Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
My Rating: 5/5
I wanted to read an Amitav Ghosh or Shashi Tharoor novel for so long, finally got this one in our library, and gladly picked it up as my next read. On top of that, as soon as I added it to my Goodreads account, I realised that this one happens to be the first part of the trilogy that he has written, which is fantastic. What I expected was a novel with typical hard-to-read English, written to impress the reader of a historical fictional story, but what it turned out to be is very simple to read English with so many chaste Hindi and Bhojpuri anecdotes, proverbs, even poetry and songs too, which bowled me out totally. Eagerly looking for its second party if I can lay my hands on it at the earliest. Terrific is the story of four main characters that Amitav has carved out in the year 1838 around Ghazipur (Bihar) and Calcutta, with much of the latter half of the story taking the Hoogly and Ganga rivers on a ship named Ibis (that's the name of the trilogy too). Eye-opening was the highlight of the Opium trade back in the day, with all the main characters involved in the same one way or another. The main story belongs to the King of Rakshali, a fictional kingdom of Raja Neel Rattan Haldar, his histrionics and riches to rags story. The second main character is a recent widow, Deeti, who fights for her and her daughter’s survival after her good-for-nothing Afimkhor husband dies in the factory where he worked. The third main character was my favourite French girl, Paulette Lambert, an orphan who had to escape from India at the earliest or end up getting married to someone she doesn’t want to because her guardian, whom she is indebted to, thinks otherwise. Fourth is Paulette’s nanny’s son Jodu, who grew up with her since her mother passed away, and Jodu’s mother took care of her from birth. And then there are a few more very interesting characters whose paths cross each other one way or another, taking the story ahead. The story is already very engaging because of so many perspectives, Indian, British and even an American first mate aboard Ibis makes it a very intriguing read.
What I loved is the way Mr Ghosh tells his story. Initially, he refuses to translate the local proverbs in English, which made me even happier, as I have read so many books in English where they lavishly use the Latin and French proverbs with no translation in sight, thanks to Google, as that helps but makes the reading cumbersome. This is our revenge on them, as this one went on to get nominated for the Man Booker Prize, too, so I am sure it must have its own audience as well. What I found heartening is the way he has showcased the then imperialism and colonialism, especially the way the British treated Indians back in the day, and the language, even in fiction, was boiling my blood big time. Beautiful is the way he has captured the life of Deeti, an ordinary village woman who goes through so much reminded me of Munshi Premchand’s female characters in any of his stories, the same plight, the same pain and almost the same patriarchal handling. The lavish life of the Britishers in India and the way they spread their wings through idiot Kings and Kingdoms of India. Loved the way all the characters end up in one place for the journey of a lifetime to the Island of Mauritius, some going to serve their punishment while others are escaping from their painful lives in hopes of a better future. The entire book (500+ pages) reads no less than a thriller right till the very end, which is again an open ending as it's a part of a three-part series, and that's why to give a closure, I need to get the second at the earliest, as so many questions are left unanswered in this one.
I had a special connection with this book as most of its story revolves around the poppy seeds and fields, or people smoking opium. Back home in MP and the Rajasthan border few of my cousins actually farm poppies legally for the government. I have visited, and so many times we have gone for picnics on those fields, the way the entire crop gets done, plus the way they take it out, is depicted so beautifully in the book. My second special connection with the book was the way Ibis is portrayed (you have to read the book for the same) as a giant winged creature ready to take its flight with 100s of people on board. The way they all come on board the ship and go on the unknown journey, amid the crushing waves of black water, and what happens on the ship is totally unbelievable and captured in the most surreal way. He has shown the same.
Do let me know if you have read Sea of Poppies and liked it, or if you have a favourite Amitav Ghosh book. I am going to get a few more from him at the earliest.
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