This is a beautifully crafted novel, weaving together characters far apart in space and time in a story spanning little over a week and based in the ‘tide country’, the name by which Ghosh refers to the Sundarbans, the settled islands off the coast of Bangladesh. The central characters, Piya, an American scientist of Indian origin, Kanai, the successful owner of a translating service in Calcutta and Fokir, an illiterate fisherman who lives in the tide country, in the tradition of great novels, find their paths crossing serendipitously time and again. Piya comes to the tide country to observe the habits of one of its inhabitants, the ‘Irrawaddy dolphin’ as part of her research work. Kanai, meanwhile, finds himself summoned by his aunt, Nilima, who runs a welfare organization in the tide country, to read a manuscript her late husband, Nirmal had left behind for Kanai. It is from the perspective of these two characters, Piya and Kanai, that the story is told but it is the taciturn and indecipherable Fokir who is at the heart of it. Fokir, a married fisherman, plies the waters with his son, whom Fokir encourages to play truant and catch crabs along with himself. He is imbibed in the folklore of the tide country and well-versed in the syncretised tradition of Bon-Bibi.Piya first crosses Fokir’s path when she is in trouble with some Forest Department toughs aboard a motor boat in the tide country. Accidentally thrown overboard into the turgid waters, she finds herself rescued by Fokir. From then on begins a strange and unlikely romance, unspoken and perhaps even unacknowledged, between the two who cannot even converse with one another yet due to their professions have a bond which makes their causes common. Once Fokir takes her to the island of Lusibari, Piya decides to enlist his invaluable knowledge of the tide country waters and marine life in her observation project. She finds refuge with Nilima, of whom she has heard from Kanai, the one time that they briefly met on the train from Calcutta to Canning.Kanai, meanwhile, after having met and extended an invitation to Piya, to whom he is attracted, to stay at his aunt’s while she is in the tide country, reaches his aunt’s home on the island of Lusibari. He begins to read the manuscript left by his uncle, Nirmal, an idealistic leftist professor. Kanai is led into a world of the past, shortly before Nirmal’s death, when the latter began to take interest in the island of Morichjapi and the young woman, Kusum, who was once Kanai’s childhood playmate. Nirmal’s interest in both had to do with his left-leanings as Morichjapi is illegally settled by a group of poor and landless people, including Kusum. Nirmal, after his retirement, began to take a great interest in these people’s affairs, hoping, at the end of his life, to kindle the fire of revolution once.Kanai and Piya meet at Nilima’s house and Kanai tries to woo her, to little avail. He also hears of her encounter with Fokir from Fokir’s wife, Moyna. Moyna is an ambitious woman driven to educate herself and her son to get ahead in a modernizing world, in contrast to her husband, Fokir, who is content to just fish, as his ancestors have done. Moyna, upon hearing that Piya wants to hire Fokir for her project is immediately and simultaneously jealous and joyous. This jealously seems to infect Kanai too and he suggests that he shall go with Piya and Fokir on the expedition to act as the translator between the two.The fateful expedition that ensues brings together the various strands of the story in a manner both satisfying and heart-rending. The book is replete with evocative descriptions of tide country scenery and traditions, colonial history and the Irrawaddy dolphins; while simultaneously the writer has the gift to leave unwritten what is better left to the reader’s imagination. The book raises provocative questions about modern and traditional societies, revolution and social work and language and its limits. All in all the book was an extremely fulfilling read and the author of this review highly recommends it.
Set amidst the lush foliage of mangrove forests, The Hungry Tide tells us about the history and lives of people who inhabit the numerous islands of Sunderbans in the Bay of Bengal, the river dolphins, the man eater tigers of the tide country, the sea and the legends that float in these waters and forests. It reminds us of the fragility of human life and the helplessness that comes with it.tStory revolves around American born Bengali descent, Piyali Roy a.ka. Piya, a cetologist who comes to India to study the river dolphins; Foker a reticent illiterate boatman with impeccable knowledge of the tide country; Kanai the middle aged translator who thinks of himself as an urban Casanova;Nilima or Maashima Kanai’s aunt, a matriarch with a keen eye for business who single handedly set up a hospital in the fictious island of Lusibari and runs it successfully; and Nirmal ,Kanai’s late uncle with flawless Communist idealogies.tGhosh spins a tale whose fabric is dyed with realities of the lives of the islanders, yellowed by the passage of time and embroidered by the tales of Bon Bibi and Shah Jongli.He relates to us the massacre of Morichjhanpi, which otherwise is a much suppressed black episode of Indian history, through the diary of Nirmal.The lives of the then dwellers of Morichjhanpi,the event that lead to the massacre and the struggle of the dwellers as they fight for their right-the right to stay alive are vividlyGhosh boldly questions the atrocities dealt out on the poor in the name of protecting nature. One of the character voices out,“Saar,” she said, wiping her face, “the worst part was not the hunger or the thirst. It was to sit here, helpless, and listen to the policemen making their announcements, hearing them say that our lives, our existence, were worth less than dirt or dust. ‘This island has to be saved for its trees, it has to be saved for its animals, it is a part of a reserve forest, it belongs to a project to save tigers, which is paid for by people from all around the world.’ Every day, sitting here with hunger gnawing at our bellies, we would listen to these words over and over again. Who are these people, I wondered, who love animals so much that they are willing to kill us for them? Do they know what is being done in their name? Where do they live, these people? Do they have children, do they have mothers, fathers? As I thought of these things, it seemed to me that this whole world had become a place of animals, and our fault, our crime, was that we were just human beings, trying to live as human beings always have, from the water and the soil. No one could think this a crime unless they have forgotten that this is how humans have always lived — by fishing, by clearing land and by planting the soil.”When the books end, in most cases, the characters end with it. But with “The Hungry Tide”, the characters linger around the corners of your heart posing profound questions on human rights, our role as protectors of nature and the inherent frailty of human nature.
What do You think about The Hungry Tide (2006)?
Munish, I think I know where you're coming from. It's not just India but almost all writers from hithero colonised countries who write in a Western language suffer from problems of perspective and authenticity. They tend to situate themselves outside their indigenous sociocultural matrix when they address their intended Western readership. The result is an enforced artificiality that comes from adopting the voice of 'an outsider' or 'a foreigner'. On the other hand, literatures produced in local or native languages and geared at the local readership carry a natural voice that's is not concerned with the question of reception in the UK or America.
—Munish Dhawan
I loved this book from the first page as I was quickly drawn into the story set in the tidal area of Bengal. The language is beautiful and the characters are well developed. This book contrasts the lives of people living close to nature in their traditional ways with the modern, educated and sometimes materialistic world. The reader is drawn into the story through the lives of Piya Roy, a marine biologist, who grew up in the U.S. who has come to Bengal to study the fresh water dolphins, and Kanai Dutt, a Delhi businessman, who has come to the area to see his aunt. I fascinated with the information about fresh water dolphins about which I knew nothing. The story also raised questions for me that I had never thought about before. What is more valuable - saving the Bengal tigers which are an endangered species or the lives of villagers who live near to the tigers' habitat? By giving money to wildlife organizations to help preserve the tiger am I harming the local villagers? I'm looking forward to reading "The Glass Palace" also by Amitav Ghosh.
—Jeanette
Fabulously researched. Makes great reading, especially if you have been to Sundarbans. Amitav Ghosh makes it come alive to the last detail. Amazing realism. A book that can be a bit tiring to someone who cannot visualise the Sundarbans. In any case, the Sundarbans has to be seen to be believed. The book has incomparable documentary value and puts Amitav Gosh high up on the list of up thorough researcher-novelists of the world. It takes time to pick up pace, but when it does, it is absolutely stormy. Want to know the real Sundarbans? More than just the Crocodiles and Tigers? Read The Hungry Tide with a little patience. Don't worry the Crocs and Tigers are there too. Just like they are at the Sundarbans... 'always present, but rarely seen'. Mr. Ghosh proves once again that he is a master-craftsman of the art of the novel, weaving four simultaneous tales into a final crescendo without resorting to poetic escapes, as many other novelists do. It is atribute to his writing ability that in telling his story Mr.Ghosh manages to shun wordplay. He knows how to say in one line, what many would be tempted to say in a wordy paragraphs. Is it as engrossing as The Sea of Poppies? Thats is what many seem to be asking. Don't compare it. Please. The Sea of Poppies is vast like the ocean. The Hungry Tide is focused and furrowed like the the delta itself. At places it runs deep. Real deep. It rises and falls like the tides of the Sundarbans. Float or get washed away. The choice is yours. But, dont miss the tide.
—Shyam Banerji
