, and they spend their evenings dancing and enjoying themselves without any interference on the part of the elders.

“The more exciting and exhilarating occasions are when the young men of one village proceed to visit the maidens of another village, or when the maidens return the call.  The young men provide themselves with presents for the girls, generally consisting of combs for the hair and sweets, and going straight to the Darbar of the village they visit, they proclaim their arrival loudly by beating their drums and tambourines.  The girls of that village immediately join them.  Their male relations and neighbors must keep entirely out of view, leaving the field clear for the guests.  The offerings of the visitors are now gallantly presented and graciously accepted and the girls at once set to work to prepare a dinner for their beaux, and after the meal they dance and sing and flirt all night together, and the morning dawns on more than one pair of pledged lovers.  Then the girls, if the young men have conducted themselves to their satisfaction, make ready the morning meal for themselves and their guests; after which the latter rise to depart, and still dancing and playing on the drums, move out of the village followed by the girls, who escort them to the boundary.  This is generally a rock-broken stream with wooded banks; here they halt, the girls on one side, the lads on the other, and to the accompaniment of the babbling brook sing to each other in true bucolic style.  The song on these occasions is to a certain extent improvised, and is a pleasant mixture of raillery and love-making....

“The song ended, the girls go down on their knees, and bowing to the ground respectfully salute the young men, who gravely and formally return the compliment, and they part.

“The visit is soon returned by the girls.  They are received by the young men in their Darbar and entertained, and the girls of the receiving village must not be seen....

     “They have certainly more wit, more romance, and more
     poetry in their composition than is usually found among
     the country folk in India.”

LIBERTY OF CHOICE