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Mukt Shabd Journal ISSN NO : 2347-3150

The Society and Culture from ’s The Hungry

V.VEDIYAPPAN PhD Research Scholar Thiruvalluvar University Serkkadu, Vellore- 632115.

Abstract:

The novel The Hungry Tide offers profound social expressions and through these the novelist investigates the progressions that have come and are coming into society. Ghosh being an anthropologist uncovers the syncretist culture that existed and still exists in by delving into revere designs that shows social absorptions prompting a sort of solidarity of social ethos. This is being smothered or tossed out of spotlight by a developing society of savagery against ethnic gatherings over the country. The novel likewise has various key women characters who offer voice to a positive feminist build which is a genuine impression of the progressions occurring in the general public. Nilima, Piyali, kusum and Moyna are a piece of a feminist cultural build through which Ghosh makes significant statements. The women introduced in The Hungry Tide are strong women for whom articulating their standards and trying them is a triumph that has been won. Projection of search sort of feminist culture is additionally a genuine picture of the changing qualities saw in the nation and right now gives a decent knowledge into the cultural changes occurring in the society and the cultural effect of such kind of women. Keywords : Society, Culture, Life, and Nature.

Great literature is said to show specialty and masterful and has the ability to bring up issues, give new perspectives, and grow the comprehension of self and the world, stimulate and imagination and renew the spirit. To us literature is any creative, accurate, and imaginative work about people and what they have done, accept and have made or are happy to make. literature is different of: written in books, journals, newspapers, and magazines: spoken; acted; sung; filmed; drawn as animation or appeared on TV. literature ought depict the side of human exercises as

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well as the negative results with the view to laud an inversion to improve things. This infers a fair portrayal of the real factors of human existence. Literature can be experienced through an assortment of media: oral, audio, audiovisual, etc. It is a declaration of culture since it reports human information, conviction and conduct.

Like literature, culture is a challenged marvel which is comprehended to mean extraordinary things by various gatherings. Culture is the "incorporated example of human conviction and conduct. ”Culture embodies language, thoughts, convictions, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, centerpieces, ceremonies. Culture comprises of shared qualities, convictions, knowledge, aptitudes and practices that support conduct by individuals from a social gathering at a specific point in time. Raymond Williams in his book Culture and Society(1958) stated that “Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact. Every human society has its own shape, its own purpose, its own meaning. Every human society expresses these, in institutions, and in arts and learning. A culture has two aspects: the known meanings and directions, which its members are trained to; the new observations and meanings, which are offered and tested. These are the ordinary processes of human societies and human minds, and we see them through the nature of a culture: that is always both traditional and creative; that is the both the most ordinary common meanings and the finest individual meanings. Culture is ordinary, in every society and in every mind.”

A general public is a gathering of individuals identified with one another through their persistent and continuous relations. It is likewise a gathering of similarly invested individuals to a great extent represented by their own standards and qualities. Human culture, it is watched, is portrayed by the examples of connection between people who offer societies, customs, convictions and qualities and so on. Literature and society are firmly identified with one another since literature is the reflection of society. In some cases literature and society rouse and even impact to one another.

The vague, liquid space, Ghosh decides to arrange his novel The Hungry Tide is the Sundarbans, where land and ocean continually respect each other in an every day natural cycle. The novel is published in 2004. Ghosh superbly concentrates an amplifying focal point on a smaller scale culture inside the Sundarbans or the tide nation the islets of the delta that lie south of and east of West / boondocks. This delta traversing 335

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km in width is the biggest timberland on the planet at the mouth of Ganges and is spread across regions of Bangladesh and . It is converged by an unpredictable system of tidal conduits, and little islands of salt-tolerant mangrove woods. It is a spot wherein the ocean, the river, the land, humans and creatures all exist together. This concurrence is here and there in concordance, yet frequently in rivalry. On a land which is so unstable and unusual, the Sundarbans. the excellence as the name of the timberland proposes, accompanies its dangers and perils. It is a characteristic territory of many jeopardized species including the Royal Bengal and the Irawaddy dolphins and is the home of the mangrove woods or sundari trees. Ghosh subtleties the biological system of the Sundarbans with its assortment and magnificence. Unmistakably the change is the standard of life there. The waterways stray from week to week and islands are made and unmade.

The Hungry Tide on its broadest level, is an anecdote about the Sundarbans themselves, the sort that causes us comprehend the intriguing and delicate biology of what in the novel is called" the tide nation," just as well as the pivotal significance of this region‟s proceeded existence. This concern is obviously dear to Ghosh‟s heart, as he stacks the pages of his novel with logical and specialized insights concerning the biological system of the Sundarbans as if he were looking to both paint and classify their working. The novel is additionally, be that as it may, a tale about natural and social foul play in a postcolonial space, about individuals slaughtered or compellingly expelled from what they think about their homes on the grounds of a questionable ecological arrangement. The West Bengal government‟s 1979 massacre of "illegal" pioneers on the island of Morichjhap on the putative grounds of ecological protection had its origins in the in 1947 and was fuelled by national and international funding for the conservation efforts of (still today one of the most successful preservation projects ever). A significant piece of The Hungry Tide is devoted to the story of this ousting, the memory of which, as Ghosh puts it, in an article called "Folly in the Sundarbans," "although forgotten elsewhere, in the Sundarbans . . . is still vividly alive."

We watch the Sundarbans with Piyali Roy an Indian brought into the world American Cetologist and Kannai the chief of a Translation Bureau in New Delhi. Piyali has gone to the Sundarbans to do her PhD on the Irrawaddy Dolphins. Kannai needs to get a diary

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composed by his uncle Nirmal who is no more. The historical backdrop of the Islands is told through Nirmal‟s Journal. The peruser comes to know in insight concerning the catastrophe of Morichjhapi where the administration had slaughtered a great many exiles in their endeavor to remove them. Piya warms up to Forkir, a man of the Sundarbans and through this relationship the creator considers the Bon-bibi legend and the religio-social qualities. When Fokir passes on Piya doesn't come back to the U.S however chooses to make the Sundarbans her home. So the idea of home as a social topical element is investigated in the novel.

The individuals of Sunderbans follows all the ceremonies and conventions of their ancestors. In any case, they have been double-crossed strategically and monetarily which caused the investigation of the development of the inborn culture of the Sundarbans and which is syncretistic in nature binding together individuals of different convictions together. This syncretist culture depends on the Bon-Bibi fantasy. The creation of the nearby culture of the Sundarbans is through the development if a syncrestic culture.Piya sees that Fokir appeals to Bon Bibi just as the Muslim Pir. The style of workship received by Fokir shows the converging of social rituals. It has been brought up by Nilanjan Chakravarthy that this blending has occurred as a result of the troublesome landscape yet in addition in view of recorded custom. Both the networks existing next to each other have streamed into each other.Thus Bon-Bibi develops as a defensive goddess for both the networks. Dokkin Rai the force that reigned in the Sundarbans did not care for the convergence of individuals into his domain and conjured Allah to drive them away.

In Nirmal‟s journal surprise is registered at the way Horen worships in order to protect them from the : Kusum led the way to the shrine, which was nothing more than a raised platform with bamboo sides and a thatched covering. Here we placed the images of Bon Bibi and her brother Shah Jongoli, and the kusum lit a few sticks of fragrant dhoop and Fokir fetched some leaves and flowers and laid them at their feet. I was amazed. I’d thought I was going to a Hindu puja. (THT, 245-246).When Horen started to recount the mantra Nirmal is shocked to hear the conjuring in Allah’s name. The structure was that of a puja however the dialects utilized was profoundly„ interpenetrated‟ by Arabic and Persian. This interpenetrative technique for revere is again rehashed by Fokir which catches Piyali‟s consideration.

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The Sundarbans woodland tenants over some undefined time frame, have bit by bit grasped their very own culture. A real existence that is confined from the standard city culture gets communicated from numerous points of view and ordinarily suits the neighborhood timberland customs and convictions. There are sure ceremonies just as strict celebrations saw right now. For example, the yearly reasonable in the Dubla Island (Bangladesh) which happens on Raash Purnima is seen during the period of November. people group from India and different states frequently visit the during this period and take heavenly plunge in the waters and make contributions for a satisfaction wish. The travelers additionally give recognition to specific Deities whom they consider as their deliverers. Banabibi is another Superpower who is prevalently revered in the Sunderbans as the guardian angel of the natives.Banabibi, who is considered as the transcendent force who takes care of the government assistance of the tenants of the woodland. Banabibi is exceptionally mainstream among both the networks, the Hindus just as the Muslims. Among all the Gods and Deities are Manik Pirs, Olabibi, , Gazi Saheb, Sa Janguli and so forth. Be that as it may, among these, "" holds an uncommon spot. Loving Dakshin Rai is a must for the individuals before they enter the backwoods. Dakshin Rai is a legend who is revered by all, independent of their station and doctrine and is considered as the God of the Tigers. Another social conviction is there that the anglers who go to get the fish, do not figure out how to swim since they accept that on the off chance that the ocean guarantees an actual existence, at that point he will take at any rate you need to passed on whether you know swimming or not. Interestingly, the other anglers are likewise doing whatever it takes not to spare their lives.

The social state of the Sunderbans society is extremely poor and marvelous. In spite of the fact that it is the intersection of rivers Gnages,Brahmputra, Padma, and Meghna which make hundred of islands and furthermore hold the prefix ,Sunder’ yet there the life is excessively level, inert and awesome that cannot be envisioned. The individuals who need to go into wilderness for their employment to acquire nectar and to get fish and crabs became prey of tigers and it is the truth. The greatest truth is that in the event that somebody got away from the tiger, at that point they turns into the prey of who stows away in the field.

The consecutions of passings leave the enormous populace of widows in the district who live in the desire for restoration by the legislature since they have confidence in

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them. It involves feel sorry for that the tidal environment bring not just countless perils and dangers to the lives of occupants there however a steady dread and paranoia, “Think of what it was like: think of the tigers, and snakes that lived in the creeks and nalas that covered the islands. This was a feast for them. They killed hundreds of people”(52). “A crocodile, it’s said, will keep you alive until you drown; it will not kill you on land; it will drag you into the water while you are still breathing. Nobody finds the remains of people who had killed by crocodiles”(328). Ghosh gives a scene of crocodile assault on Piya. She gets a sight of two arrangements to lock together teeth making a grabbing, bending development as they thrust at her. The reptile at that point assaults the harsh of the pontoon and she is fortunately spared by Fokir. It is a nearby brush with death and sends Piya into a condition of distrustfulness and stun for quite a while. A spooky brain can see a physical appearance of dread. A similar actuality is brought out by Ghosh in a scene where Kanai is disregarded in a territory of Gorjontola island:

In the novel, a tempest has explained in which a kilometer length dike is devastated. The pitilessness of this tempest is felt by the crisply shown up individuals in the tide nation. The tempest the cheerful individuals sad , “They had even managed to grow a few handfuls of rice and vegetables. After years of living on stilt- raised platforms, they had finally been able to descend to earth and make a few shacks and shanties on level ground. All this by virtue of the badh”(203). These individuals attempt to build up a settlement confronting each challenge and hardship. Person can’t construct a home there but the truth of the matter is that these people have nowhere else to go. As they cannot go anywhere else, they attempt to bring home the bacon from the infertile, immovable, salty tracts of that land. They have mostly fisherman who reply upon on fish and crabs for sustenance. Their life has capricious and endurance perilous. These individuals are consistently in battle and there has discloser to the unending fight again brutes, tempest and . Ghosh sets up a comparability among throats of the tide and jaws of a tiger. He provides the record of an incensed tempest in the novel. It is the principal known occasion of two calamities tremor and tempest event back to back. The disaster has past creative mind: “The waters rose so high that they killed thousands of animals and carried them upriver and inland” (204).

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The problem of livelihood was become the heart pain of the people of Sunderbans. By gaining some dares and go to the jungles is compulsion to get their livelihood.Women have to work harder to secure food and livelihood. They have less control over income and assets and are being subjected to violence and intimidation; subordinate social position; ineffectively spoke to in strategy and dynamic. For women drew in if fry assortment and fish drying for four months as they have no other feasible elective occupation. More than 50 per cent of fisher woman of Sunderbans belong to families living in abject poverty. The money they earn is essential for the substance of their families. About 87 per cent of dry fish workers are illiterate like Fokir.

References

[1] Williams, Raymond, Culture and Society, Newyork: Colombia University Press 1958 Print.” Humanity and Nature in The Hungry Tide.

[2] Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide India : Harper Collins 2004, Print.

[3] Kishor, Amrendra ,” Aadamkhor Baghon KiDharti.” Jansalta 24 Feb,2019,Print.

[4] Weik, Alema. “ The Home, the Tide : and the world : Eco – Cosmopolitan in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide”. Diss. V of Clifornia,2006. Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial studies 13.2 – 14.1 (2007) : 120 – 41. Web. 05 April 2019.

[5] Rey. Aparna, A.P Sharma, Utpal Bhaumik, Arun Pandit, S.R.K. Singh, S. Saha and A.Mitra. “ Socio – economic Features of womenfolk of Indian sunderbans Involved in Fish Drying.” Indian Journal of Extension Education 53.2 (2017) : 142 – 46. Web . 05 April 2019.

[6] Rollason, Christopher.” In our Translated world : Transcultural communication in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.” The Atlantic Literary Review 6.1 – 2 (2005) : 86 – 107. Web. 05 April 2019

[7] Singh, Anand Binod and P.Venugopalan. “ Cultural statements in The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh.” IJELLH 3.5 (2015) : 768 – 74. Web .04 April 2019.

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[8] Chaudhary, Bhagvanbhai H. “ Language, Literature and Society”. Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary studies 4.37 (2017) : 8393 – 8401. Web. 02 April 2019.

[9] Aruna, Marie Josephine and E.Devabalane “ Human vs Nonhuman : Environmental Issue and Cocerns in Amitav Ghosh’s The Human Tide”. IOSR-JHSS 19.5 (2014). 42-50. Web. 04 April 2019.

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