Nectar in a Sieve

Nectar in a Sieve is the tale of a poverty stricken family. This story was told in the perspective of a women. She has seen the poverty, the change of their village, and the death of their infant son. Kamala Markandaya starts the story with present time and the entire book is a flashback of Rukanami's life. It starts with Rukamai getting married. Her mother gave birth to three girls. Each girl took a dowry with her. The first daughter had the grandest wedding with a great gift. The second daughter had a okay wedding, but not as great as the first. Now it is Rukmani's turn to get married. She may not have the best wedding because of the lack of money. She will not take a lot of money. This caused Nathan , her husband, and herself to live a life of poverty. Poverty did not stop them from giving birth and raising a family. They lived a happy life without much food. Rukmani gave birth to one girl and four boys. She ended up adopting a fifth boy that they met on the street.

Nectar in a Sieve is the Indian version of the Pursuit of Happiness. Rukmani and Nathan struggled everyday to feed their children. They sold their most valuable possessions to buy grains of rice. The saddest portion of the book was when one of her sons were killed by the small business bosses. Then she lost her infant son because of starvation. Rukmani has seen her foreign friend leave and her old friend die. (Old Granny died of starvation and Kenny left the country.)The worst news ever is that Rukmani's family is being evicted. They have been living in the hut for thirty years. (Their hut was made of straw and had a mud roof.)Their land was rented from a landlord and the landlord sold the land. Their land was a swamp and was meant for rice growing. The land was sold to the group of people that changed the village to a town. Rukmani was right for not trusting them, but her sons needed money. (Her sons worked for them and one ended up dead. She had another son that worked 100 miles away with his wife and kids.)

When Rukmani's land was sold to the buisnesses, her husband decided to go to their older son's home. Nathan and Rukmani would live with their older son's home, while her daughter would live with their youngest son. That was a sad day for Nathan and Rukmani because they lived in that house for 30 years. They had the family history in that home. They lived off the land and kept their children strong.

It is a classic tale about a poor and simple family. Although they are poor, the family is happy because their home is with their children. Children can bring a life time worth of happiness.