Nectar in a Sieve
I have finished this book but the Internet has died on me, forcing me to think for myself (horror) as I type this review (seeing how I cannot look at other people's reviews of it, and I really need to type this now while the memory is fresh).
Nectar in a Sieve is a book by Kamala Markandaya. It is about a simple peasant woman named Rukmani, the narrator, who lives in India. In the beginning of the story it is clear she is telling it when she is far enough along in years that she has children and her husband has died, but after a couple of paragraphs she begins her story with the marriages of her older sisters and then herself. She was married at twelve to a young farmer, who was beneath her social station -- but she was the youngest daughter, and her parents could not afford a better dowry like they could with her sisters. Although she was a child bride, and was moved from a rather well-off life to the uncertain one of a farmer working on rented land, the marriage turns out to be a successful one -- it was quite touching to see her husband patient with her as she adjusts to her new life and as they truly became partners in life, as is apparent throughout the entire book.
The whole story is about Rukmani's life on the farm, and some bit of it in a city. She struggles with many problems; there are droughts, monsoons, infertility, many children, lean years. Change and modernization was also a problem in her village more than it was a blessing, as it made her livelihood difficult and eventually forced her to leave the village she loves so much, closer to the end of the novel.
One thing I liked about the book was the many observations and impressions, of other villagers, of Indians from outside the village, of Muslims, and of whites, seen through the eyes of Rukmani. Many of the disruptions and threats to her way of life, such as the growing expenses and prostitution problems, could be blamed on colonization -- I'm not sure exactly when this story takes place, but there are a number of Westerners living in the area. Rukmani is curious about them and often angry, and she is also curious and a bit disapproving of Muslims. Of the women she says:
"They stayed mostly indoors, or if they went out at all they went veiled in bourkas. It was their religion, I was told: they would not appear before any man but their husband. Sometimes, when I caught sight of a figure in voluminous draperies swishing through the streets under a blazing sun, or of a face peering through a window or shutter, I felt desperately sorry for them, deprived of the ordinary pleasures of knowing warm sun and cool breeze upon their flesh, of walking out light and free, or of mixing with men and working beside them."
Her views of outsiders aren't black and white however, for example, there is a doctor who sometimes lives in the area, the first white man she ever saw, and while he is often curt or rude, and painfully frank, he is very compassionate. He truly cares about people even though he is impatient with their simple ways of thinking, and he ends up saving Rukmani's loved ones, or helping her in general, a number of times.
Near the end of the novel, Rakmuni and her husband's land, which they did not own, was to be sold, and they were forced to leave. They lived temporarily in a city as they search for one of their sons who moved there. They live meagerly meanwhile, and it's as painful to read about as it was when they earlier nearly starved on bad years with droughts or too-heavy monsoon rains. This was worse, though, because they dearly wished to be back home, on their land, where they had lived and raised children and made their way through life. I did not like this part so much, it wasn't beautiful to read about as the earlier parts had been, but it was still a realistic portrayal of change and what it does to those who are not ready or willing, or are simply better suited to their current situation and should not have been forced out of it.
While I don't know much about Indian society, the story did repeat some things I had learned, and I think I have learned a great deal more through Rukmani's story.
Nectar in a Sieve is a book by Kamala Markandaya. It is about a simple peasant woman named Rukmani, the narrator, who lives in India. In the beginning of the story it is clear she is telling it when she is far enough along in years that she has children and her husband has died, but after a couple of paragraphs she begins her story with the marriages of her older sisters and then herself. She was married at twelve to a young farmer, who was beneath her social station -- but she was the youngest daughter, and her parents could not afford a better dowry like they could with her sisters. Although she was a child bride, and was moved from a rather well-off life to the uncertain one of a farmer working on rented land, the marriage turns out to be a successful one -- it was quite touching to see her husband patient with her as she adjusts to her new life and as they truly became partners in life, as is apparent throughout the entire book.
The whole story is about Rukmani's life on the farm, and some bit of it in a city. She struggles with many problems; there are droughts, monsoons, infertility, many children, lean years. Change and modernization was also a problem in her village more than it was a blessing, as it made her livelihood difficult and eventually forced her to leave the village she loves so much, closer to the end of the novel.
One thing I liked about the book was the many observations and impressions, of other villagers, of Indians from outside the village, of Muslims, and of whites, seen through the eyes of Rukmani. Many of the disruptions and threats to her way of life, such as the growing expenses and prostitution problems, could be blamed on colonization -- I'm not sure exactly when this story takes place, but there are a number of Westerners living in the area. Rukmani is curious about them and often angry, and she is also curious and a bit disapproving of Muslims. Of the women she says:
"They stayed mostly indoors, or if they went out at all they went veiled in bourkas. It was their religion, I was told: they would not appear before any man but their husband. Sometimes, when I caught sight of a figure in voluminous draperies swishing through the streets under a blazing sun, or of a face peering through a window or shutter, I felt desperately sorry for them, deprived of the ordinary pleasures of knowing warm sun and cool breeze upon their flesh, of walking out light and free, or of mixing with men and working beside them."
Her views of outsiders aren't black and white however, for example, there is a doctor who sometimes lives in the area, the first white man she ever saw, and while he is often curt or rude, and painfully frank, he is very compassionate. He truly cares about people even though he is impatient with their simple ways of thinking, and he ends up saving Rukmani's loved ones, or helping her in general, a number of times.
Near the end of the novel, Rakmuni and her husband's land, which they did not own, was to be sold, and they were forced to leave. They lived temporarily in a city as they search for one of their sons who moved there. They live meagerly meanwhile, and it's as painful to read about as it was when they earlier nearly starved on bad years with droughts or too-heavy monsoon rains. This was worse, though, because they dearly wished to be back home, on their land, where they had lived and raised children and made their way through life. I did not like this part so much, it wasn't beautiful to read about as the earlier parts had been, but it was still a realistic portrayal of change and what it does to those who are not ready or willing, or are simply better suited to their current situation and should not have been forced out of it.
While I don't know much about Indian society, the story did repeat some things I had learned, and I think I have learned a great deal more through Rukmani's story.