When beginning to read the section titled “Words” I came to understand that this vague title holds enormous value behind Piya’s life. She faced hardships within her family that has traumatized her. As we read we learn that Piya’s parents often quarreled in Bengali which can be a solidified reason behind why she had no interest or motivation to learn it but I also question if her parents spoke it freely, how did she not? I have a strong understanding that Bangladesh triggers many emotional, traumatic memories for her. 

An experience I found very touching and emotional would when her mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer. It is explained that her mom then became her roommate and relied on Piya’s company due to her not having any other company, her mom would educate her about India and their way of living but it didn’t interest her. Piya had the big room with an admirable view, I feel that this is important because it symbolizes that their main priority was Piya and I honestly don’t think she reciprocated that, for example she wouldn’t show interest in what her mom did. 

Something I found relatable would be Piya not liking the smell of spices because of classmates making fun of her. It was stated that Piya use to love the smell of the spices but as people began to judge her for smelling like it she began to despise the smell. I remember when I use to share my room with my grandma and we had limited closet space therefore my sweater or jacket was often left in the dining area leading to it smelling like masala or curry powder (really strong scents) and people in my school use to call me Indian meanwhile I’m guyanese. Comments or situations like these can really trigger how one may feel about their culture or traditions, I truly enjoyed and admired this section because you don’t always find a text that tackles those feelings. 

Lastly in the section titled “Crabs”, the scene where she is watching the dolphins on the boat with Fokir and Tulu made me see a happy, bright side of Piya after learning her trauma. I love that she gave Tulu a snack for a selfish reason, her wanting to wait around for a bit longer to see the dolphins once more. It shows a gentle, caring side of Piya. I think it is very cute to see her inner child come out when she’s with Tulu, experiencing what she missed. 

In the novel “The Hungry Tide” written by Amitav Ghosh we are introduced to Piya and we get a brief description of who she is, how she looks and what her goal is in Sundarbans. 

Piya is described from Kanai’s perspective.She is as described a slim, shapely figure, a long and narrow face, she had no bindi on her forehead, her arms were free of bangles and bracelets, only on one ear she wore a silver stud, and it was glinting brightly against the sun- deepened darkness of her skin (pg 11). We can see Kanai’s description creates an image of a girl who he observes closely by her accessories, her figure, her hair, and her skin color. To him she seems like a foreign girl, confused as to why she is on this specific train. 

We then learn Piya’s a ceologist, and she’s studying the river dolphins and is conducting surveys. She does not speak Bengali, which is somewhat odd as in her field to ask questions it seems she would need a way to communicate her needs from the others. As she is on her journey to spot the dolphins things take a turn. We meet Majed, who is a fisherman who knows the waterways well. Majed  gives her some options which leaves Piya with  no choice but to take it. Majed seems like any other fisherman, as he gives Piya somewhat of an optimistic opinion on finding the dolphin even with the language barrier. However, when they arrive at a larger boat Majed order’s everyone off except the guard. As Piya realizes, she feels there is something not quite right. When only two men are left on the boat and just her, suddenly she realized what he was intending. Majed points in the direction of his tongue and his crotch… It was not till later that she realized that this pairing of the organs of language and sex was intended as a commentary on the twin myseterien of their difference” (pg 37). Piya was left vulnerable due to the fact that she didn’t speak Bengali gave them the upper hand. She may seem like she belongs and may even appear to be a part of their community but as it says “ The one place where he felt even more stranger than elsewhere – her appearance had robbed her of that protection”. 

I think the conflict that Piya will face is a language barrier problem that will develop as the story continues. To everyone else Piya looks one way, but we know Piya as she also is an “outsider”. She does not have a Bindi, she does not wear bangles, and she does not speak Bengali. Her struggle to communicate with others will cause more conflicts for her.

In Amitav Ghosh’s “The Hungry Tide,” the author conveys a deep message about the intricate connection between humans and nature. This overarching theme is carefully woven into the narrative through several key elements.

The Sundarbans setting serves as a foundation for this message. This unique and ecologically rich region, where land and water seamlessly merge, underscores the profound interplay between humans and nature. It’s a place of astonishing natural beauty and constant peril, where humans and wildlife coexist in a delicate equilibrium. This can be seen in the text when Nirmal states, “It’s only in films, you know, that jungles are empty of people. Here there are places that are as crowded as any Kolkata bazaar. And on some rivers, you’ll find more boats than there are trucks on Grand Truck Road.” ( Ghosh 19)

The Sundarbans effectively become an example, vividly highlighting the interdependence between the two.

The character Piya, a marine biologist, seems to personify the human desire to understand and connect with the natural world. Her research on dolphins acts as a testament to scientific curiosity and the human desire to learn about and protect the environment. Kanai, a central character who is a translator, plays a pivotal role in emphasizing the necessity for communication between humans and their environment. He symbolizes the bridge between diverse cultures and languages, mirroring the idea that effective communication and comprehension of the natural world are fundamental to coexisting harmoniously with it.

Moyna and Fokir, local characters making a living as honey collectors, provide a poignant image of the profound bond between humans and nature. Their lives are intricately intertwined with the environment, and their challenges and triumphs underscore the intimate connection between them. They work to represent the indigenous knowledge and wisdom passed down through generations.

The myths and mysticism surrounding the Sundarbans further underscore the profound link between humans and their environment. As seen in the references to local religion and poetry throughout the beginning of the novel. These narratives, often centered around nature and animals, are an integral part of the region’s cultural and spiritual life, emphasizing the age-old connection between people and their surroundings.

I’m very interested to see the many ways that, in the novel, we see the human and environmental relationship be represented, and what Ghosh wants to see / exhibit as the kind of relationship he wants to argue that people should have with nature and the ways he goes about developing that.

The Hungry Tide follows Kanai and Piya, our two main characters. Each new section will switch perspective constantly, following the days lived out by the two. They come from different worlds, Piya growing up in America and Kanai growing up in India. Piya struggles to understand those around her, and can only understand body movements. Kanai is on a journey to discover what his uncle has written to him, and what it means. Why did he die so suddenly? “The Matla will rise! The Matla will rise!” (23) What did Kanai’s uncle mean by this before he died? The mystery unfolds.

Piya is in search of a rare breed of dolphins that were thought to be extinct. When boarding the Launch with the guards they seem to take advantage of her due to not being knowledgeable in their language. “On cue as if to show her that she had not gotten off lightly, the guard held up her walkman- he had managed to extricate it from her belongings before handing them over.” (50) Piya’s walker was taken, most likely as payment. As Piya decided to go with the fisherman Fokir, the guards were irritated by her decision. But still accepting payment. Piya held her money closely, I think Piya was afraid of the guards stealing her money. When she had almost drowned in the muddy waters, she checked if she still had it. An interesting thing I noticed was how the guard was expecting Piya to give him some reward for spotting a crocodile. “Med-ja’s motives for bringing them to her notice were made evident when he rubbed his fingers together to let her know that he deserved a tip.” (35) They are very greedy and couldn’t care less if she had almost died in the muddy waters.

Kanai has traveled to Lusibari to visit his aunt and read his uncle’s letters. Fokir, someone that his uncle knows was mentioned. “As I look on the scene before me I cannot help wondering what it has meant to them – to Fokir, to Kusum – to wake to this sight, through the better part of a year.” (59) This is interesting as Fokir and his son are currently missing. Not only that but the fisherman that Piya encountered, who also saved her from drowning in the muddy waters, was also named Fokir. “With a finger in his chest, pointing at himself, he said “Fokir”.”(54) Fokir also had his son, Tutul. Was this the same Fokir mentioned in the letters? It feels like no mere coincidence that Piya has managed to stumble upon him.

Kanai’s and Piya’s stories are connected, showing what’s to come on both sides. It is almost missable, that you just have to go back and re-read those sentences to put the pieces together.

While reading Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide, I found some interesting things to take note of. It was interesting to see Ghosh’s use of alternating perspectives between Piya and Kanai, who appear to be the main characters in this novel. Through this, we can form a connection between Piya and Kanai. However, while reading the novel, I couldn’t help but notice how the idea of being an outsider or out of place is seemingly repeated. Therefore, in my writing, I observe how Ghosh repeats these ideas. In doing so, I aim to show how people are seen as outsiders or out of place and, in some cases, treated differently, if they are different compared to other people.

Right at the start of the novel, the reader can already see an example of someone conceived as an outsider or out of place through Kanai’s judgment of Piya. When Kanai first sees Piya, he takes note of Piya’s “close-cropped black hair [and] her clothes, which were those of a teenage boy–loose cotton pants and an oversized white shirt” (Ghosh 3). Kanai also notices that “there was no bindi on [Piya’s] forehead and her arms were free of bangles and bracelets, but on one of her ears was a silver stud…” (Ghosh 3). Based on these observations, Kanai thinks that Piya is not Indian, except by descent. With this thought, Kanai is convinced that Piya is a foreigner due to her posture. Kanai states that “among a crowd of college girls on Kolkata’s Park Street she might not have looked entirely out of place, but here, against the sooty backdrop of the commuter station at Dhakuria, the neatly composed androgyny of her appearance seemed out of place…” (Ghosh 3). Kanai’s judgment of Piya shows that people may be seen as outsiders if they are different. This idea is developed further through Kanai’s evaluation of himself. 

During Piya’s interaction with a stranger when she asks a question regarding a train to Canning, Kanai notes that the stranger answers in Bengali, where it becomes apparent that Piya doesn’t know any Bengali. Like most other strangers, according to Kanai, Piya only learned enough Bengali to convey her incomprehension of the language. After witnessing this interaction, Kanai states that he “was the one other ‘outsider’ on the platform and he quickly attracted his own share of attention” (Ghosh 4). Kanai describes himself as an “outsider” because he is more knowledgeable than others and can make himself presentable. The reader learns that Kanai knows 6 languages and that his appearance suggests “middle-aged prosperity and metropolitan affluence” (Ghosh 4). He also describes his physical features that appear to set him apart from other people. As Kanai states, he “was of medium height and at the age of forty-two his hair, which was still thick, had begun to show a few streaks of gray…his eyes had fine wrinkles fanning out from their edges–but these groves, by heightening the mobility of his face, emphasized more his youth than his age” (Ghosh 4). One thing that I took note of in these lines is that Kanai mentions that his hair is “still thick.” From these words, I believe that Kanai is implying that most other people his age have started to experience or have experienced the thinning or loss of their hair. This would, therefore, suggest that Kanai is using his physical features to define himself as an “outsider” since he isn’t like other people his age. Furthermore, the reader again sees the idea of being out of place when Nilima describes what life is like for widows.

After a few weeks following her arrival in Lusibari, Nilima notices that many of the women on the island are widows. Nilima identifies these women as widows due to  “their borderless white saris and their lack of adornment: no bangles or vermilion” (Ghosh 67). From this quote, the reader can see that widows have distinguishing characteristics that make them stand out from other women. At this time, Nilima points out that “many people perished in their youth, men especially…” (Ghosh 68). Because of this fact, the fate of many women was widowhood. Widows were not subject to life-long bereavement, but this didn’t mean much in an area with few men. As a result, many women remained widows, which “meant a lifetime of dependence and years of abuse and exploitation” (Ghosh 68). This quote implies that people treated widows differently or unfairly. We see this unfair treatment when Nilima recalls that a widow she knew was charged exorbitant prices by Lusibari’s shopkeepers for soap, matches, and provisions (Ghosh 68). I believe this treatment suggests that people in Lusibari don’t think widows belong in society. This would imply that being a widow is not appropriate or accepted. Widows can, therefore, be seen as outsiders because they are different.