“You
live in a dream world – a haze of poetry and fuzzy ideas about revolution. To build something is not the same thing as
dreaming of it: building is always a matter of well-chosen compromises.” (214)
One
of the themes of Amitav Ghosh’s novel, The
Hungry Tide, is the futility of effete idealism and the inevitable need for
compromises. Nirmal Bose is the effete
idealist to whom his wife, Nilima, speaks the above words. A brief detention by the police for
participating in the 1948 conference of Socialist International unsettled
Nirmal so much that he could not continue his job as English lecturer in a Calcutta
college anymore. His physical condition
deteriorated so much that his doctors advised a life outside the city. The couple chose Sunderbans where Nirmal took
up job as the headmaster of a school in Lusibari, one of the islands. Nilima founded a Trust which built up a
hospital for the people of the islands.
Romantic
dreamers like Nirmal will never be happy in life unless they see in reality the
utopia of their dreams. They fail to
realise that utopia is an impossible ideal, that there is no reality on the
earth which is not a mixture of good and evil.
The fate of such people is to cling to their illusion and die in despair.
Nilima
is diametrically opposed to Nirmal, though she had fallen in love with him
because of his revolutionary ideas. She soon
understands the futility of utopian ideologies.
Hers is a simple vision: do something that is real and useful to the people around. There is no need of any ideology for
that. Simple humanity is enough. Compromises are also inevitable, she
knows. “... you have no idea,” she
admonishes her husband, “how hard we’ve had to work to stay on the right side
of the government. If the politicians
turn against us, we’re finished. I can’t
take that chance.” (214)
Nirmal,
an ardent fan of Rilke’s poetry, thinks that people like Nilima live a
prose-life, while he lives poetry.
Poetry is about dreams.
Revolution is the materialisation of a dream.
In
1979, a chance for a revolution turns up again when one of the islands is taken
over by refugees and the government wants to evacuate them since the island is
a reserved forest. Kusum, one of the
leaders of the movement, becomes Nirmal’s new “muse”, much as he is attached to
his wife. “I felt myself torn between my
wife and the woman who had become the muse I’d never had;” says Nirmal, “between
the quiet persistence of everyday change and the heady excitement of revolution
– between prose and poetry.” (216)
This
new revolution costs Nirmal his life. He
dies for a cause that he perceived as noble.
Nilima lives on for a cause which she perceives as practical and more
useful.
Piyali
Roy, a young research scholar doing a survey of the dolphins in the waters of
Sunderbans, is the protagonist of the novel.
She successfully combines prose and poetry in her vision of life. She works in such a way that the wildlife is
preserved and the ecology is well taken care of, but without compromising the
welfare of the people living in the place.
Fokir,
the other chief character, lives the poetry of mythology. If he had more gyan (knowledge) than gaan
(singing) he would have been successful in life, according to Moyna, his
wife. But Fokir is happy with his songs
about the mythical Bon Bibi (the deity of the islands). In the dolphins he sees the messengers of Bon
Bibi. He is sure that the deity will
protect him from all harms. But his
faith does not save him when the area is struck by a cyclone. His death, however, saves Piyali’s life. Fokir, the metaphorical poet, also dies for a
noble cause.
Kanai
and Horen, the other major characters, know how to “get on” in life. They are practical in their own ways. They live a purely prose-life.
Which
way of living is right? Prose or poetry
or a combination of both?
It’s
not about right and wrong, the novel suggests.
It’s about what makes each one of us happy about our existence. It’s about what adds meaning to our
existence. When Piyali says that for her
home is where the dolphins are, Nilima says, “That’s the difference between
us. For me home is wherever I can brew a
pot of good tea.”
A
cup of good tea can make one’s life as happy as the passion for dolphins makes
another. What a utopian dream does to
one may be done to another by the poetry of myths. It’s better to let people find their own
joys, their own meanings in life.
Nice review. thanks
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Raghav. I didn't intend it to be a review. I was looking at the novel as an armchair literary critic.
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ReplyDeleteBrilliant thoughts. I would like to read the book. I myself am somewhere lost between the world of poetry and prose. I find happiness in poetry but the question is until when? Building is not about simply dreaming, that's true.. One has to make compromises. Not all the riches can be grabbed, one has to be compromised for the other.
ReplyDeleteIt's a brilliant novel, Namrata. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in serious literature.
DeleteI was also a "poet" for a long time... until life taught me the futility of utopian dreams.
Good analysis, esp. liked the way you called out the page numbers. I have always rated Amitav Ghosh as one of the few Indian Writers who actually "write". Authors like him make you proud and also feel that that yes, we can contribute to the literary world.
ReplyDeleteYes, Seeta, I'd agree with you that Ghosh is one of the finest contemporary Indian English novelists.
DeleteI'm definitely read this book. It seems pretty interesting to me :) Unfortunately I tried to write short fiction of this philosophy with fun, it was largely missed out by the readers. I will once again try to incorporate this philosophy in another short fiction. Wish me luck :D
ReplyDeleteTonnes of wishes, Pankti. As Umberto Eco said, what readers like is a mystery at any time.
DeleteYou'll love this novel, I'm sure.
"What a utopian dream does to one may be done to another by the poetry of myths." I love how you've managed to put the essence of the book into words.
ReplyDeletePriya, I've been humoured by people who try to ram their views down the throats of others... That's why I reread this book now...
DeleteApt review I must say ..:-)..I really liked this book ..
ReplyDeleteI read it again after a gap of 9 years and enjoyed it even more.
DeleteFor me its prose all the way cant understand poetry that much. But I must say that what an in detail review. Wow!
ReplyDeleteAthena, I was re-reading the novel with a specific intention. This blog was not meant to be a review. It was a thematic analysis.
DeleteIf it's prose all the way for you, I must consider you a lucky person. Such people achieve success more easily. The poetry people have to struggle much.
Utopian ideologies and life. It sounds like an interesting novel to read.
ReplyDeleteIt is, Uma. Ghosh has depth and his novels are worth reading.
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