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| Critical Appreciation of the novel Nectar in A Sieve |
Introduction:
Kamala Markandaya is a great woman novelist. She is one of those names that have won international fame and recognition. With the publication of her very first novel Nectar in a Sieve, she made all wonder at her craftsman-ship. The novel was published in 1954. But even today it seems as fresh as it was at the time of its publication in the middle of the 20h Century. It is a novel in autobiographical style. It is perfect in plot and character.
Organic Plot:
The plot of the novel is perfect with an impressive beginning, fully developed middle and a natural end. The action is well organized and properly divided into thirty chapters. The opening chapter introduces the main action how because of ill financial planning of her parents, Rukmani is wedded to a poor farmer living in a half built hut of mud. A girl of rich family making adjustment with such miserable circumstances becomes the basic theme of the story. The action develops in a natural way with growth in Rukmani's family and opening of a tannery in the village. Now, two themes are introduced: need for family planning and abuses of industrial growth. The middle of the novel deals with these themes throwing light on obscure destiny of Indian farmers who solely depend on nature. A few social issues too are raised like barrenness of a woman and need of proper medical treatment, social work by foreigners like Dr. Kenny and wide spread corruption caused by poverty. The middle ends with Rukmani's decision of leaving the village for the town where their son lives. Now an opportunity is created to show the hardships of a big town. Rukmani and Nathan have to break stones for their survival. Ultimately, Nathan dies and Rukmani comes back her village.
Lively Character Portrayal:
The novel impresses with its lively characters. The narrator of the story is Rukmani, a poor widow who works hard whole of her life in hope of making the life of her family blissful. Her husband Nathan had brought her as his beloved bride with a golden dream. The novel is remarkable from the viewpoint of character portrayal, Rukmani and Nathan are the central characters in the story. It is true when Rukmani saw her husband's hut she was shocked for here she found nothing.
"I woke: I looked. A mud hut, thatched, small, set near a paddy field, with two or three similar huts nearby. Across the doorway a garland of mango leaves, symbol of happiness and good fortune, dry now and rattling in the breeze."
"This is our home," my husband said. "Come, will show you."
"I got out of the cart, stiff and with a cramp in one leg. We went in: two rooms, one a sort of storehouse for grain, the other for everything else. A third had been begun but was unfinished, the mud walls were not more than half a foot high."
What was remarkable was her husband, Nathan's confidence. He was sure to write his own destiny in rainbow colours for he was a hard working determined young man.
"It will be better when it is finished," he said. "I nodded; I wanted to cry. This mud hut, nothing but mud and thatch, was my home. My knees gave, first the cramped one, then the other, and I sank down. Nathan's face filled with concern as he came to hold me."
Nathan's love for Rukmani was the other treasure of this poor hut. His concern impressed Rukmani so greatly that she had to show some courage.
"It is nothing," I said, "I am tired no more. I will be all right in a minute."
He said, "Perhaps you are frightened at living here alone but in a few years we can move, may be even buy a house such as your father's. You would like that?"
It was his dream but not in vain for he had full faith in his labour and land. Rukmani discovered there was something in his voice, a pleading, a look on his face.
"No," I said, "I am not frightened. It suits me quite well to live here."
He did not reply at once but went into the granary and came out with a handful of paddy. With great pride he made a display of it before his wife.
"Such harvests as this," he said, sliding the grains about in his hand, "and you shall not want for anything beloved."
Among other notable characters are: Dr. Kenny, Ira, Puli and Rukmani's sons. They too impress with their individual qualities.
A Story of Human Emotions:
Nectar in a Sieve is a story of human emotions. It opens with the emotional experience of a widow named Rukmani who still feels her husband is not dead.
"Sometimes at night I think that my husband is with me again, coming gently through the mists, and we are tranquil together. Then morning comes, the wavering grey turns to gold, there is a stirring within as the sleepers awake, and he softly departs."
"One by one, they come out into the early morning sunshine, my son, my daughter, Puli, the child I clung to who was not mine, and he no longer a child. Puli is with me because I tempted him, out of my desperation I lured him away from his soil to mine. Yet I have no fears now: what is done is done, there can be no repining."
Now on the screen of her mind appear other figures. Many of them have gone far from her yet she remembers them. She is lost in the memory of her parents and her sisters.
"My three sisters were married long before I was. Shanta first, a big wedding which lasted for many days, plenty of gifts arid feasts, diamond earrings, a gold necklace, as befitted the daughter of the village headman: Padmini next, and she too made a good match and was married fittingly taking jewels and dowry."
A Story in Flashback:
Nectar in a Sieve is a story in flashback. It is an artistic device in which a scene in a novel returns or changes to an earlier time.
"Sometimes now I can see quite clearly: the veil is rent and for a few seconds I see blue skies and tender trees, then it closes on me again and once more I am back in a world of my own, which darkens a little with each passing day. Yet not alone; for the faces of those I have loved, things that have been-shapes, forms, images-are always before me; and sometimes they are so vivid that truly I cannot say whether I see them or not, whether the veil is lifted to allow me the sight! Or whether it is only my mind that sees. Today, for instance, I could see the brook that ran near our paddy field so clearly that I felt I had but to stoop to feel its water wet on my hands. Yet that brook belongs to a part of my life that is finished."
Lively Sensuous Descriptions:
The novel is rich in lively sensuous descriptions. It seems as if a picture were going on before our eyes. For example Rukmani tells about her early married life. She had to live in a poor hut. There was no arrangement of water. Now she comes to discover a pond. The description is simple, natural, lively and sensuous.
"I was a bride of only a week when I first followed it to look for a suitable place for my washing. I walked for nearly an hour before I found a wide stretch of water and a sandy beach; with boulders scattered about I put my bundle down, untied it and put the clothes in. The water was clear but not swift running; the linen did not float too far or too quickly away from my hands. I tucked my sari up above my knees and stood in the river, scrubbing the clothes against a large flat stone and using just a little of the washing power my mother had given me; good stuff, with a clean sweet smell and much power in it. When I had finished, I carried the clothes beyond the beach and laid them on the grassy bank to dry in the sun."
True Picture of Rural India:
The novel presents a true picture of rural India. It brings to light short and simple annals of the poor, their simple joys and obscure destiny. In spite of working so hard they remain from hand to mouth. They work in the fields but they solely depend on nature. It ruins them in many ways. If there is excess of rain, they are ruined for the fields are flooded but on the contrary if there is want of rains, their fields become barren and they starve to the point of eating grass.
"Now that the last of the rice was gone it was in a sense a relief: no amount of scheming and paring would make it go any further: the last grain had been eaten. Thereafter we fed on whatever we could find: the soft ripe fruit of the prickly pear; a sweet potato or two, blackened and half-rotten, thrown away by some more prosperous hand; sometimes a crab that Nathan managed to catch near the river. Early and late my sons roamed the countryside, returning with a few bamboo shoots, a stick of sugarcane left in some deserted field, or a piece of coconut picked from the gutter in the town."
The novel shows how people die in want of medical treatment and money-lenders exploit during calamities. How corruption prevails is brought to light and how it increases with the arrival of town men, it too is not ignored.
A True Picture of Urban India:
A true picture of urban India too is present in the novel. It is shown how villagers migrate to big cities in hope of earning livelihood but suffer bitterly. Nathan and Rukmani decide to leave the village and live with Murugan. They pack there all in a bullock-cart and leave the village for Murugan's town. After a long tiresome journey, at one place, the cart driver asks them to get down for it is that town. Nathan and Rukmani step down from the cart with the luggage and enquire the way to Koil Street. It is about fifteen miles away. They cover the long distance on foot with the luggage. They are too tired to walk. They spend the night in a temple.
Next day they face more problems for their money is stolen. Having walked a long distance, they ask a child the way to Koil Street, the child says that there are many Koil streets. Nathan remembers that his son works with Dr. Birla. They reach Dr. Birla with the help of that boy. Dr. Birla, a lady treats them so well that they have to believe all town people are not of dry nature. After taking food they have to reach the Collector's house that is on Chamundi Hill for now their son works here.
Here, they meet only Murugan's wife whose name is Ammu, a thin girl with untidy hair. She tells that Murugan has left her nearly two years ago. Murugan has left the city also. She asked them to return to the village. Nathan and Rukmani have to bid good bye to her.
Nathan and Rukmani come back to the same temple. Now Rukmani does the job of letter reading. Rukmani charges few annas for it. They pass one year in this way. Nathan and Rukmani break stones and come to earn eight annas. It encourages them. In this way they can save some money daily and collect sufficient enough to go back their village in two months by working there. Having worked hard even in rains, Nathan becomes ill and one day, he falls down never to rise again.
Thus, it is Kamala's realistic approach to Indian rural life that makes the novel so popular. Her characters, incidents, situations, scenes and episodes are so natural to Indian villages that the novel seems to be an original autobiography of Rukmani who seems to be more alive than a fictitious character.
