A Handful of Rice: Character Mind Map & Summary
The key characters of Kamala Markandaya's A Handful of Rice (1966), grouped into branches, with the key episodes, a quick summary and the exam facts that come up again and again in UGC NET.
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the details.
Ravi
A village youth who comes to Madras to escape poverty. He tries to live honestly as a tailor's apprentice but is pulled again and again toward crime and despair.
Ending: stands with a mob raiding a rice godown, then hesitates👑 The Tailor's Family
Apu's houseApuA tailor
Role: Gives Ravi shelter and work.
NaliniApu's daughter
Role: Ravi's wife.
JayammaApu's wife
Role: A strong, sharp-tongued woman.
🏠 The Underworld
CrimeDamodarA criminal
Role: Tempts Ravi with easy money.
Key Episodes
The turning points examiners love to ask about.
Quick Summary
The story, stage by stage.
Stage 1Arrival
- Ravi's hunger in the city.
Stage 2Work
- Life in Apu's house.
Stage 3Struggle
- Poverty and illness.
Stage 4Despair
- The rice riot.
Must-Know Exam Facts
Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.
Theme
Urban poverty, hunger and moral choice.
Contrast
A city version of Nectar in a Sieve.
Ending
Open; Ravi's anger is not acted on.
Author
Markandaya lived in England after 1948.
Additional Revision Notes
Deeper characters, themes and context for UGC NET English revision.
Ravi's Struggle
Ravi, a village migrant trying to survive in the city, confronts insecure employment and the pressure to provide for his family. The story gives urban poverty a personal dimension.
Urban Realism
Kamala Markandaya connects the search for food and wages with questions of dignity, exploitation and social mobility. The city offers hope but also exposes migrants to new forms of precarity.
Compare the Novels
Set its urban labour concerns alongside the rural hardship of Nectar in a Sieve. Both ask how vulnerable families respond when economic structures limit their choices.
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