CULTURAL & ECONOMIC ENCOUNTERS IN KAMALA MARKANDAYA’S ‘A HANDFUL OF RICE’

Abstract

Post-independence debates along with the issues of social realism have always been a challenging discourse; the post-independence writers intended and try to assess the sociological effect on the psyche of their characters likewise kamala markandaya?s novels presents a sample of whole Indian society. She depicts the change in rural areas especially in her novelA Handful of Rice portrays the harsh Economic Reality in rural area. The ravages of nature and hunger for millions have been treated sensitively. Ravi the hero of the novel is the son of a poor peasant; he has left his villages and has come to the city in search of a job where he suffered alot to get an exact shelter, job, and even to get a Handful of Rice? to eat. Poverty breeds hunger, by this novel kamala markandaya makes us to know the social reality towards her protagonist and makes us to realize the true meaning of hunger and starvation.