"The Town by the Sea" by Amitav Ghosh

                                                 "The Town by the Sea" by Amitav Ghosh

Introduction to the Author:

Amitav Ghosh is one of India's best-known writers. His books include The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, The Hungry Tide. Amitav Ghosh's work has been translated into more than thirty languages. His essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Times. His writing deals with travel and diaspora, history and memory, political struggle and communal violence, love and loss.

Introduction to the Prose:

            Amitav Ghosh wrote a three-part article about a deadly tsunami that struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in December 2004. The Town by the Sea is the Third part Ghosh talks about the Director who has lost his wife, daughter, and his personal belongings due to this great natural disaster.

Historical Importance of 26^th December 2004:

“The water in the harbour had begun to rise, very rapidly”

            On December 25, 2004, the Director was in Port Blair  and his family in Malacca. The next morning the Director woken by the shaking of his bed. He understood that it was an earthquake. As he was running out of his building, he got a call from his wife but he cut off the call. He tried to call back but there was no response. The water level rose rapidly he became frantic. He realized that it was Tsunami and started to think about his family.

The Director’s Son:

“But I must say he is a brave boy; a very brave boy”

            The Director tried contacting the government office of Car Nicobar. After several attempts, he reached the office and learnt that Malacca has been badly affected and there were some survivors. He got to know that his thirteen-year-old son has survived by clinging to the rafters of a church. The boy was made to speak over the phone. The boy narrated the whole incident.

            The Director’s family had been in bedroom when the earthquake started. On hearing a terrific sound from the sea, they ran into their drawing room. When a huge wave hit the house, it dissolved but the boy alone managed to hold something.

            The rest of the family members disappeared and the boy began to cry and the Director’s heart broke as he was very strict with him.

Search for the Family:

“No news had reached me- I’ve not heard anything”

            The Director reached Malacca the very next day to bring back his son. He planned to visit Malacca again to search his family and during this visit he is accompanied by Amitav Ghosh. The Tsunami had destroyed the environment and the people of the Island. Villages, buildings were erased. They reach the District Library, and the director spotted a doctor and started to question about the survivors. The Doctor said that he had no idea about the family.

Mangled Objects:

“Thirteen years of research: all gone”

            The Director spotted all his belongings. He found a blue aristocrat suitcase and a steel trunk, in which his name and designation was written. Then he looked at a wooden cabinet  which had all the records and his research works. Most of his photographic slides were damaged because of water. He found a yellow paint box which belong to his daughter, Vineeta. But he refused to take the box with him, as it will not bring back his daughter. Malacca now had only five buildings.

1.     The skull-like shell of a school

2.     A neatly whitewashed Bungalow

3.      An Arched gateway (Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Park)

4.     Murugan Temple

5.     Skeleton of a church

Conclusion:

“What good will it do? What will it give back?”

Amitav Ghosh realized that the choice of the Director was right as he must move on with Life. The pain or the choice of a person cannot be understood unless it is experienced. The incident thus brings out the mental fortitude of a person who has lost his family, belongings due to the devasting natural disaster.