“Even two hundred years ago, when the British finally defeated


the divided yet dominant Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War


of 1817, India was a very static place. Most Indians could not have


just packed their bags and easily relocated from Maratha Pune to


Mughal Delhi, or from British Calcutta to Sikh Lahore—much less


from a small fort–town in Rajputana to rural Mysore.


Besides logistics, language was a significant barrier and so


were social acceptance and job opportunities. The average Indian


had almost nothing to fall back on without backing from the biraadri


or gotra. The farm and the local market defined most people’s lives,


punctuated occasionally by a rare long-distance pilgrimage. Large-


scale relocations mostly happened during times of distress. Marrying


contrary to parental wishes was unimaginable. Life was ‘nasty,


brutish and short’, to borrow the famous Hobbesian description, and


solace was found in the Gods.”