Leigh Minturn in this work recounts the dramatic changes in the role and status of Indian women in the Rajput caste of Khalapur that have taken place between 1955 and 1975. She explains the relationship of these changes to the decline in the observance of a complex system of customs collectively called purdah, which include the veiling of women's faces and bodies, subservient posture when speaking to men, separation of husbands and wives and deference of young wives to their mothers-in-law. The decline in the observance of the customs has both led to and been fostered by modernization. Unlike other studies of Indian women, Minturn preserves the individuality of her subjects.

Leigh Minturn in this work recounts the dramatic changes in the role and status of Indian women in the Rajput caste of Khalapur that have taken place between 1955 and 1975. She explains the relationship of these changes to the decline in the observance of a complex system of customs collectively called purdah, which include the veiling of women's faces and bodies, subservient posture when speaking to men, separation of husbands and wives and deference of young wives to their mothers-in-law. The decline in the observance of the customs has both led to and been fostered by modernization. Unlike other studies of Indian women, Minturn preserves the individuality of her subjects.