Gautam, married at 12 to a 5-year-old bride

This afternoon around 5:30 I was sitting down for some tea with a few of the workers and teachers here at the vocational training center. Last night was the watchman's son's marriage party, and we were talking about it. I made some stupid joke about Gautam, one of the groundskeepers, and said something about him getting married.

"I had my marriage already," Gautam said.

"No you didn't," I said.

"Yes, I did," he said.

"Yes, he did," said Gamr, one of the drivers. "Eight years ago."

"What?" I said.

"It's true," said Gautam.

That's when my jaw dropped. I'd heard about child marriage still being practiced in some places around Gujarat, but I didn't realize anyone here had experienced it, or that it was being practiced in villages close to the center (Gautam lives just one or two villages away).

Gautam had been married at age 12, eight years ago. I asked how old his wife was now, expecting to hear that she was a year or two younger than him, but he said that she is 13, meaning she was married at age 5. They haven't seen each other since the wedding, and there are a few years left before the marriage is consummated. How many, I don't know, but I doubt it's more than 3.

Where is the line between inalienable cultural property and cultural deficiency? It must be somewhere. Is it here? Maybe.