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MANSA (INDIA): From celebrity toenails to fart machines, e-bay probably can’t get stranger. But reality just did. Malsinghwala, a tiny village in Punjab’s Mansa district, has put itself up for auction. Lock, stock and barrel, or rather tractor, states a resolution passed unanimously by residents.
A ride through this nondescript village in the Malwa region, though a bit bumpy, does nothing to indicate that it’s any different from its neighbours. But a brief halt reveals just why its people have decided to throw in the towel. “The mountain of debt has left us crushed. Every villager here is loaned to the hilt,” says sarpanch Jasbir Singh, waving a copy of the July 2 resolution which declares that all 1800 acres of Malsinghwala are up for sale.
Is there a warrenty if the village doesn’t work?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.