Nature has a peculiar way of invoking memories that lie dormant, placid, unmarred and concealed safely within our hearts. Our senses act like catalysts when provoked by the stimulus – nature, it incapacitates and debilitates our emotions, recalling and bringing those thoughts and feelings back to life.
Memories enslave and unnerve us and that’s precisely what this book does to you. One is immediately transported to Lusibari to witness the sublime chaos wonderfully etched that makes one ponder and partake in a foreboding feeling, reminisce of what the characters go through. The author’s craft of deftly creating relatable characters, so intricately wreathed, infused with their broken dreams, failed relationships, the longing of lost love, the pain of unfulfilled desires and hopes beautifully established with the beauty of Sundarbans as the backdrop is quintessential.
The narrative, the prose, the cumulative essence of the book ‘The Hungry Tide’ makes this piece of fiction a masterpiece. The author has done a commendable job of tapping a reservoir of human relationships and emotions. It’s a riveting tale where characters embark on a journey, introducing us to their vulnerable and involuted emotions.
What will be the outcome, when our protagonist Kanai with a flourishing business in New Delhi visits his aunt in Lusibari a small town in Sundarbans, unexpectedly meets Piya a young cetologist from America, who is researching on the Orcaella Dolphins that inhabit Sundarbans? Embrace yourself to traverse on an adventurous trip interwoven with a profusion of myriad experiences, so vivid and captivating that it will leave the reader asking for more.
What I truly loved about this book was the way the author creates and builds a surreal and beautiful relationship between Piya and Fokir a fisherman who lives in Lusibari. A dichotomy of sorts, where both Piya and Fokir from diverse backgrounds and culture converge together, oblivious and unfamiliar with each ones language, yet are drawn towards each other through emotions deeply entrenched with the deep dark foliage journey on a tepid river.
What will be the fate of this untoward journey? Will Kanai be able to achieve what he set out for in the Sundarbans? Will Piya accomplish and achieve her findings? What will be the fate of Piya and Fokir?