NINEMA

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 Plot

Ninema's story starts at 4am on a Monday. She reaps herbs from her garden and prepares them for the market. She is a market gardener. She earns her living by selling fresh produce on the Indian market. 

She is a poor girl from the lowest of the four castes of the Indian community. She has never had running water in her house and has no choice but to boil water for her weekly showers, which she takes every Saturday, on an open fire. 

Ninema is beautiful by all standards. She makes heads turn whenever she passes by men. Her hips sway from side to side as she balances the basket containing her produce on her head. 

She is so focused on succeeding and achieving her dreams that she does not take the attention she receives from the people around her to heart. She rarely chats back at fellow hawkers since she believes she has no time to waste. 

She values the first and last customers because they bring luck. the first customer opens her sales with luck while the last customer closes it with luck. 

She learned her trade from her parents, who have passed it from generations of their family. She believes in the grace and power of these generational trading skills. 

Ninema knows that good accounting is crucial for the success of her business. She is so skilled in accounting that she can add faster than one can say the word 'herb'.

Today, her first customer is a rich lawyer called Chinran. He is from the Brahmin caste, the highest among Indians. He is so into her that he often buys more than he needs. His mother complains about his impulsive buying. He wonders how he will sustain this habit when his mother decides to bring him a wife, who will take over the buying of herbs from him. 

The other market women claim that Chinran is in  love with Ninema but she brushes aside the claim as a silly one because it is unimaginable for someone from her caste (Vaishyas) to marry a man from the Brahmin caste. It's as bad as marrying a white man. She does not encourage Chiran's infatuation because she knows that it is futile. So, she treats him just like her other customers. 

Her next customer is Mrs. Signh. She is a rich but miserly woman. she haggles for better prices but Ninema remains unmoved. She does not budge no matter the attempts to have her lower her prices. One of the reasons for Mrs. Signh's haggling is to break the boredom in her large empty house. She has servants to help in everything, including cooking. 

Her enterprising nature makes her herbs disappear very first. Her customers are attracted to the good smell and neatness of her stall. She has many customers and cannot meet the demand for the herbs. She needs to sow more seeds.  

Lunchtime is a time for the rich to buy herbs for the evening meal. Clerical workers and rich professionals come to the stall during their lunch break. 

When Dr. Seedat comes over to Ninema's stall, she leaves all the other customers to attend to him. This shows how much she adores him. He is happy that she has not visited his clinic for a treatment of a cold or flu and wishes that things stayed that way. 

She gives her last customer an extra bunch of mint to entice him to come back since she is a new customer. The customer is elated and promises to be a frequent buyer. 

Ninema has made good sales today and the profit is good. Coins and notes are bulging in a handkerchief in which she ties them. 

She sashays away while the other women are still struggling to clean and put away their stalls. 

While on her way home, a stranger pinches her erect jipple and asks her to follow him if she enjoyed the pinching. She follows and beats him on the back of his head, face and torso while the other women jeer and cheer. Once she is done beating him up, she bids the other women bye and walks home.

At home, she takes half and hour to dream about a home she wishes to build soon. She hopes that the home will free her from bullying landlords . It will have hot water and a kitchen inside. She will also have a garden for her herbs and fruit for herself. 


Themes

1. poverty and the struggle for survival

Ninema wakes up at 4am to start her business. She believes this struggle will one day help her achieve her dreams. The other women also struggle to defeat poverty. Ninema and the other women at the market belong to a low caste that denies them the right to marry men from the Brahmin caste.


2. Social classes/ social stratification 

The Indian community in the story on stratified into castes based on social status and work (Karma). A lady from the lower classes is not allowed to marry a man from the Brahmin caste. This is what bars Ninema from infatuating with Chinran. Known Indian castes are:

 Brahmins-priests and intellectuals 

Kshatriyas-rulers, administrators and warriors

Vaiyshas-artisans, merchants, traders and farmers

Shudras-labourers 

3. Racism 

The probability of a woman from the lower castes marrying a man from the Brahmin caste is compared to that of an Indian woman marrying a white man. This comparison implies that marriage across races is unthinkable. 

4. Immorality 

Immorality is brought about by the actions of the stranger who pinches Ninema's nipple and asks her to follow him.

5. Love

Clearly Chinran is in love with Ninema. His love is what drives him to buy more than he needs. Ninema's colleagues know that Chinran is in love with her, and they inform her about it. He fears that he will not have the opportunity to be close to Ninema when his mother brings a wife for him.   

6. Culture

In this community, mothers bring wives for their children regardless of whether there is love between them or not. Chinran fears that one day, his mother will bring him a wife, who will be envious and prying and will prevent him from visiting Ninema's stall. 

7. Racism

Indians are not allowed to intermarry with whites. This impossibility is implied when the narrator says marrying someone from the Brahmin caste is like marrying a white man. 

Styles 

1. idiomatic expressions-Ninema is said to have green fingers to mean she is good at farming.

2. Vivid description-Ninema's looks and gate are described aas follows: "She is a beautiful woman. She makes heads turn when she walks. Her hips sway from side to side as she moves her body in rhythm..." p. 13.  Another description says "Her thin, chiffon sari drapes effortlessly around her perfect body, as if kept in place by her high, firm breasts. Long toned arms and cinched waist cause men to stop and stare" p.14. 

3. code-mixing-Hindi words such as chumpals and dhania are used together with English words. 

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