...she remembered how, as children, she and her playmates had laughed at the afeemkhors of their village - the habitual opium-eaters. who sat always as if in a dream, staring at the sky with dull, dead eyes. Of all the possibilities she had thought of, this was one she had not allowed for: that she might be marrying an afeemkhor - an addict. [unpredictability of life - RKP] [page 34]
...how frail a creature was a human being, to be tamed by such tiny doses of this substance!... a little bit of this gum could give her such power over the life, the character, the very soul of this elderly woman.... [page 38]
...I've seen many a Christian trying to buy his way into heaven... [page 136]
Paulette's eyes misted over at the thought of those childhood years, when she and her father had lived with Jodu and Tantima, as though their bungalow were an island of innocence in a sea of corruption. [ephemerality] [page 137]
...she might then have two or three copper dumrees left - maybe even as much as an adhela... [page 155]
The names of the settlements on the banks... Patna, Bakhtiyarpur, Teghra... [page 240]
Occasionally, when some storied town or city came into view, Kalua would go down to let Deeti know: Barauni! Munger! [page 240]
...if they happened to be in the vicinity of some populous town, like Patna, Munger or Bhagalpur... [page 240]
So absorbing was this subject that it kept them occupied from Ghoga to Pirpainti... [page 241]
At Sahibganj, where the river turned southwards, there were forty men waiting - hills-men from the plateaus of Jharkhand. [page 245]
...it seemed intolerably unjust that Jodu should be able to go to this island while she, Paulette, with all her prior claims, could not. [randomness and unpredictability of life; quirks and swings of fate; the zamindar of Raskhali is another example in the novel - RKP] [page 254]
In February the price of the best Patna opium had sunk to four hundred and fifty dollars a chest. ['the best Patna opium' reminds me of 'the best Darjeeling tea' - RKP] [page 259]
The sepoys responded by pinning Neel's arms to his side... Neel's struggles presented no challenge to them and they quickly tore off the remnants of his clothing... to fully expose his naked body to his jailers' scrutiny. [transience - RKP] [page 288]
The truth is, sir, that men do what their power permits them to do. [page 262]
...power made its bearers act in inexplicable ways... the whims of masters could be, at times, kind as well as cruel... [page 305]
In order to turn the convicts against each other, the subedar would sometimes give one an extra helping of food... [page 384]
To fear and be feared is all he's ever known... [page 434]
...all those beings who were ensnared [=trapped] by the illusory differences of this world. [transience - RKP] [page 503]
The first of the Ibis triology by Amitav Ghosh - shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2008.
A story of unbelievable incidents and coincidences - much like a detective novel or a Bollywood masala movie. But then Amitav Ghosh is perhaps not known for storytelling; he excels in history-telling. The story is but a vehicle to take his readers around the by-lanes of history.
