Nectar in a Sieve Kamala Markandaya's 1954 Book Report

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Nectar in a Sieve

Kamala Markandaya's 1954 novel Nectar in a Sieve can be read as a historical artifact that illustrates issues extant in the years immediately after Indian independence. Some of the issues that Markandaya addresses in Nectar in a Sieve including income disparity, still plague Indian social and political life. The ambitious industrialization and modernization programs that Nehru undertook during his tenure as India's first post-colonial Prime Minister did churn wealth in some sectors, while it also exacerbated the already existing divisions between classes throughout the subcontinent. In particular, the shift from a primarily agrarian and self-sustaining farming community life in rural areas towards urbanization created more problems than the process was intended to solve. Without a cohesive community infrastructure, peasant farmers were mainly worse off than they were before factories like the one depicted in Markandaya's novel employed leagues of workers.

Nectar in a Sieve does reveal some of the paradoxes of modernization in India, as the title suggests. For one, the modernization of India's universities and medical systems presented a major boon not just to the economy but to daily life in India. The novel does address medical advancements as being potentially beneficial, via Dr. Kenny's character. Moreover, Rukmani somehow manages to maintain hope for the future as she watches her grandchildren grow. Furthermore, democracy theoretically empowered all of India's residents but the system also incurred widespread corruption in both local and federal politics.

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The story of Rukmani shows also that modernization facilitated the dismantling of traditional Indian social and cultural institutions. A tannery replaces the old fashioned village farming infrastructure and local politicians replace the traditional caste of village elders. Gender issues are also at stake, although Markandaya does not spend too much time dwelling on topics such as why male children were considered to be much more of a boon than female children, and the symbolic effects of institutions like arranged marriages and dowry. Moreover, Markandaya suggests that poverty affects women to a greater degree than men. Prostitution as a source of needed income is a topic that the author does not shy away from in Nectar in a Sieve. Ira is one of the novel's most tragic figures, revealing the effects of a rigidly stratified culture that is practically built on gender inequity.

Income disparity is the main theme of Nectar in a Sieve, which suggests certainly that modernity widened the gulf between rich and poor throughout the country. The poor bore the brunt of….....

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