Skip to main content

NINEMA

 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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Missing Out

 Plot The story talks about a Sudanese man, Majdy, who is a PhD student in London. At the beginning of the story, he has failed the qualifying exam for the PhD.  He talks to his mother on the phone, and she would have none of his nonsense. She has had to make several trips to the Central Post Office in Khartoum just to encourage him to continue with his quest to secure a PhD.  She's a very staunch believer in his prowess in academics. She remembers how he's always done well in his high school days. In fact, he had  shaken the president's hand for doing excellently in his secondary school exam. So, she cannot fathom how he could become a dunderhead all of a sudden.  His mother embarks on a campaign to get him a wife. She believes this may help his son change his attitude and pass the exam. To her, loneliness is the cause of his resigned attitude. So, she organizes a marriage between him and Samra.  Majdy embarks on a serious redoing of his studies and, in Ju...
4 comments
Read more

Stones Bounce on Water

 Plot Stones Bounce on Water is a story written by Dilman Dila, a Ugandan writer. It details events that take place before and after the murder of Winnie, one of the Paulsons' visitors from London.  The story starts on a night lit by a full moon, and the visitors enjoy the scenery since it's one they are not used to seeing in London. The conflict unfolds when a firecracker that's forgotten on the lawns after a birthday party the day before goes off. It sets the stage for a foreboding that prepares the audience for Winnie's impending death. In fact, she lays bare her suspicion that her five friends: Tim Collins, Peter, Chelsea Creole, Meg Paulson and Joe Paulson are planning to kill her for their own varied reasons. The next day, Simon, the cook, takes Tim to the pond, where he shows him how to make stones Bounce on Water. Simon also reveals that the pound is a taboo site for the locals since dead bodies are usually deposited there by murderers. When this topic is starte...
6 comments
Read more

The Folded Leaf

 Plot A group of nine people:Bunmi, her brother Bola, Sam, Papa, Mrs. Kekere, Tunde, Mr. and Mrs. Ejiofoh and the driver, is travelling to Lagos for healing. Their fellow churchgoers have contributed money to help them go to Lagos to receive healing from Pastor Adejola Fayemi, a man known for being in possession of a helicopter, a Gulfstream jet and homes in Florida, Switzerland and the Caribbean. He always wears dark glasses. Along the way, there are many things to see, but, unfortunately, the narrator, Bunmi, cannot see them since she has always been blind. She has always seen the world through Bola. Bola has to describe everything around them in terms of colour, size, age and general appearance in order to help Bunmi draw the pictures of these items and people in her mind. They see many vehicles and people. Among the people they see is a boy who has no limbs but struggles to move in the middle of the many vehicles around him: "he's pushing hard with his hands and his single...
4 comments
Read more

Life, Career and Death of Nyongesa wa Muganda Kwasaba Kwalia

 Early Life Eliud Nyongesa wa Muganda was born to Muganda wa Kwasaba in 1946 in Karima, Naitiri Scheme. He belonged to the Abamakangala clan of the Kabarasi sub-tribe. His mother was from the Basenya clan of the Banyala sub-tribe of the Luhya people of Western Province. He was circumcised in 1962 and belonged to the Bamaina age set. His father, Mukanda wa Kwasaba, was both a vocalist and a guitarist while his grandmother, Sitawa Kwasaba from the Abangachi Clan, was a renowned singer of circumcision songs. Legend had it that she would be hired for weeks to sing in the neighbouring Kabras and would come back with loads of gifts as an appreciation for her prowess as a singer. According to Nyongesa's widow, Anne Nyongesa, he inherited his talent from both his grandmother and father.  Nyongesa's siblings included Rajabu Mafunga, Kilon'gi, Namalwa and Nasimiyu and Iswa, Wangwe, Naliaka, Alfayo and Shadrack from the wife his father married after Nyongesa's mother died. He w...
19 comments
Read more

Common poetic devices

Poetic devices are unique ways through which the poet presents the message to the audience. Some of them are usually figurative while others are related to the patterning of sounds. In K.C.S. E, figurative ones are mostly tested in paper 2 while sound patterns are tested in paper 1.  Below is a list of some of these poetic devices.  Alliteration -When initial consonant sounds are repeated in close proximity. Here, learners should pay attention to sounds (pronunciations of words) and not their spelling. Some words are spelt differently but have sounds that are pronounced the same. For example, "car" and "keep" have different letters at the beginning yet these letters produce sound /k/, meaning they alliterate.  Allusion -this is a reference to a well-known material. A good example is the poem The Second Coming by W. B. Yeats, which refers to the coming again of Jesus.  Apostrophe -happens when the persona talks to something that has no hearing ability. This may be a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hitting Budapest

Plot Hitting Budapest is a story written by NoViolet Bulawayo. It recounts the activities of six juvenile delinquents: Basta, Chipo, Godknows, Sbho, Stina and the narrator, whose name is not given. They are on a routine guava stealing escapade in a rich neighbouring estate, Budapest. Though they are forbidden to cross Mzilikazi Road, on this day, they cross it in order to enter Budapest. Besides, despite having better responsibilities at home, they abandon them and have to go to Budapest. For example, Basta is supposed to babysit his sister, Fraction, but is not bothered. He must go to Budapest. They take advantage of their parents' irresponsibility to easily file past them and go to Budapest. Their mothers are busy with their hairs and talk while their fathers are too busy with draughts to even notice them pass. Chipo is pregnant and her grandfather, who has already been arrested and detained, is responsible for it. So she can't run as fast as she would before she was pregnant...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Legend of Wanda Wambulwa Wakharara and Cherita Namalwa Siakama

All the nine villages around Marobo and Luuya knew about them. They had heard about them and seen their deeds since they were a boy and his girlfriend to today when they are a grandmother and grandfather to a whole clan. From Luuya to Mabanga and Nalondo to Kabuchai and Bokoli to Khachonge, Sitila to Ngalasia and the entire Luuya-Bwake Location, everybody talked about them. Cherita Namalwa and Wanda Wambulwa  khwa  Nabai aka Lutilo aka Khabukulu. Who didn't know about them? They were a couple like no other in the entire Bukusu region-South Bukusu, East Bukusu, North Bukusu, West Bukusu and Central Bukusu.  Looking at them in their old age, you would not see any flashes of the characters you hear in legends about them. They looked innocent and too holy for such epic activities. Many of the times,  mzee  was barely audible enough even to somebody standing or seated two metres away, especially whenever he addressed the matriarch, whom we fondly referred to...
6 comments
Read more