Pushpa’s husbands’ ages ranged from 21 to 35. Her mother called them “four Pandvas” after the mighty “five Pandvas,” husbands to the all-powerful Draupathi, their family deity. Her mother told Pushpa that the marriage would ensure that, with four husbands, she would never be destitute and, God willing, never die a widow. Although Pushpa had only recently reached puberty, she understood what the marriage meant. She had watched her fathers take turns in the bedroom with her mother. Having been raised on the Pandva lore, it is the only form of marriage the boys and girls in Pushpa’s tribe, the Pandus, had ever known. Her concerns were focused elsewhere. Her mother had pulled her out of school the day after she had reached puberty, her protestations notwithstanding. Her mother had said, “Life will teach you far more than what schools can.” So, Pushpa started plotting in her head the deeds…