Ready Reference Treatise: Nectar In a Sieve

By Raja Sharma

“Nectar In a Sieve” by Kamala Markandaya was first published in 1954. The story revolves around the central character, Rukmani, the daughter of the village headman, and her husband, Nathan, a tenant farmer.

The title of the novel has been taken from the famous line written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his poem ‘Work without Hope.’ An excerpt from “Work without Hope” is the epigraph of the novel:

Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,
And hope without an object cannot live.

Ready Reference Treatise: Nectar In a Sieve
Copyright
Chapter One: About the Author and Introduction to the Novel
Chapter Two: Introduction to Plot
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Jul 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310720383

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

Book preview

Ready Reference Treatise: Nectar In a Sieve

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: Nectar In a Sieve

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved

Chapter One: About the Author and Introduction to the Novel

Nectar In a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya was first published in 1954. The story revolves around the central character, Rukmani, the daughter of the village headman, and her husband, Nathan, a tenant farmer.

The title of the novel has been taken from the famous line written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his poem ‘Work without Hope.’ An excerpt from Work without Hope is the epigraph of the novel:

Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,

And hope without an object cannot live.

Rukmani, the protagonist of the novel, experiences change in her life, and she describes that change she had known before, but the change had been gradual. She adds that the change that has now come into her and the lives of the others in the village seems wrought in the twinkling of an eye.

Through the experience of Rukmani, the author describes how people of a certain community react to change in their lives.

Kamala Markandaya, the author of the present novel, was born in South India in 1924 at a city called Mysore. She studied at the University of Madras. She was the student of history.

From 1940 to 1947, Kamala worked as a journalist and got her short stories published in Indiana newspapers. She married an Englishman and eventually went to England in 1948. She gave birth to a daughter in the United Kingdom.

Nectar In a Sieve is her first novel. It was published in 1954. The book received wide critical acclaim. The novel was chosen as a Book of the Month Club Main Selection in the United States.

Likewise, it was named a ‘Notable Book’ by the American Library Association in 1955. It is mentionable that Kamala Markandaya was the only woman in a group of mid-century Indian writers who wrote in English.

The other writers in the group included the famous writers such as Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, and Khushwant Singh.

Although her novel Nectar In a Sieve brought her a lot of name and fame, and consequently she became a highly successful author, she always remained an intensely private writer because she disclosed very little about her personal influences through her writings and her interactions with others.

She wrote under a pseudonym Kamala Purnaiya to hide her real identity and to remain private. However, the religious, political, and social contexts in her writing can provide her enough insight into her life and the place she lived and created literature.

Kamala Markandaya was born in a Hindu Brahmin family to highly religious parents. She was obviously influenced by the Hindu doctrine. In her work she addresses a fundamental question of Hindu belief: what does it mean to be human?

In Hinduism, dharma means a moral or virtuous way of living. A true Hindu must be devoted to truth and must he a highly forgiving person. He or she must maintain outer purity and control over anger. A Hindu must not covet material things. He or she must have minimum attachment to worldly things.

Likewise, in Hinduism, ‘Karma’ means action or deed. Since human life is interrelated, every action has its consequences. The author believes that human beings have free will and they can choose their own actions to create joy or misery for themselves and the other people around them.

A true Hindu suffers a form of purification. The Hinduism advocates that the soul’s highest goal is salvation or liberation. Likewise, truth is given the highest place, transcending all other moral values.

Kamala Markandaya has based her novel Nectar In a Sieve on the foundation of such Hindu beliefs mentioned above.

She also gives great importance to Hindu traditions in her writing.

Rukmani is the central character in Nectar In a Sieve. She is the worshipper of the Mother Goddess, the Earth incarnate, who embodies creative energy, passion and power.

There are obvious echoes of the great Hindu epic ‘Ramayana’ in the present novel. It is one of the most widely read and recited Holy Scriptures in the world.

Ramayana is the story of the adventures of Prince Rama and his ideal Hindu wife, Sita. When her husband has to spend fourteen years in exile in a jungle, she remains his faithful companion. During their stay in the jungle, she is abducted by the demon King Ravana.

When she is freed from the captivity and brought back to Lord Rama, she must prove her faithfulness to her husband.

After several years, there are questions on her fidelity. Sita is despaired and she cries out to her mother, the Earth Goddess. The earth opens and Sita goes deep into the belly of the earth. Her mother takes her back into home.

There are several critics of Kamala Markandaya’s work. They often compare Rukmani, the protagonist of the novel ‘Nectar In a Sieve’ to the legendary Sita.

The present story revolves around the traditional life stages of the Brahmin caste. According to the traditional life stages celibate student period comes first, it is followed by marriage, followed by procreation, work, and duty.

When the first grandson is achieved, the forest-dweller stage begins. It is particularly characterized by withdrawing from material concerns.

The final stage is Sanyas. In this stage a person is free from all his worldly associations and becomes a wandering beggar.

There is no want and fear. One is at peace with oneself and the gods. Rukmani, the protagonist