THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

until he became too old to manage on his own, when he went to live with
an older son in Tamaphok and the youngest was consulted as to his
intentions for the future of the family seat.
The stage of the cycle reached affected the demography of the
household. Our household, for example, seemed quite atypical because i t
contained only three members - our father, mother and sister. Apa was
the fourth born, and had benefited particularly well from his army
service because his parents had died soon after he left Tamaphok, and
the division of the property had taken place then. Both his sons died
in infancy, leaving Kamala as his surviving heir. In normal
circumstances, a daughter of Kamala's age might have been expected to be
married, and she was indeed eligible because she was due to inherit all
her parents' wealth. However, the suitors that appeared were all sent
(by Kamala, it appeared) on their way since there was an obvious need
for Kamala to stay and help her increasingly aged parents, It was
possible, people thought, that if she married the man would come and
live with her family (rather than the more usual patrifocal movement of
women to the man's household). This was clearly a socially acceptable
opt ion in the c i rcumst ances, but persona 1 i t y factors were a 1 so
undoubted 1 y at work. Kama 1 a was unusua 1 in the 1 eve 1 of her educa t ion
which had given her a forthrightness and degree of status which many
young women her age did not have. She often claimed she was only going
to marry a wizened old man so that she would not have to live with him
very long.