The Hungry Tide

“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, almost exotic.”

This is the reader’s first glimpse at Piya, one of the novel’s two protagonists and point-of-view characters. Here, she is seen through Kanai’s eyes. As Kanai stands in for Indian society and is familiar with the Sundarbans, his view of her can be assigned as the “default.” All of the novel’s characters will see Piya much as Kanai does—masculine and obviously foreign. This quote also sets up Kanai’s sexual desire for Piya and his tendency to judge others quickly and definitively.

“He could tell from the awkwardness of her pronunciation that this was literally true: like strangers everywhere, she had learned just enough of the language to be able to provide due warning of her incomprehension.”

From the novel’s first chapter, it is clear that language—both its barriers and its abilities to connect—will be a major theme throughout the novel. Piya, despite being of Indian descent, has actively chosen to learn only the phrase “I don’t speak Bengali.” From this, the reader can extrapolate much about her: she desires to be polite and not impose on others, but sees herself as wholly American, not Indian.

“‘It’s only in films, you know, that jungles are empty of people.’”

This quote, said by Nirmal to a young Kanai, subverts an expectation readers may have about the novel and its setting. Though it is an action-packed novel set in a very rural place, the focus of The Hungry Tide is on the interpersonal relationships between human beings.