Nectar in a Sieve Q and A

Chapter 1

1). Do you think the narrator's husband is alive ? how do you know? Support your answer.

No, the narrator's husband cannot be alive. When she says '' sometimes at night I think that

my husband is with me again '' we tend to think that her husband is not with her, but we do

not get any idea about whether he is not alive. The sentence, '' then morning comes , the

wavering gray turns gold , there is stirring within as the sleepers awake , and he softly departs''

conveys that she only saw him in a dream like condition. This leads us to think that he is not

alive.

2). What do you think that this large building may symbolize?

According to the narrator, this building is the result of money being invested and and people

in the area working hard to build it . So this building may symbolize the collective effort of

a community to develop themselves.

3). What would the narrator's elder brother's statement , '' don't speak like a fool , the
headman is no longer of consequence. There is the collector, who comes to these villages
once a year and to him is the power and to those he reports ; not to the headman'' convey ?

This statement may convey a transfer of power and eminence from one set of people who

enjoyed prestige to another set of people in the context of change of socio- economic and

system.

The village headman is a remnant of old feudal system that prevailed in India

and other South Asian countries . The collector is an officer with administrative power

appointed by the British who ruled these south Asian countries , Thus we see in this

statement a transition from the old system to a newly emerging modern system in which
money plays an important part .

4). Comment on the following extract

'' For six ours we rode on and on and along the dusty road -----------------------------------------

--------------------------------- poor beasts, they seemed glad of the water , for already their hides

were dusty''.

This extract has been taken from Kamala Markandaya's novel '' Nectar in a sieve''.

The situation here is that the narrator recollects how she , after her wedding , came home

with her husband in a bullock cart on a very difficult bumpy road .The experience of

traveling such a long distance by a bullock cart was new and difficult for her.

The fact that she was escorted only by her husband in a single bullock cart

conveys that she was poorly married ; beneath her social and economic status . How she

cried in having to leave her parents and how the husband lovingly comforted her were

natural and usual. The writer quite effectively portrays the scene with simple description .

The mode of transportation - a bullock cart . How the bulls suffered and the

difficulty of traveling on a bumpy road across the countryside convey the backward nature

of the area. It is a beautiful countryside but not without its disadvantages . Thus this journey

may symbolize the difficult journey of life that the narrator has set out to go on.

5). What do you understand about the narrator when she says to her husband that she was
not frightened and it suited her well to live in a mud hut when she was told by her husband
that they would be able to move to a bi house like her father's?

We can see that when she first saw the simple cottage where she would live for the rest of her

life that she was disappointed and dejected . But when her husband tries to console her lovingly

and innocently she accepts things as they are without grumbling . This reveals her readiness and courage
to face the challenges of life without grumbling.
 6). Read the following extract comment on it

'' 'Built it' ? I said . I did not know - he did not bell me'' -----------------------------------------------

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What for ? I am glad she told me .Should I not be proud that you have built this

house with your own hands?''

This extract has been taken from Kamala Markandaya's novel ''Nectar in a Sieve''

The context here is that the narrator recollects how she felt when she saw the cottage

built of mud where she was to live with her husband . The she recollects hoe one her new

neighbor told her that that house was built by her husband with his own hands before she

was brought in and how she asked her husband about the matter as he had not about it she

told her that he had built it and when her husband questioned her as to who told her about it

she told him that didn't matter as she liked that he had their house with his own hands.

What emerges from this exchange / dialogue is the simple

life those rural people had those days . It was almost a self sufficient life style - one could

make his dwelling with his own labor with simple building materials and lead a happy and

contented life . It is against this idyllic background the story is set.

The writer is quite successful in putting across this idea to

the audience through this dialogue without a single comment on her part . The readers are

made to think for themselves which is more effective than the author commenting on the

matter.

Chapter 2

1). What do you gather from the narrator's helping Kunthi when she was having labour pain
and insisting on the narrator's leaving her alone?
 Here we can see an example of real neighborly feeling on the parts of both the narrator and

Kunthi . The narrator herself was pregnant when she went to help Kunthi when she was having

labor pain . So it is a tremendous sacrifice on her part for her neighbor . Kunthi , on her part

vehemently protests against the narrator's, Rukmani's coming to help her because , as we

understand, she did not want Rukmani to see the kind of suffering one undergoes in

delivery. This is nothing other than showing concern for one's suffering and hardships even

under trying conditions .

The dialogue that goes on between the two is an excellent example

of true friendship , neighborly feelings and humanity that we could see in that remote era

when society was yet to be corrupted by the advent of commercialism and consumer culture

under the capitalist system

2). comment on the following extract,

'' 'What use' , my mother said that a girl should be learned ! Much good it will it do
---------------
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--------------------------------was scornful of the strange symbols which had no meaning for and
dismissed it as a foible of pregnancy''

This extract has been taken from the novel '' Nectar in a Sieve '' by Kamala Markandaya''

The situation here is that the narrator recollects how she did some writing

to while away the time during her pregnancy of her first child .There her thoughts run back to

where she was still a young girl and how she was taught to read and write by her father .

According to her father , learning to read and write is an added advantage for a girl
in case she does not have a big dowry. So he decided to teach our narrator.There her mother opposed
the idea saying that she , despite her illiteracy , can make a clean and well kept

arranged household .
 This argument follows that leaning or getting a sort of formal education was
confined only to boys in that highly conservative rural society . And that in turn conveys how backward
rural India was during the time period the story is set.

But the narrator , being educated read and write was much ahead when

compared with the other women in her neighborhood . The other women were quite illiterate

and backward . They could not even dream of learning to read and write ; it was a distant

dream for them that even to try to do it was unwarranted in a sense .

The author's use of dialogue here again is quite successful in

conveying this message without herself making any comment.

3). Pick out a biased social norm from page 10

The fact that the narrator was not happy that her first child was a girl . She says that no

woman wants her first chid to be a girl ,

'' for what woman wants a girl for her first born ?'' this question conveys the

prejudice against girls or women in that conservative rural society.