The ‘Other’ Phenomenon

-Perceptions of space in literature by Amitav Ghosh

Duality in all aspects of Life is inevitable. But does this duality transform mental images and spatial perceptions intertwined with Time and Space? This essay will explore how the idea of the ‘other’ different from the ‘self’ is an integral part of the narratives by Amitav Ghosh.

How do people respond to this phenomenon? Apart from of course harbouring positive feelings like ‘Curiosity’, ‘sense of exploration’, ‘eagerness to unravel’, it also brings about the agonizing feelings of ‘Insecurity’, ‘Fear of the ‘Unknown’’, ‘Loneliness and ‘nostalgia’.

How does then, in fact a city respond to this feeling of ‘exotic’ as well as ‘alien’? Does it shun away the supposedly ‘foreign ‘entities or does it embrace tightly, ‘the different’ with the same motherly instinct that it so lovingly showers upon some of its citizens? Does it not create such boundaries at all?

For this essay, aspects of 2 of Ghosh’s books, ‘The Sea of Poppies ‘and’ The Hungry Tide’ will be delineated in terms of spaces and people responding to ethnicity, caste, and gender.

1. The ‘Other’ space

There is always a strong allure of ‘the other space’, one different from your very own. But perception of that space translates into imagining it in relation to one’s past experience. How spatial memories of the past and the mental image of the new space amalgamate without one actually realizing it, is a phenomenon that Amitav Ghosh’s books portray quite vividly.

Sea of poppies:

The journey from Kolkata to Mauritius made by two convicts from different backgrounds, Neel and Ah-fatt is described in the book. Ah-fatt a Cantonese talks about his city Canton, which is an entirely new space in Neel’s mind. The new space acts as the conceiver and nurturer of new perceptions and memories, that Neel imagines through his comrade Ah-fatt’s eyes and makes it his own and how this other journey more vivid than his own, keeps his sanity intact on the voyage to Mauritius.

The Hungry Tide:

The hardships that a marshland with man-eaters poses to the new inhabitants, the refugees from Dhaka who live in constant insecurity and threat posed by the government has been portrayed. The book also talks about spaces as perceived by Piya ghosh an NRI, in a relatively foreign space and how with the familiarity that the Sea offers to a Marine biologist, she makes the new space her own.

The fact that the lifestlyes of the people in Sunderbans is governed by the changing Tide and the prowling Man-eater is also in a way putting Nature in the ‘other’ pedestal and how it becomes a challenge to adapt to and embrace this unknown and unpredictable force.

1. The ‘Other’ person

(‘Other’ here, is a person not native to a particular place.)

A certain sense of Animosity attached to people from another place, is another aspect that the books talk about.

A sense of discrimination against the ‘alien’ persons is one such outcome. But in some cases the exoticness is seen as a ray of hope.

Sea of poppies:

While Ah-fatt describes his town to Neel, he refers to the foreigners in Canton involved in the Opium trade as ‘Aliens’ while he quotes:

‘And of these, the strangest, without a doubt, was the small enclave allotted to the foreigners who came to trade with China: the extra-Celestials who were known to the Cantonese as Fanquis – Aliens.’

‘The precincts of the walled city were forbidden to them, as to all foreigners – or so at least the authorities declared, claiming that such had been the case for almost a hundred years.’

The Hungry Tide:

The first half of the book talks about the nomadic plight of refugees from Dhaka who have no place to go. They find a home in Sunderbans. But their sufferings continue when the government of West Bengal forcibly evicts and massacres thousands of refugees settled on the Island.

The second half of the book throws light on how a sense of self-importance comes through in Fokir, a fisherman who is otherwise, just another man in his community, when he becomes a guide and companion to Piya Roy, someone seen as exotic in the village.

1. The Not so ‘other’ person

(The sense of the ‘other’ towards persons from the same place)

Sea of poppies; The Hungry Tide:

The Native Foreigner:

Paulette, in ‘the Sea of Poppies’, a native to France but born and raised in India perceives India as her home, but receives different treatment from the others purely because of her foreign looks.

Piya Roy, on the other hand in the ‘Hungry Tide’ is an Indian, born and raised in Seattle who has been away from her roots, until she returns to India as a Cetologist to study marine mammals in Sunderbans. She is treated as a foreigner by most because of her ‘Non- Indianness’.

A ‘Woman’ has also been portrayed as seen as the ‘other’ in Ghosh’s books. Womanhood in various stages, including widowhood has been described as perceived in a very negative light.

For instance, Deeti, in ‘The sea of poppies’ a poor woman from a small village in Bihar, endures atrocities just because she is a woman and her agony increases when she becomes a widow and is forced into becoming a sati by her in-law’s family, which she miraculously escapes.

Piya in ‘The hungry tide’ also faces a lot of challenges as a woman scientist in a small village and is subjected to various hindrances through the course of her work.

The ‘Other’ caste

Another harsh reality that Ghosh’s books touch upon, are the perception of the ‘other’ castes. In both the books ‘ The Sea of Poppies’ and ‘the Hungry tide’, the constant hardships and discrimination faced by the lower castes has been emphasized.

In ‘the Hungry Tide’, the beginning of the book itself starts on a note wherein this man called Kanai Is shown as a typical city bred boy whose demeanour has this sense of entitlement that was because of either his ‘class’ or his ‘education’ that allowed him to expect that life’s little obstacles and annoyances would always be swept away to suit his convenience.

1. Blurring boundaries between the ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’; a constant need for a sense of belonging.

In the Sea of poppies, this aspect comes though very strongly especially during the voyage to Mauritius in the ‘Ibis’.

When people of different castes and creed are thrown into a deplorable situation, they have no other option but to bond and find solace in one another to overcome strong autocratic hierarchical atrocities that they are subjected to. This is exactly what happens in the book.

Another ironical situation brought through by Ghosh, is how the plight of a King who was so strongly raised as a ‘pure’ Brahmin changes at the blink of the eye and is reduced to a prisoner convicted with forgery who is thrown into the dungeons of a schooner to be exiled in Mauritius.

In ‘the Hungry tide’, the setting of the book, Sunderbans in Bengal, is said to be a place where a Britisher, Sir Daniel Hamilton invites people to set up a community, as equals, leaving aside the egos of Caste and community and work towards making the Jungle island habitable. One of the very strong examples of this was a couple who lived in Kolkata who leave respectable jobs there to come to Sunderbans and proactively engage in the setting up of the community.

The main protagonists Piya, an NRI Cetologist and Fokir, a poor fisherman, are powerfully drawn to each other, sharing an uncanny instinct for the ways of the sea. By the end of the book, the strong bond that develops between Piya and Fokir inspite of cultural differences brings a poignant turn to the book.

Role as Designers: The Need for reinforcing tangible character and blurring intangible boundaries.

The built environment and urban fabric play a huge role in shaping mental perceptions of individuals.  As designers we need to reflect on how this notion of the ‘other’ could bring out the best in cities, in terms of positive experiences.

It is also our responsibility to tackle the issues that arise out of the ignorance of this phenomenon viz. the lack of design for gender neutral spaces, the non-consideration of local languages while designing signages in Public spaces, spaces that are conceptualized taking into consideration only certain classes of the society or certain ethnic groups.

In conclusion, respecting site specific growth but with inclusion of Universal Design could be looked at as a starting point for blurring the intangible boundaries that so often hinder the social growth of cities.