The Portrayal of Hunger and Human Degradation in Kamala Markandaya’s Novels: Nectar in a Sieve and a Handful of Rice

INTRODUCTION

Nectar in a Sieve and A Handful of Rice authored by Kamala Markandaya are historical fictional novels that illustrate the widespread presence of poverty, hunger, and human degradation during India’s shift from British domination to newfound freedom. Markandaya’s vivid portrayal of the protagonists Rukmani in Nectar in a Sieve and Ravi in A Handful of Rice introduces her readers to the simple joys and heart rending pains of a common man’s daily trials and tribulations. The struggle to survive is the strong undercurrent connecting both the novels although the situational circumstances are poles apart.

Nectar in a Sieve (1954) written in first-person narrates the life of Rukmani, her tenant farmer husband Nathan and their seven children. The book envelopes a thematic mapping of the economic struggle of tenant farmers, the intrusion of industrialisation, and the “vagaries of nature” that determine the livelihood of families in rural India. Alternatively, A Handful of Rice (1966), the third person narrative of Ravishankar (Ravi), covers the life of a rural young man’s quest to escape poverty for a better life with economic stability and the pleasures of the affluent big city. Ironically, poverty accompanies the rural-to-urban migrant, Ravi, to the city. Markandaya dissects Ravi’s life thematically into the down-to-earth everyday clashes between the poor and the rich, the urban unemployment struggle, overshadowed with the economic changes in postcolonial India confining the poor in the cyclical trap of poverty.

On a personal level, these novels were an eye opener. Markandaya’s writing on the lives of characters such as Rukmani and Ravi intrigued my curiosity. Turning the pages of her novels has made me look beyond the comfort zone that has cocooned my life.

Directed by the research question: “How does Kamala Markandaya portray the theme of Hunger and Human Degradation in Nectar in a Sieve and A Handful of Rice?”, this essay studies the theme of hunger and human degradation through the context of these novels’ employment of literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors, and foreshadowing. Further, the idea of fatalism thriving amongst the poor is shown by juxtaposing two perspectives of different generations through narration and dialogue. The role of Fate is also emphasized greatly with the use peripeteia.

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

Markandaya’s skilful authorship is most prominent at the beginnings and endings of her novels. The titles tempt her readers to flip through the pages and experience the lives of her characters. Whereas the endings leave lingering thoughts long after the readers have closed the book.

The titles of the two novels play a significant role in revealing the primary subject explored as they portray images of poverty and hunger. K. S. Narayan Rao claims that Markandaya’s novels are not named after characters in the stories; rather, the titles of her novels highlight the central theme that the novels dissect through the plot and storyline of the characters. The central theme, hunger and human degradation, is vividly encapsulated by the titles Nectar in a Sieve and A Handful of Rice.

The title Nectar in a Sieve alludes to Samuel Coleridge’s poem “Work Without Hope”, and prepares readers for the novel as it portrays the central theme of hunger and human degradation in rural India. A possible interpretation of the title is that the calm and peace in the characters’ lives eventually ends in the face of the ruthlessness of nature and the intrusion of the tannery. Nectar symbolizes the tranquility of rural living while the sieve represents the inevitable hardships and adversities that accompany rural life. The nectar of village lifestyle is beautifully captured in a vivid narration by Rukmani: “the sun shines on you and the fields are green and beautiful to the eye… a good store of grain laid away… a roof over you… what more can a woman ask for? My heart sang and my feet were light as I went about my work, getting up at sunrise and going to sleep content. Peace and quiet were ours.” This quote depicts the tranquility of village life and farming and possibly why it is identified by nectar for its sweetness. The hardships attacking Rukmani’s family are the monsoon, drought, and the establishment of the tannery, which symbolizes the eating away of the simple rural life through industrialization that began with India’s independence. Anil Bhatnagar supports Markandaya’s claim that, “industrialization and urbanization were eroding the very basis of rural life… when India was just at the threshold of newly-won freedom.” For instance, “day after day the pitiless sun blazed down, scorching whatever still struggled to grow… Plants died and the grass rotted.” The drought leads to severe starvation: “we fed on whatever we could find… Sometimes from sheer rebellion we ate grass, although it always resulted in stomach cramps and violent retching.” Textual evidence confirms the title description of nectar or sweetness of village life seeping through the sieve of suffering and hardships such as the establishment of the tannery and the wild abilities of nature. Manmohan Bhatnagar points out that the “vagaries of nature and depredations of modern civilization (in the shape of the tannery) … [reveal] how ‘work without hope draws nectar in a sieve.” Bhatnagar thereby connects the epigraph of the novel with the theme of hunger and human degradation.

A Handful of Rice draws images of human degradation from poverty. Rice being the staple food of India represents the basic human need for survival. Bhatnagar notes that “livelihood depends on rain, rice and land.” However, handful depicts the scarcity of food. Escalation in rice prices adds to the burden of the low-income families’ (such Ravi’s) attempts to wipe out the pangs of hunger. Ravi argues with Nalini: “Twenty rupees for rice? Last month it was eighteen!’… ‘The month before it was seventeen rupees…!” This controversy between Ravi and Nalini reflects the rice scarcity as represented by A Handful of Rice.

Aside from the titles, another commonality between the novels is the abrupt story endings. Rao claims that though the purposeful endings could be for “an intended artistic effect…each of these plots has something tantalizing about its conclusion” as the novels do not have a “and they lived happily ever after endings.” Alternatively, the endings of the two novels suggest the endless cycle of poverty and hunger.

In Nectar in a Sieve, Rukmani’s return with Puli from the city is welcomed by Ira and Selvam but there is no resolvement of conflicts or conclusions: “Do not worry,’ Selvam said. ‘We shall manage.’ There was a silence… ‘Do not talk of it,’ he