Amitav Ghosh`s The Hungry Tide tells several stories ranging from the mythological and historical to fictional and natural across different time zones. People with varied ambitions and outlook reach there, settle and depart. Nirmal who dreamt revolution all his life at least had its foretaste during his dying hours in the uprising staged by the settlers in the tide country. Nilima his wife found the true meaning of her life in serving the deprived in Lusibari where all the central characters head to. For Priya Roy the cetologist from America the place is initially a research ground but later it provides an opportunity to get rid of her guilt feeling by extending generous support to Fokir`s widow and his son. Even the ever ambitious and self centered Kanai Dutt is likely to purge some of his undesirable elements during his proposed third visit to the place. But along with the flora and fauna it is the likes of Fokir who are the true inheritors of the simple glories of the mangrove lands in Sunderbans. It is no wonder that Fokir is the only one who knows the unique details of the Irrawady dolphins. Like the dolphin he is also mute before Piya and is more alive in water than on land. Piya`s research of the dolphin runs parallel to her attempt to understand Fokir..
The Hungry Tide despite its weary length in certain places and the sudden rounded of end where too many things happen in too short a time is a wonderful novel that explores the riches of fluctuations of human destiny.
Review by Amshan Kumar