A Sieve By Kamala Markandaya

Imperialism is the domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country. It occurred in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth century. Nationalism had produced strong, centrally governed nation-states. The Industrial Revolution had made economies stronger as well, with growing need for raw resources that continental European countries didn’t have. During this time, European industrialized nations became more aggressive into expanding into other lands. Despite the massive gains in land and resources, because of the economic and humanitarian costs, in the eyes of the conquerors, imperialism wasn’t justified.

Throughout history, many powerful nations interfered with nations that were weaker than they were. This form of sabotaging a nation is economic, political or cultural life is called as imperialism. Imperialism is often separated into two sects. The first one is old imperialism, which was the period from the 1500s to the 1800s, where European nation started to colonize many areas such as the Americas, and parts of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the new imperialism was the period between the years “1870-1914”, where Europe became more focused on expanding their land into Asia and Africa. Imperialism had many pros and cons. In addition, it also had many causes led by the feeling of nationalism.

After the Industrial revolution started in Europe the Europeans needed raw material from other countries and from that came the Idea of Imperialism when one country takes over another. Although what the British were doing seemed to be benefiting India was actually doing the opposite. Many things that the Europeans did to India weather it was political, economic, or social the Europeans found ways to have those things benefit the British and very little or not at all to the Indian.

Imperialism is the act of dominating a society or a group. It involves the subjugation of a population. It dictates the political and economic advantage over a land and the indigenous people they control. A society is introduced to concepts of industrialization and they are pressured or forced to imitate the culture of the industrialized country so that they can reach civilization. Since the industrial revolution had taken place, the Europeans were in need of more natural resources. The Europeans wanted economic expansion because they were facing overproduction and underconsumption. Social Darwinism was another factor that led the colonization. Imperialism was helpful to a country but also had been very detrimental to the cultures inner mentality by removing previous traditions that were practiced and replacing it with the colonizers traditions. In the book, “Nectar in a Sieve” it is shown how many native traditions were gradually torn away from India because of the invasive British rule. The story focuses on a poor woman, Rukmani (Ruku), as well as her friends and family, as India goes through this change. The characters suffer crushing poverty. They're stripped of their lives in the face of huge global changes that have left them behind. Imperialism reflects dominance as it shows tremendous inequalities between nations.

Imperialism began during the 1870’s, it was a process in which states, companies, and people exercised their dominance over the rest of the world. Some characteristics of imperialism are: a system of dominance rather than exchange, the investment of wealth brought in alternated the whole infrastructure, lastly it is based on treating other class divisions poorly just to benefit from their work. Imperialism came into power through the disproportionate European power, the unparalleled domestic support, the non-western power vacuum, and lastly due to divide and conquer tactics in which local leaders would support the imperialist dominating.

Hook Imperialism is when a country takes over another, and that taken-over country becomes a colony. India was originally controlled by the British East India Company, which was a company that they traded with along the coast. When the Mogul empire fell, they swooped in to take over and to take advantage of India’s natural resources. After a while, the British government came in and India became an official colony of Britain. Although the British set up an efficient government, expanded railroads, and educated Indians, their government did not serve the Indians, their policies destroyed the environment, and the small percentage of Indians that were educated were the only ones that lived comfortably, as many others died of multiple famines during

Imperialism is the domination of one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country. Imperialism is more often than not fueled by two major schools of thought known as nationalism and Social Darwinism. Nationalism is a feeling of pride and devotion to one’s country. This can drive a person to think that their country is the most powerful, and in essence drives that person mad with power and a hunger to conquer, which not ironically is exactly what many countries did. Social Darwinism is the very idea that a more powerful country conquer the smaller countries. “Survival of the fittest,” as the well renowned Charles Darwin used to say. Imperialism is also sometimes sparked by military motives, such as when USA set up

Imperialism had both a negative and positive impact on the people and culture of India.

Imperialism is the domination of a weaker country by a stronger country. For instance Britain dominated India and China in the mid 1880s to the beginning of the 20th century. Imperialism has had both a positive and negative effects on the countries involved. Britain was imperialistic for many reasons, it could dominate because it had the technology and power to do so. They also needed land to acquire raw materials for growing markets.

Imperialism takes place when a strong country takes over a weaker country. When this happens, it affects the imperialized country positively yet also negatively. When India was imperialized by Britain, the British rule represented some progress but mostly dominance. Britain helped build railroads and schools in India to try to modernize the country. However, Britain forced Indians to grow cash crops instead of food which later led India to a famine.

Imperialism is shown in the most unexpected places. Rudyard Kipling shows this in the multiple stories in his book The Jungle. Mowgli’s Brother is a story that tells how a boy named Mowgli became a member of a wolf pack. The characters in the Jungle Book show British for British rule, British for Indian rule, Indian for Indian rule, and Indian for British rule. Imperialism is shown with people coming into a group with out any warning, people wanting to rule and do what ever they want, and people voting for someone to be in a group.

Nectar in a sieve is a narrative story about a young Indian woman struggling to survive in the midst of an intense urban development in her rural Indian village. The novel focuses on the factors that dramatically affect her marriage and livelihood. Markandaya’s novel greatly extenuates and reflects the real and relevant themes that correlate with today’s problems in society. Problems that include, poverty, family life and tradition v. change.

This cartoon shows us that even though the British were trying hard to help these undeveloped countries, they were causing them unnecessary problems. If we look at the political cartoon and the novel Nectar in a Sieve, we can see that in both cases, even though the people from the developed nations are trying to help the uncivilized, the uncivilized do not agree with their ways and do not think of each other as one. In the novel, Rukmani tells Kenny that she doesn’t see him as one of them, and in the cartoon, we can see that the man carrying the baskets (the imperialists), even though he is leading them to civilization, is causing distress to the people in the basket (the imperialized). Therefore, we can conclude that Imperialism reflects dominance rather than global progress because the people being imperialized do not accept the

Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent leader in the Indian independence movement against Britain once said, “Violent nationalism, otherwise known as imperialism, is a curse.” This curse of imperialism is shown all throughout Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve. Nectar in a Sieve is about the pain and suffering an Indian woman, named Rukmani, goes through in order to survive in British-ruled India. The presence of British imperialism in India negatively affects Rukmani and other Indians by making survival even harder for them. Throughout history, imperialism can be seen destroying the economies and committing cultural genocide of the countries being imperialized for the personal gain of the imperializing country. Geopolitics played an important role in India being sought by Britain because India had natural resources, readily-available cheap labor, an abundance of raw materials, and was the center of trade in Asia. Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve conveys imperialism as a system of dominance, rather than global progress, by writing about how British presence corrupted the social and economic order in India, destroyed India’s economy, and how Rukmani and Kenny’s relationship is a microcosm of the imbalance of power between India and Britain.

The study has proved its basic proposition that A Passage to India is a colonialist discourse and as one form of Orientalism has strengthened and reinforced the stereotype image of India and Indians. The study has shown that Forster has not made even a passing reference to the oppression and the pandemic brutalities of the natives by the colonizers. He has not mentioned any Indian leader or the struggle put up by the Indians to get rid of their oppressors. The study has also shown the deep link between culture and imperialism. The Indians are shown to have assimilated the culture of their masters .The Indians are portrayed as ashamed of themselves, of their culture and of their identity. Throughout the novel, the Indians are presented as lesser people, who cannot manage their affairs like mature, responsible individuals. This is the projection of the European hegemonic assumptions, which have been exposed by the present study. The analysis also has highlighted the portrayal of the internal divisions and infighting among the Indians, on social and religious grounds. This was meant to justify the presence of the British in