Nectar in a Sieve

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Summary: The reality of life in India is portrayed upfront and honest
Review: This is a novel that many of us "westerners" may struggle with in terms of seeing the reality of it all. Rukmani and her family's struggles seem to be surreal to us because we cannot fathom that such trials and tribulations are continuously dealt to people. Furthermore, it is beyond our comprehension that people can and do survive in such instances. To me, this book has served as a tool to open the eyes of my sheltered students who prosper in a world where want and need are not a true part of their lives. Anyone who has been to India knows that the reality of this novel rings true to every word printed! Rukmani can be viewed as a woman who knows nothing but servitude or as the woman she really is- one full of strength, love, pride and devotion.

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Summary: Poignant story of a womann's life in India
Review: Kamla Markandaya's novel is very well written but unnecessarly depressing. However in a way the depressing events add to the power of this book. After putting this book down (it does not have a conclusive conclusion) one wonders about how much more the main character will have to suffer before her death. A interesting, short read.

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Summary: Nectar in a Sieve is meant to uplift, but disturbs also
Review: We are reading Nectar in a Sieve as part of a year's project to delve into Indian literature and life. I am co-leader of our review of this book. Both I and my friend found the book unnecessarily depressing, with its depiction of abject poverty and starvation. The narrator's uplifting attitude toward life is a little hard to believe. A reviewer in another site said this all has to do with the Indian attitude toward Karma, a sort of "what will be, will be." I'm also intrigued by one of your reviewer's comments that the book was written during World War II. I would have put it considerably earlier, but the writer does not really tell us. There are few clues as to exact dates, which leaves again the impression that the book goes beyond storytelling to greater universality.

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Summary: Basically, a good book
Review: This is a wonderfully written book with many excellent plotlines. The book is very confusing and slow in the beginning. It starts to pick up and gets much better towards the end.

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Summary: A Fatalistic Novel
Review: It is the time of World War II, and India has just begun to modernize. Rukmani is a poor woman, forced to marry her devoted husband, Nathan, from a lower caste. Through Rukmani's eyes, we see five children grow up in a more or less poverty-striken Indian village. Through drought, monsoons, prostitution, and ultimately, famine, Rukmani shows us all what dignity is. Not only dignity prevails throughout her life, but strength - a strength which comes with much compromise and hardship. -Michael Yang

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Summary: One woman's journey
Review: Nectar in A Sieve was originally published in 1954, seven years after India's independence from Britain and the economic and social upheavals that resulted. This context is in the story through the construction of a tannery and hospital and the changes they bring. The story follows Rukmani from her traditional marriage through the birth of her children and grandchildren. Tied to the land, Rukmani and her family suffer drought and bad weather and obligations to their landlord. She learns to "Bend like the grass, that you do not break," and survive injustices and devastations. An eloquently written deeply human story, simply and beautifully told.

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Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: After reading this book, I felt like I knew Rukimani personally. Her grace, her inner beauty, her happiness and sorrows were a part of my life forever.

It was sad to realize that her grace was often a product of having no choices. When she accepts her husband's shocking revelations (don't want to spoil it for you) it's not because she's the most level-headed, forgiving woman on earth - I mean - where is she going to go exactly? She has no choices and in her soul she knows it.

Yet she still can find her life a better fate than that of others. There is a scene in which Ruki sells some of her vegetables to a wealthy muslim woman in a burka who has all the material things that Ruki lacks (I do not have the book in front of me I can remember her description of the woman's rings "any one of which would have fed us for a year"). But Ruki is not jealous - she feels sorry for the woman's cloistered existence and the fact that she is not free, cannot walk outside and feel the sun against her skin and work side-by-side with men. It was very interesting.

I can envision Ruki buying the dum-dum cart for her grandson. I can picture her grandson in the shade, eyes watering, waiting for a chance to play with the others. I have seen many times the rupee that fell from Irawaddy's sari into the river. I have felt the hopeless struggle that cost her son his tannery job.

This book is beautiful, sad, interesting, and moving. I recommend it highly.

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Summary: Great backup information for British India
Review: I read this as a view as to what living in India was like under British rule and during their transitional period. It was great as an inside look to the average life of a peasent farmer.

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Summary: Touching
Review: ??Living in poverty does not mean one??s life is miserable?? is how I conclude the novel Nectar in a Sieve. Rukmani, an Indian woman, lives with her peasant husband Nathan in a simple village in India. Although India is a male dominant society, Nathan does not treat Rukmani in a cruel way, instead he loves her a lot, therefore, Rukmani??s life is better than most of the women who are being abused by their male relatives. I can feel the respect that Nathan shows to Rukmani for her intelligence and knowledge. Throughout the novel, it is easy to see how Nathan shows his love and care to his family, especially to his wife. It is decent to see how the husband works together with his wife and family in a patriarchal society. Nathan??s actions remind us that ??absolute male power?? can be dissolved if one is willing to do so. Nathan is living in India, it is natural for him to adopt the traditional ??men rule?? notion and apply to his family, but he never does that to his wife and family. This makes me think about how people make excuses and claims that it is hard to change the traditional rules in the patriarchy society. I think it partly depends on if one is willing to make change, or in fact taking advantages of the rules.
The loving couple has to deal with poverty as the rest of the villagers do. Due to the lack of money and food, one of their infant children dies from starvation. A son dies trying to get money for food, and eventually the couple has to accept the fact that their daughter becomes a prostitute to help the family survive. There are not so many choices left for Rukmani and Nathan, all they can do, they believe is to accept their fate. Those incidents reflect how insufficient the system and law in a country can be to protect its people, protecting anyone with wealth and power instead. Also, people from the city are protected by law whereas the villagers are deprived by the same law. We may pay our sympathy to the villagers, but look at our countries where the same thing happens too! We too take (or have to take) things as they are without questioning, like Rukmani and Nathan. The novel suggests that it is time for us to think again, find out the problems in the society and deal with them. Our actions will not only be beneficial to ourselves, but also to our next generations and thus, a lot of tragedies can be prevented. If the law was good enough to protect everyone, then Rukmani??s daughter??s life might be totally different and the story could be rewritten.