The Ibis Trilogy

The Ibis Trilogy written by Amitav Ghosh consists of the novels Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015). Constructed on an epic scale, this trilogy shows the interconnected lives of people across India, China and Mauritius, all united by the factor that they were colonies of the British empire. The fates of these people are connected to the trade of opium, which was produced in India as a commercial crop much to the ruin of the Indian economy and extensively sold in China causing addiction among the Chinese population.

The first book of the trilogy,  Sea of Poppies begins with the life of Deeti or Kabutri-ki-ma, whose husband works in an opium factory and is addicted to opium. When her husband dies and she is tormented by her husband’s brother (who happens to be Kabutri’s father), she runs away with Kalua, a man from a lower caste. To escape from persecution, they join a group of people who are transported to Mauritius as girmitiyas on the ship Ibis. The other people whose lives become interlinked during the journey are  Zachary Reid, Miss Paulette Lambert, Jodu, Ah Fatt and Neel. The first book criticises the British introduction of opium as a compulsory crop in the place of food crops ruining the Indian farmers. 

The second book River of Smoke describes the girmitayas’ life on the island of Mauritius and their adventures. The British and the Indian traders earn fortunes by bringing opium to China until the Chinese government takes steps to prevent the large-scale influx of opium. The government takes preventive steps against opium addiction and they seize and burn the imported opium. The traders become discontented at this and have to flee for their lives. Neel and Ah Fatt escapes from the ship Ibis along with a few lascars. Mr. Bahram, the Parsi trader who happens to be Ah Fatt’s father appoints him as his munshi. This book is set mostly in Canton against the background of the First Opium War and shows how the Chinese cannot live without opium. 

The third book Flood of Fire spans across British India, China and Mauritius, where Deeti and her descendants have established themselves as settlers in the plantation. In the midst of the First Opium War,a  ship Hind sails from India to China with Zachary Reid in search of Paulette and with Shireen Modi who wants to get back her dead husband’s wealth. However, Zachary Reid forgets Pauline and has an affair with Mrs. Burnham, who becomes a likeable character as opposed to the first book where she creates all kinds of problems for Pauline. This book depicts Zachary’s initiation into the ways of the world. 

The unknown

The Four Agreements

Love what you do

Hero worship

How would I put into words what I remember about you after all these years?
When I want to write about you, I see the chinks that I have found in your armour.

Yet the you of my imagination and the real you have grown so apart that I guess I would never recognise you if I saw you somewhere in real.
But this heart has loved you in ways that the one who owns you can never even imagine!

An evening

In the midst of this summer tedium,we meet again,
In the same old park where we used to sit around, 
Reading books and chatting for hours altogether, 
While the ancient tabeubia trees bore us witness. 

Once again, the carpet of pink blossoms is made, 
For you and me to sit and doodle with lifelessons-
The serious thoughts about the angst of this life , 
The trivial thoughts about the colours in the world. 

You are a strong shoulder that I had let go earlier, 
Your few words fill me with so much of happiness, 
I am the mighty wordsmith in whom you believe, 
The one who can conjure up new worlds in verse.

You and I talk of the serious and trivial meet again, 
In our old hang-out under the same ancient trees.

Eternal Silence

On that rainy day,
A couple walked past us,
Huddled together.

You and I, we walked
Hurriedly, drenched
In the rain and silent.

Your shy eyes lingered
Now and then on me,
Happy like a child.

With throbbing heart
With hungry eyes
I stowed away your magic.

You never said a word
I never said a word,
Only silence and the rain spoke.

When we spoke at last
It was with indifference
To the magic between us.

So we threw away the words
And the magic between us
What is left now is only silence.

Summer Rains

 Pic Courtesy: the web :-)

There are no songs of the summer showers without you,

There is no summer tedium that doesn’t burst into rain,

When a good old love like ours is remembered in time,

When your wet hair and shiny eyes can bring a downpour. 

In that summer of uncertainties a billion decades back,

When it scorched and blazed into unquenchable fires,

We might have stood at the same crossroads unawares,

We might have been the chemistry that burnt a world.

Still, I remember how the songs burst into summer rains,

Still, I remember how you will never say what you want,

Probe me just to find out what I am thinking right now,

Yet not recognize may be it was about you that I thought.

The words remain concealed in our sacred spaces forever,

The few random lines of poetry that fails to give recompense.

Good Fortune

There was no good luck on my cards today
For you were not there to cheer up my day, 
For the days have made you so special
That I don't have words to tell you how. 

Not that I am what you want me to be
Not that I do what you really want me to
For I evade your eyes and your smile 
Flitting across like a mirage with you. 

Yet without your smile no day is perfect, 
Your sunshine that radiates joy for me, 
My eyes roam around your empty space 
As if you are seated where you do normally. 

The memory of your smile flashes to me 
And a stupid grin spreads across my face. 

Soul Friend

I haven’t had a true friend in years, one that listened and criticized and encouraged and beat the shit out of my foggy two-mind. But you are that wonderful find, one in a million, who looks at things in the eye, takes the best and ignores the rest. I feel the difference when I speak to the rest who speak twisted truths and create stories out of nothingness. I have been bearing this cross of life for years but it feels lighter when your hands support me and your prayers encourage me.  You are my best wine, mellowed and intact that keeps me chin up during the toughest of these times. 

Auschwitz

The world stood still for a few days, it was as if there were no one around. Their tired eyes sought God and lamented about divine justice.

For they were innocents who wore their hearts on their sleeves, the ones who had not learnt how to deceive with a serpent's tongue or act like a dove.

They bore their yokes without even a murmur and none ever saw them cry. Not that their shoulders crumbled with the weight but only became stronger.

Now, they look like zombies lost in a mad world of dictators and strange chatter.

Spring

     You were a springtime in this uneventful life,
Where your promises filled this heart daily,
Your thoughts played like a chorus in a song,
And in those days, you were like a demigod.

When you reach out with your tender words,
When you return to this life with your bounce,
I forget that once your absence left me hurt,
And I celebrate your homecoming with delight.

My fears are about what I’ll do if you go away,
For a promising world had collapsed in a day.
When you and I parted our ways eons ago,
To leave behind a life of longing and strife.

You bring new thoughts and dreams to cherish
Again I speak of us as if we are one single unit.

Languor

Your fingers taunt me with their magic,
Your lips haunt me with their persistence,
Your love is from an unrealistic world,
One that could set me on fire always.

Your gentle whispers that could melt me,
Your endearing ways that leave memories,
Your words that have a hold over me,
Mind, body and soul throughout time.

Your face I search on my every face,
Your musical voice I long to hear daily, 
You intrude upon my silent moments
And leave an empty hole beside me.

Awake from a dream of our togetherness,
I feel languorous from our lovemaking.

Despair

Will the days ever come back?
You turn and hide the fears,
The loneliness, the despair
The longing that takes over.

You long for his sad long face,
One that keeps haunting you
You dream of his nimble fingers
And being lost in his magic.

This life was not to be like this,
You had pleasant dreams always
One of lifelong togetherness
Where tiny toes stepped forward.

Still this is the life one has now,
One of despair and longings.

At home

We were at home, you in your sky blue shirt,
With chocolate stains from my hungry fingers,
Your cheeks smudged with my new lipstick,
When the story ended rather abruptly for us.

Instead what I saw in the place was a durbar
Among countless dancers and a huge crowd
Who were screaming praises of our names
Your eyes on me, your lovely demure queen. 

We climbed the ancient steps to the palace
Dressed in all regalia, very sure of each other;
Then this fragment from the last day I saw you,
Two broken pieces were put together for a while

A glimpse of an old home, a place of no return
With a strange wonder, I feel like being at home.

Compassion

Mindfulness

My sky

Love