Nectar in a Sieve

Nectar in a Sieve is a work of literature written in the mid 1900s. This work describes the effect that modernization and industrialization had on the farming families of India. During this time many traditional values had to be overturned by the people in order to keep up with the changing times. Many farmers lost their land and many people died of starvation due to bad harvests and inflating prices on goods. This novel specifically describes the life of a woman, Rukmani, and how her family was affected and the activities she and her family had to perform in order to survive. This work is very good in describing the life of a woman at this time and it will make you realize the hardships that these people had.

There are several traditional values that are handed down to an Indian couple that are expected to be followed and continued. First of all the biggest tradition is that the parents choose whom their children will marry. Upon discussion with another child's parents they choose who is going to get married to one another. In the novel, Rukmani's and Nathan's parents decided they were good for each other so they set them up to get married.

After marriage, more of these values are expected to be carried on is the way the family decisions are made and the ways things are done. The male is known as the authority figure in the family. An Indian woman has to abide be what the men say and basically allow him to run the show. This does not say that he has no responsibilities, because that is wrong be all means. He has a responsibility to support the family and show the children how to work the fields and support the family.

It is essential for a woman to have male children to continue these traditions. The males are needed to work on the farms to help support the family and even more importantly, to maintain and keep the farms up and running. In Rukmani and Nathan's case, Rukmani had a baby girl name Ira. This did not meet the standards of a typical Indian family so she continued to try and have another baby but failed. For the next few years she was unable to have a child. When she realized nothing was working, she secretly went and visited a doctor by the name of Kenny. Kenny did what he had to, to allow Rukmani to have more children. When Ira was seven, Rukmani's first male child was born, Arjun. She continued to have children, all males, until she had a total of six. Nathan now had males to help him farm the land and continue these family traditions and values.

With all of these men in the family it looked like it was going to lead to a very successful family until modernization and industrialization came into town. At this time a Tannery came to the village. This was thought as a good idea for some people in the town but Rukmani and Nathan saw it as a bad thing. Their two oldest sons left the farm to go and work in the Tannery. This caused problems and concerns for the family because they thought that they would be looked down upon by the people in the town for not keeping the typical Indian family traditions up. Rukmani and Nathan did not totally agree with this decision of their children leaving the family farm to go work for a business in town, but it was going to give them the much-needed money that they were not receiving on the farm.

All of this occurred during a time of trouble for this family.