Q: Comment on the following extract.

“ It was a great sprawling growth...red tile roofs.”

This passage is an excerpt from the novel Nectar in a Sieve by one of the
most famous Indian novelists Kamala Markandaya.
Here we can see our narrator telling us about the rapid swallowing of their
village by industrialization. Villagers have lost their properties one by one and a
big building has appeared in each space. So this shows the drastic
transformation of the subsistence economy into an industrial economy making
poor Indian’s life into another huge tragedy.

“Somebody’s land was swallowed up...another building appeared,”

Another ill-effect of industrialization discussed through these lines is the

destruction of natural beauty. Rukmani says that thousands of animals such as
lizards, goat, calves and snakes were killed for their skin. Therefore the
disruption of the ecosystem due to this tannery or in other words industrialization
is highlighted through this passage.
Also, it highlights another main characteristic of money centered industrialized
economy, ‘Large scale of productions’ is also depicted through this. In a
subsistence economy, there is rarely a surplus produced. In other words, most of
the goods and services are fully used. But the new system is upside down from
the prior one.

“Thousands of skins, goat, calf, lizard and snake….”

The formation of a heterogeneous community is another fact implied through this

extract. Before this village consisted of native Indian people according to our
narrator. But due to the tannery now there are white men who engage in the
tannery. Town people are there and also a Muslim colony has been formed near
the tannery in the village. So this shows how homogeneous Indian society mixed
up with other exotic people and formed a heterogeneous society.

“ some nine or ten Muslims under him. ...formed a little colony.”