Magic of the Bonduki story

In his latest novel, Amitav Ghosh links present-day climate change and migration with an old Bengali folktale

Journeys to distant lands, migration and ancient connections between civilisations are recurring themes in Amitav Ghosh’s books. His latest novel, Gun Island, is a story of travel and migration, overlaid with myth and folktales, and the deepening crisis of climate change.

In his previous book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, Ghosh had questioned why artists and writers of fiction had ignored climate change in their creative work. In Gun Island, he entwines the impact of climate change on migration and displacement, with an old Bengali folktale that connects the fast-depleting mangrove forests of the Sundarbans to the slowly sinking city of Venice.

On his annual sojourn to Kolkata, Brooklyn-based dealer in rare books, Dinanath (now an Americanised “Deen”) hears the tale of Manasa Devi, the goddess of snakes and her battle to turn the merchant Chand Sadagar or Bonduki Sadagar (Gun Merchant) into a devotee.

Deen travels to the isolated island with the small temple (that the merchant built to appease the goddess). From the temple, its panels of mysterious drawings and symbols, and an encounter with a King Cobra, Deen and his young companions, Rafi and Tipu, are sent hurtling to their separate journeys that eventually lead them to Venice.

Ghosh suggests that the term ‘bundook’ (‘gun’ in Hindi) is derived from alBunduqiya, the Arabic name for Venice. The Bonduki myth links Venice and India through 17th century and present day migration to Europe, and the life-altering impact of climate change on migration and the displacement of humans and animals.

as a slave, then freed by his master, finds a treasure trove of cowries – the shells used as currency in the Indian Ocean coastal region – and reaches Venice, the great trading port of the 17th century. The Mediterranean is going through unseasonal weather with storms and devastating floods that came to be known as the “little ice age”. The merchant is forced to return to Bengal to make peace which protects local villagers till it’s swept storms that ravage the Sundarbans in the Deen travels from Kolkata to Brooklyn, is serviced by a colony of Bangladeshis, who cook pizzas, run restaurants, man ice cream carts and the city’s markets. Many of them have made the perilous journey by bus, truck and mini-van; travelling from Bangladesh through India, Pakistan, Iran and then to Libya, forced to pay additional sums of money at critical times or fall prey to organ harvesters.

Deen’s voyage of discovery is assisted by Piya, the marine biologist who arranges his visit to the Bonduki temple; Cinta, the celebrated Italian professor; Rafi and Tipu. It helps Deen decode the riddles of the temple panels and the Bonduki Sadagar ballad. There are strange visions and premonitions about specific events, and unlikely coincidences (e.g. Deen narrowly escapes being hit by masonry falling from high buildings on two occasions). Words of the Bonduki legend acquire different meanings when associated with places and events from the Gun Merchant’s own journeys.

Between the myth and uncanny events, Ghosh weaves the realities of contemporary life - the impact of changing climatic patterns on human and animal life, and migrants and human traffickers using modern technology to find the best routes to evade local authorities. Unlike the exuberance of Ghosh’s Ibis trilogy, Gun Island has a clear message about present-day realities of migration and climate change. At times, it tends to overpower the Bonduki legend. And yet, the magic of the story remains.