Kamala Markandya was born in Mysore in 1924 as Kamala Purnaiya. She was graduated in University of Madras. She was married to Bertrand Taylor and moved to Britan in 1948. Wrote her writings under the name of Markandaya. She was passed away in 2004. The novel was first published in 1954 which is said to be a semi-autobiographical novel. The novel is a journey of transformation under the post-colonial setting in India. It mainly focus on the plight of the poor whose labor is exploited by the feudal system and the capitalism.
Nectar in a Sieve is a metaphorical phrase suggesting the
futility of life. Nectar a sweet fluid might be suggestive to the pleasures in
life, if sieve is taken as life, a container that is full of holes, the fluid
inside of the sieve definitely oozes down. Similarly, the main characters
Rukmani, Nathan and their family loose their essence of life through the
fissures in their life-cup. The story has its own happy twists and turns but
ends engulfing the reader in a see of sighs and gloomy feelings.
The novel raises many thematical issues like: poverty,
class, gender, colonialism, urbanization, interracial relationships, sexuality,
medicine, tradition vs modernism, capitalism and materialism and faith and
rationalization.
The protagonist, Rukmani is a daughter of the head of the
village but she opted to marry a poor tenant farmer who is considered to be
below to the cast of Rukmani’s family. As a result of her stubborn
relationship, she was abandoned from the family. However, she is determined to
support Nathan and to succeed in their lives. She tends the rice patties around
the house and starts a small thriving garden.
After the first daughter – Irawaddy, Rukmani had trouble
having kids and seeks the help of a white doctor called Kenny. The treatments
become successful and she is blessed with six sons. However, none of them
proceeded to the fields. Arjun and Thambi work at the controversial tannery
until fired because of worker disputes, then off to a large, far away city.
Murugan goes to work as a servant and Selvam works with Kenny as Rukmani was
determined to give him a better education.
A tannery, the symbol of capitalism and modernism comes to
the town. It had the promise to bring many jobs to the villagers but it was not
many as expected. It also brings Muslim workers to the village. It brings a
small boon to Rukmani as she can sell her vegetable production to the new
workers. However, the Tannery brings new problems to the village.
Irawaddy, the eldest child of Rukmani returns home after an
unsuccessful marriage as she has no children with her husband. Though
devastated, she takes liking to Kuti, the youngest son of Rukmani.
Disaster struck the village, floods and drought destroy
their entire crops. The family loses the livelihood as well as the food supply.
Raja weakened with malnutrition, beaten to death by tannery guards as he
rummaged for food near the complex. Kuti begins to starve to death. Irawaddy
resorts to prostitution in order to feed the child but he dies despite the
sacrifice she made. In spite of starving to death they have to pay the money to
landlord to keep the lands. They have to sell nearly everything to pay the
landlord because they had no crop.
Things get bad to worse and weird. Irawaddy has a child from
her time as a prostitute. He is named as Sacrabani. Sacrabani is an albino
child who resembles foreigner. He and Irawaddy is scorned by the people of the
village. To deepen their misery, the landlord sells the land to the tannery and
gives them two weeks to get out.
Having lost everything Rukmani and Nathan have to find
options to survive. Irawaddy and Sacrabani decide to stay in the village with
Selvam. Rukmani and Nathan go far away in search of Murugan to stay with him.
They feel alienated in a city and a boy called Puli helps
them to find the way. To their dismay, they find that Murugan has deserted his
wife and ran away. Losing the only hope they are driven to the road where
thieves steal their every penny, they had making them all but beggars. Puli
comes to their rescue and finds them works at a nearby quarry.
As traditional farmers who had no experience in such hard
labours as well as malnutrition, Nathen fell sick and eventually dies on the
road. Having lost everything, Rukmani returns the village with Puli. The story
open ends keeping a number of questions to be asked. No character seems to have
a happy ending or space to thrive. Uncertainty and emptiness remain in the
lives of the characters.
This is not a comprehensive summary of the novel but to give
a glimpse of the story and provide a jump start to the readers who have not attempted
the novel. The comment section is open for you to provide your ideas about the
novel. If you find this useful, please share it among the book lovers.
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