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By:

Dr. Kailash Atkare

24 June 2025 at 1:30:23 pm

Rukmani’s Enduring Strength

In  Nectar in a Sieve , Kamala Markandaya crafts a timeless portrait of rural womanhood, resilience and the human cost of change. Even after International Women’s Day, works that illuminate women’s resilience remain worth revisiting. In  Nectar in a Sieve , Kamala Markandaya creates a memorable portrait of Rukmani, a character shaped by strength, patience, and moral courage, all of which are forged in the context of poverty, patriarchy, and social change. This post-colonial narrative follows...

Rukmani’s Enduring Strength

In  Nectar in a Sieve , Kamala Markandaya crafts a timeless portrait of rural womanhood, resilience and the human cost of change. Even after International Women’s Day, works that illuminate women’s resilience remain worth revisiting. In  Nectar in a Sieve , Kamala Markandaya creates a memorable portrait of Rukmani, a character shaped by strength, patience, and moral courage, all of which are forged in the context of poverty, patriarchy, and social change. This post-colonial narrative follows Rukmani and her husband, Nathan, as they struggle to survive amid economic pressure, social upheaval and cultural change. Kamala Markandaya’s compassionate storytelling captures the dignity of the human spirit in harsh circumstances. More than a rural tragedy,  Nectar in a Sieve  is a testament to resilience and a poignant reflection on alienation, modernisation and the human cost of economic change. Through Rukmani’s eyes, Markandaya paints a landscape of hope and despair, tradition and transformation. The novel follows a simple chronological, episodic structure, blending everyday village life with larger socio-economic forces. Told in the first person, it draws readers into Rukmani’s emotional world, making them companions in her journey rather than distant observers. Markandaya’s language mirrors rural life — simple, patient and rooted in natural imagery. Villages, monsoons, harvests and barren fields are not mere backdrops but active forces in the story. For Rukmani and Nathan, the land is more than a livelihood; it symbolises continuity, hope and belonging. Rukmani’s life is marked by repeated loss — of children, land, stability and security — yet she endures with remarkable strength. Markandaya does not romanticise suffering. Hunger, disease, debt and social stigma weigh heavily, but the novel never slips into despair. Its central message is resilience — not passive acceptance, but an active struggle to hope, work and preserve dignity. In Markandaya’s world, resilience is inseparable from the larger forces reshaping rural India. Rukmani’s private struggles unfold against a backdrop of economic transition, where the rhythms of agrarian life are steadily disrupted by industrial modernity and social dislocation. In this world, labour is more than survival; it is identity, pride and a moral anchor amid relentless change. Tradition and Change Markandaya wrote  Nectar in a Sieve  at a time of rapid change in India, as colonial rule ended and industrialisation began reshaping rural life. The novel captures the anxieties of this transition. The arrival of the tannery symbolises that shift. It brings temporary work but also disrupts agrarian rhythms, weakens community bonds and erodes cultural continuity. For Rukmani, it represents both livelihood and loss, as the steady cycles of farming give way to uncertainty. As poverty deepens, younger villagers move towards the town and tannery in search of work, reflecting a growing alienation from land, community and inherited ways of life. Yet Markandaya does not simply romanticise tradition. She recognises the necessity of change while mourning the fragmentation it brings. Rukmani’s Resilience Rukmani is remarkable not only for her resilience but also for the depth with which she represents rural womanhood. She embodies patience, empathy, strength and moral clarity. Her identity is shaped not only by her roles as wife and mother but also by her capacity to endure and adapt. Markandaya is deeply aware of the burdens placed on women. Rukmani’s agency is constrained by patriarchal norms — her opinions are undervalued, her labour is taken for granted, and her body is tied to expectations of fertility and obedience. The losses she endures, including the deaths of her children, reveal the gendered cruelty of poverty. Her daughter Ira’s exploitation and abandonment further expose the vulnerability of women in a changing society. Yet Markandaya’s portrayal is never reductive. Through Rukmani and other women, the novel honours a quieter strength — emotional, moral and spiritual. Their worth lies not in dramatic heroism, but in enduring courage. A Lasting Relevance Nature, too, is deeply symbolic. Rain becomes a metaphor for life’s unpredictability, while crops, soil and seasons suggest continuity and hope. Drought and famine signify despair. Even the title,  Nectar in a Sieve , reflects life’s fragile sweetness slipping away through pain and loss. Though rooted in the Indian milieu, the novel transcends geography. Its themes — economic hardship, the clash between tradition and modernity, the dignity of labour and maternal endurance — resonate far beyond India. The rural-urban divide, migration and the erosion of cultural identity remain global concerns. Markandaya offers no easy resolutions. Through Rukmani’s life, she reveals harsh truths about society and survival while affirming an unshakeable faith in human resilience. In the days after International Women’s Day,  Nectar in a Sieve  remains a powerful reminder of women’s endurance. For contemporary readers, it is both a mirror and a lamp — reflecting social realities while illuminating the moral courage needed to endure. In an age of rapid change and widening inequality, Markandaya’s voice remains urgent, compassionate and deeply relevant. (The writer is an assistant professor of English literature. Views personal.)

India is amazing from space. I hope to visit my father’s home country soon: Sunita Williams

  • PTI
  • Apr 1, 2025
  • 3 min read

Tiger Memon

New York: India is amazing from space, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams said and voiced optimism that she will visit her “father's home country” and share experiences about space exploration with people there.

Sunita made these remarks during a press conference Monday. She was responding to a question on how India looked from space when she was in the International Space Station and on possibility of her collaborating with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on space exploration.

"India is amazing. Every time we went over the Himalayas, and I'll tell you, Butch got some incredible pictures of the Himalayas. Just amazing,” Sunita said.

The 59-year-old NASA astronaut and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore addressed reporters at their first joint press conference days after they returned to Earth as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, having been stranded in space for over nine months.

"And you can see, like I've described it before, just like this ripple that happened, obviously when the plates collided, and then as it flows down into India. It's many, many colours," she said.

"I think, when you come from the east, going into like Gujarat and Mumbai, the fishing fleet that's off the coast there gives you a little bit of a beacon that here we come, and then all throughout India, I think the impression I had was it was just like this network of lights from the bigger cities going down through the smaller cities. Just incredible to look at at night as well as during the day, highlighted, of course, by the Himalayas, which is just incredible as a forefront going down into India,” she said.

Sunita added that “I hope, and I think for sure, I'm gonna be going back to my father's home country and visiting with people and getting excited about the first, or not the first, but the Indian national who's going up on the Axiom Mission coming up, pretty awesome,” she said.

She made those remarks while referring to the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station that will include Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India.

Lucknow-born Shukla will be India’s second astronaut after former Indian Air Force officer Rakesh Sharma to go to space since 1984.

"They'll have a hometown hero there of their own that will be able to talk about how wonderful the International Space Station is from his perspective. But I hope I can meet up at some point in time, and we can share our experiences with as many people in India as possible, because it's a great country, another wonderful democracy that's trying to put its foot in the space countries, and we'd love to be part of that and help them along,” she said.

Sunita's father Deepak Pandya hailed from Gujarat and came to the US in 1958 where he did his internship and residency training in Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.

She was born in Ohio to Deepak and Ursuline Bonnie Pandya.

When Wilmore asked Sunita if she plans to take her crew members on the trip to India with her, she replied with a laugh "Absolutely. You might stick out a little bit but that's okay. We'll get you all primed with some spicy food, will be good.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had welcomed Sunita and her fellow Crew-9 members as they returned to Earth after the prolonged mission to the International Space Station, saying their unwavering determination will forever inspire millions.

“Welcome back, Crew9! The Earth missed you,” Modi said in a post on X.

NASA astronauts Sunita, Nick Hague and Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth March 18 onboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which splashed down in the sea off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.

For Sunita and Wilmore, test pilots for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, an eight-day mission stretched to more than nine months as a series of helium leaks and thruster failures deemed their spacecraft unsafe. The spacecraft returned without them in September.

“Theirs has been a test of grit, courage and the boundless human spirit. Sunita Williams and the #Crew9 astronauts have once again shown us what perseverance truly means. Their unwavering determination in the face of the vast unknown will forever inspire millions,” Modi had said.

He had said space exploration is about pushing the limits of human potential, daring to dream and having the courage to turn those dreams into reality.

"Sunita Williams, a trailblazer and an icon, has exemplified this spirit throughout her career,” the prime minister said.

“We are incredibly proud of all those who worked tirelessly to ensure their safe return. They have demonstrated what happens when precision meets passion and technology meets tenacity,” Modi had said.

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