What Does Nectar In A Sieve Mean

Nectar in a Sieve was written by Kamala Markandaya in 1954. The main topic or issue presented is how people deal with suffering. Suffering is a part of life. In this novel, the characters experience suffering due to lack of money, lack of food, the loss of their homes due natural disasters and the death of loved ones. They learn to accept their suffering and the people find courage within themselves not to give up. Rukmani is a young girl that gets married when she is twelve years old to a farmer named Nathan. Nathan is a poor farmer and has built a small mud hut for them to live in. He is very patient with Rukmani because she is young and gives her time to learn how to get adjusted to her new life. After a year of their marriage, …show more content…
In Chapter 8, Rukmani describes how Muslims had formed their own society at the tannery. The men worked hard and the women stayed home to take care of the family. The women wore burkas. A burka is a covering worn by Muslim women that covers their entire body and shows very little of their faces. One day while Rukmani was taking some vegetables to the market she was asked by one of the Muslim women to come inside her home. The Muslim woman took off her veil to get a better look at the vegetables. After she bought and paid for the vegetables she quickly placed the veil on her face. Rukmani felt sorry for her and was happy she was able to enjoy the open fields and sky without being covered up. The intended audience for this book is high school teenagers and young adults. It is also for the people of India who would want to share with their families some of the difficult times people from their country went through and how they did not give up. This book should encourage young people that things in life do not come easy. Hard work and determination will help you get through difficult times as it did for Nathan and