Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya — Feb 4, 2011

Over a million copies sold, and in print ever since publication 57 years ago — how many novelists can claim such a testament to the enduring appeal of a work of theirs? Its straightforward narrative has a beguiling quality; the heroine is possessed of a wonderful resilience to cope with the complexities of life in a village in rural South India.

The style is spare like Hemingway's, said Bobby here reading

Many readers were puzzled by the sole Englishman who appears in this book, set in colonial times. Rukmani seemed to have a line to him, but he acts inconsistently – a mysterious figure who slips in and out.

KumKum and Indira  react to the readings

Many readers agreed that Nectar In A Sieve is a love story at bottom, and a joyful one at that, in spite of the suffering Nathan and Rukmani have to endure. Here are the readers at the end, including Ammu Joseph who came to try us out. Thommo had to slip out for a meeting.

Joe, Zakia, Bobby, KumKum, Indira, Ammu, Minu

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Arundhati Roy Releases the Malayalam translation of "The God Of Small Things" Feb 3, 2011

The publisher hovered over the petite author with a proprietorial air. And she smiled beatifically at the gathering of a thousand or so people who came to watch their heroine slay another dragon: overcoming the hurdle to translation in the language of the state where her novel is set. Here she is on the stage releasing the book:

Recounting how women in different countries she visited had found a connection with her novel, she observed: “Literature must vault over cultural barriers and join people.” She took a view of the writer as someone engagé: the important thing is not winning prizes, but “to connect to the worldly order, to write about it, to change the structures of power, to shake up things that are bad, to love the things that are good. These are the important things in being a writer.”

She reminded the audience: “It is easy to forget The God Of Small Things is a political novel. It is about caste, about violence, about contemporary things … The most ugly thing about our country, and our culture, is caste. It is there in the book. And please don't forget that.” Here is the book:

Priya A.S. translated Arundhati's novel,
titled Kunju kaaryangalude odaya thampuran
It was published by by DC Books on Feb 3, 2011

And here is the publisher himself, Ravi DeeCee, having a copy signed by her:

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