Nectar in a Sieve: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

On their day off from the tannery, Arjun and Thambi return to the farm to help Nathan. Nathan loves to see his sons working beside him and to impart his knowledge to them. Although the sons are more educated and have more skills than Nathan, in matters of farming, he is an expert and he has “no master.”

On the other days, Arjun and Thambi work long hours at the tannery. Rukmani is proud that they bring all their wages home, instead of spending them on prostitutes like other boys. However, she’s unable to save much money because she has to buy clothes for the boys, who are expected to wear shirts in the factory.

Sometimes Nathan accompanies Rukmani when she goes to the market; on these days, they visit the tannery to talk with their sons during the midday meal. One day, they arrive at the tannery to find the gates closed and guarded. When Rukmani timidly asks what’s the matter, the guard dismisses her rudely. Eventually, another guard tells her that there is trouble among the workers. Rukmani and Nathan go home and wait anxiously until their sons come home, long after dark.

Arjun and Thambi say that the tannery workers asked for better wages, and the bosses retaliated by taking away their lunch hour. Rukmani is mystified, asking why they need more than they already get. The boys answer flatly that they need more money to stave off hunger, and to save for families of their own one day. To Rukmani, her sons seem like grown-up strangers. Nathan says that he and Rukmani are too old to understand, and shouldn’t interfere in the boys’ affairs.

As it turns out, Arjun and Thambi have been spokesmen in the workers’ disputes. Soon, the workers decide to go on strike; Thambi explains that they will not return until they are paid more fairly, although Rukmani doubts they can force the powerful posses into doing anything.

After a week, the tannery threatens to replace the striking workers with others; most workers return to their jobs, and the strike fails. Arjun says that “the people will never learn,” echoing what Kenny has said to Rukmani earlier. She doesn’t understand what either man is talking about. To her, it seems useless to fight against large odds and risk losing what one already has.

Arjun and Thambi are without work, as are Kali’s two sons. Kali frequently bemoans their lack of “sense,” in striking, but eventually Nathan lashes out at her, saying that “our children must act as they choose to, not for our benefit.”

With Nathan the family’s only provider, food supplies quickly dwindle. Rukmani has to stretch her supplies to ensure they will last until the harvest. Arjun and Thambi spend more and more time in town, refusing to tell their mother what they do there.

One morning, Selvam rushes into the house to announce that drums are beating in town. Rukmani remembers the morning when Arjun made a similar announcement about the tannery workers’ arrival, and feels a sense of dread. As it turns out, some people have arrived in town to recruit laborers for tea plantations in Ceylon. Arjun and Thambi see this as a good opportunity for them, a way to escape “hunger and idleness.”

Nathan and Rukmani are extremely reluctant to see their children go so far away, asking how they will make such a long journey and what they will do if their employers break their promises. Rukmani points out that money is not everything, but Arjun counters that they cannot make even a meager living as things stand in the village, and that they are wasting their youth here. In the morning, after kissing their parents’ feet, the boys leave. Rukmani knows she will never see her sons again.

Nathan consoles Rukmani that the boys must grow up and make their own way. Still, she’s despondent to see her family dispersing. Murugan is leaving as well, to be a servant in a nearby city; Kenny has procured the job for him. Nathan says that Rukmani “broods too much,” and that she should reflect on the beauty of the land and the promise of a good harvest. Together, they walk outside and survey the land. Once, many birds had lived in the paddy fields, but they no longer come because of the tannery’s proximity.

After Murugan has been gone some time, Kenny brings good news of him; he is succeeding in his new job, and Rukmani shouldn’t worry about him. Rukmani feels sudden pity for Kenny, sitting solemnly in her hut, and asks if he has a family, or if he is as alone as he seems. Kenny admits that he has “the usual encumbrances that men have—wife, children, home” but that he has not allowed these things to “put chains about [him].” Instead, he’s committed himself to wandering and doing as he pleases. Rukmani is silent, absorbing this. Kenny demands that she keep secret what he has told her about his personal life, and leaves. Rukmani reflects that he has “a strange nature.”