Nectar in a Sieve pt. 2

The families small village is going through a small industrial movement at this point in the book. A tannery has opened nearby and many of the villagers have gone to work there. Many of the local shops had to close down due to the newer shops being opened.  It has been 2 years since the marriage of Ira and Ruku is surprised to look up one day and see her daughter and son in law walking towards the home. She becomes excited then notices they do not walk with a happy aura.  Ira’s husband has come to return her because she is a ‘barren’ woman. She cannot bear children for him and is therefore deemed useless. Ruku is devastated as is her daughter. Yet Ruku tries to be optimistic in the hopes that she will be remarried. Her two oldest sons soon begin working in order to help support the family. To Ruku’s dismay they begin work at the Tannery. The festival of lights, Deepavali, comes and the family decides to attend.  We see them having fun and it is a nice moment to read about in the book because although the family is struggling in different aspects; at the moment they are very happy. Ruku goes to Kenny in attempts to help Ira. She asks him to do the same for Ira as he had once done for Ruku. He tells her he will do what he can but also makes no promises.  When her sons weren’t working, they were helping their father tend the field, and Ira would be helping her mother with the daily chores. Each member in their family had to contribute in some way in order for them all to survive.  They are soon facing a drought, and are left with no water to crop and no means of survival. Without crop they cannot pay the dues for their land, so they turn instead to their belongings. They decide to sell their clothes. Two mens shirts and two saris, one of which was used for Ira and ruku’s wedding; they also sold the pots and pans, some food and bullocks. Altogether they managed to make 125 rupees but this is nowhere near enough. They plead and beg with their landlord and he finally agrees to give them more time. Rain finally falls to the ground too and restores life into the earth around  Again their lives continue and they continue to starve and barely make ends meet. Their son Raja gets killed attempting to steal calfskin from the tannery he worked at. This is a significant loss for the family and it takes a toll on them. I am worried about what is to come next and hope that things start getting better for once.

them, yet ruku and nathan’s spirits seem to be down from their recent misfortunes and they do not feel the happiness they should have felt when it finally rained. This feeling does not leave as Ruku discovers her husband had slept with another woman, and she had come and taken all their rice in exchange for not telling Ruku the truth. This sets the family back a lot as they have now lost the very last of their remaining food.