The Hungry Tide!

As I finish my morning journey on the 10.25 local from Kalyan Station to Thane, I am about to complete reading the Hungry Tide..a couple of pages more and I would have finished it. As it happened, I had to get down without completing the book. A sea of people, almost like a tidal wave, is gathered at the narrow opening of the bridge, and I am swept in the flood. Couldn't help but draw parallels between the tide country and the people country.

As with the people of the Sunderbans’ delta, the people of Mumbai are swept with hazards caused not by nature, but by people. Not to comment here on that.

The Hungry Tide is a simple, lucid yet intricate in choice of words and an artistic book where Amitav Ghosh creates the images and scenes of the beautiful, yet dangerous tide country of the Sunderbans in West Bengal. The book has few simple characters and a few complicated characters; in fact the story is about six and a half characters and a couple of storms and a massacre. I had picked the book based on the write up behind the cover and had passed it for a mystery and deep feelings, emotions, drama write up. The book didn’t disappoint me, as it had everything of all..but at a much artistic level. Mr. Ghosh has provided explicit details about the Sunderbans and if you have seen a documentary on NGC about it, you will find that he has done a wonderful job in bringing the flora and fauna in the region to life.

Also, do read the book for the wonderful and yet simple J story..