Value of Suffering in Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve Kamala Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve depicts its positive female characters as ideal sufferers and nurturers. "[T]he cause of their suffering comes mainly from poverty and natural calamities. The women come from the rural strata of society. They are the daughters of the earth and have inherited centuries-old traditions which they do not call into question. question Their courage lies in a gentle or sometimes joyful [sic] way to face poverty or calamity” [Meena Shirdwadkar, Image of Woman in the Indo-Anglian Novel (New Delhi: Sterling, 1979), 49] Rukmani, the main character, and her daughter Ira display her suffering throughout the novel. Rukmani is hardworking and devoted to her sweet husband. She endures blow after blow of life: poverty, famine, divorce. of her barren daughter, the death of her sons, the prostitution of her daughter and finally the death of her husband When she discovers the emotional center of her life, her relationship with her husband, threatened by the discovery that he is the. father of another woman's sons, she does not attack him and does not collapse: disbelief at first; disillusionment; anger, reproach, pain. To find out, after so many years, in such a cruel way. ... He had known her not once but twice; he had returned to give him a second son. And come in, how many times, I thought, with a gloomy mind, while her husband in his helplessness and I in my innocence did nothing.. . .Finally, I made an effort and woke up... "It's like you say a long time ago," I said wearily. "How wicked and powerful she is, I know that myself. Let's let that rest." She accepts the blow and moves on with her life. Moreover, when his son Raja is murdered, even his thoughts do not express rebellion. She moves from the bare...... middle of paper ......osites of Kunthi. Their goodness comes from their acceptance of suffering, while Kunthi's evil comes from her refusal to sacrifice herself for others. As ideal images, Markandaya's heroines correspond to Shirwadkar's conception of how early Indo-Anglian novels depict women as Sita-like characters. However, by respecting cultural values, Rukmani and Ira find in their way of life not only suffering, but also security and inner peace. Shirwadkar argues that women in later novels lose even the satisfaction of this fulfillment, as they find themselves caught between traditional and modern demands of women. Previous images of calm and enduring women are transformed into new images of frustrated women, caught between the figure of Sita-Savitri and the modern, westernized woman. Works Cited: Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar In A Sieve. New York: Bookmark Fiction, 1995.