Amazon’s ‘Panchayat’ series is a lovely little triumph

The Pradhan of Phulera, a village in Uttar Pradesh, does not know the words of the national anthem. Unlike those of us habituated to school assemblies and big city movie theatres, she hasn’t had occasion to sing it—despite protocol dictating that she unfurl the national flag twice a year and sing the anthem to her people. That is just something her husband does, like all the other pradhan tasks. She may have been elected on the back of national attempts to empower women but her husband is the one who goes to office and makes the village decisions.

Even his title, however preposterous, sounds more grandiose: He is called “Pradhan-Pati”, and while that literally translates to husband of the Pradhan, it sounds officiously like one who commands the Pradhan, much like the President is called the Rashtrapati.

This is a sample of the lunacy encountered by reluctant city boy Abhishek Tripathi, who didn’t study hard enough in college and now works as a secretary to the village panchayat in Phulera.