Another affect of colonialism that fell upon Ruku and the rest of the natives was the economical change in the village. The economy in India at the time of the novel was basically agricultural. Villagers cultivated rice and vegetables on rented land to which they became strongly attached but did not own. People eked out a meager living from the land, growing most of what they ate and having only a small amount to trade, sell, and use to pay the land rent. The absentee landlord showed little concern for the tenant farmers and their families who had nowhere else to go when he sold the land to the tannery, as proven by this quote, "The tannery owners are buying the land. They pay good prices. The tannery, that word brought instant understanding, they cannot it is our land we have lived here for thirty years... where will we go? What will we do?" (Markandaya, p 134) Showing the strong attachment Ruku and her family had for that land.
             The construction of the tannery transformed the village economically and socially.
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