THE HUNGRY TIDE By Amitav Ghosh . The Hungry Tide is set in one of the few wild places still left on the earth, the Sunderbans.
Piyali , an Indian American scientist goes toLusibari in search of the Irrawadi
dolphins. Early on in her expedition , she falls into the river and is saved by the taciturn fisherman, Fokir , whom she engages to show her the elusive dolphins. After an eventful journey through a maze of waterways among the mangroves , they finally come to the secret
Dolphin nesting place. Mashima , a benign , matriarchal figure , runs a hospital in Lusibari . Her nephew ,Kanai has arrived from Kolkotta to study the mysterious papers bequeathed by his uncle Nirmal. . The papers turn out to be an account of Nirmal’s last days which he spent among the Bangladeshi refugees some years ago. In it he describes his anguished days with Kusum , the mother of Fokir, who lost her life in the riots. After escaping an attack by a crocodile, Piya returns to Lusibari and hires Horen’s motor launch to track the dolphins. Fokir goes with her as a guide and Kanai as the translator. The boat needs some repairs on the way , and they stop at a riverside village.. Piya witnesses a horrifying scene in the night when a tiger which gets trapped in a cowshed is burnt alive by the villagers. This incident opens Piya’s eyes to another aspect of Fokir’s character. At Garjantola, Piya and Fokir get separated from the rest while tracking the oddly behaving dolphins. They spend the night tied to the branch of a tree to escape the fury of the storm .Fokir gets killed by an uprooted stump. Piya sets up a trust to help the people of the tide country