In Nepalese villages, children perform many agricultural chores.

The people of South Asia stand at the continual crossroads of the rich legacy of the past and new ways of living.

The Farm and the City

South Asia's economy relies on these farming villages. Over the centuries, intensive farming has robbed the soil of most nutrients, and the farmers struggle to eke out humble livings.

Harvesting rainwater has become an important way to gather safe water for home, industrial, and agricultural use.

But technology has touched even the remotest areas of South Asia. Large-scale irrigation projects sponsored by the governments of India and Pakistan have eased water shortages outside the monsoon season. New products have been introduced to reap greater harvests. For example, wheat output in India has increased ninefold since independence in 1947. The transformation of agriculture in South Asia is called the Green Revolution.

Population growth has strained South Asia's resources. In 2000 for example, India's population reached one billion.

Today, South Asian cities are often overcrowded and dirty. The slums of these cities can grow vast as people from the countryside, unable to make a living with a rural occupation, move to the cities hoping to find some form of work.

Unfortunately, they often find crime and violence instead. Disease, too, is a big problem in the slums.

Class differences are more pronounced in South Asian cities than in the countryside. Not far from the slums live many elite families, who were fortunate enough to profit from the growing industrial sector. Although South Asian governments have sponsored factory construction, many of these nations lack the resources to build the infrastructure necessary to support heavy industry. In other words, it is difficult to sustain factories without an elaborate system of roads, railways, and power lines.

Marriage Patterns

In many South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, weddings are normally arranged by the parents of the bride and groom.

In a Hindu marriage, a father takes his son to visit the family of a prospective bride — a family of the same caste, of course. This may be the first time the boy and girl actually get to meet each other. If they really hate each other, the parents may change their minds, but often children get no say in the matter.

In the cities, self-selected marriage partners are much more common. In urban India, marriage for the sake of love without regard to caste is no longer rare. Still, even in the cities, higher-caste Indians strongly tend to wed within their own castes.

However it is arranged, though, marriage is perhaps the most important experience in the lives of most South Asians.

Arranged Marriage: How would you feel if your marriage was arranged?

A family is expected to pay for their daughter's wedding and provide a dowry, or payment, to the bride's new family. The marriage ritual itself takes several days and involves elaborate ceremonies, sacrifices, and feasting. And South Asians frown upon the practice of divorce, though it is legal in many parts of the region today.

Women in South Asia

Many Indian villages, such as Chak, are making a concerted efforts to educate their young girls.

The Muslim system of purdah holds that a woman should never be seen in public. In fact, even in her own residence she must restrict herself only to certain parts of the house.

In 1991, Pakistan voted to make the Koran the supreme law of the land. Although not all aspects of Islamic law have been enforced there, traditional roles for women remain strong.

Throughout South Asia, women receive less schooling than their male counterparts. In rural areas, male children often receive better health care than females.

These gender differences are much more pronounced in rural areas of South Asia than in the cities. Education levels for males and females in urban areas are essentially the same, and women have emerged in some professions, such as medicine.

Arranged Marriage Mad Lib It's time for you to get married, and we're going to play matchmaker. Fill in the words to seal your fate.

Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto have each served as political head of government in India and Pakistan respectively. Such political success of women is still unknown in the United States.

BACK | LINKS | NEXT