River of Smoke : Amitav Ghosh

On the Opium Trail

'River of smoke' is the second installment of the fabulous Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh. It follows the lives of the 'jahaj-bhais' aboard the famed Ibis setting off on a migratory journey to Mauritius. Although the Ibis plays less of a role here than it did in the 'Sea of Poppies' much of the same cast of characters exist and are joined by a few more.

The book starts with the storm that ended the first book with Neel and Ah Fath escaping the Ibis under cover of the storm and eventually making their way to Singapore and in Neel's case to Canton. Here we are introduced to the central character of the book , a Parsee merchant from Bombay called Bahram Modi who is aboard another ship at the time of the storm heading towards Canton. He is carrying a big shipment of opium which is his gamble at setting himself up as an independent businessman. His ship too gets caught in the storm and the vivid description of the swaying opium carts as Bahram evades his way through is one of the highlights of the book. Eventually Bahram reaches Canton after suffering minor damages with Neel in tow who he has employed as a munshi en route.

In China itself, the opium trade is under great danger as the Chinese have finally realized the effects of the substance. The British themselves have no compunction over the trade as they do it in the name of 'free trade' which is as much a religious credo to them as Jesus Christ. As one merchant pithily says 'Free trade is Jesus Christ'. Even though he too is an opium merchant Bahram is troubled by the nature of the trade and somehow convinces himself by comparing it to the uncontrollable wind upon which he has simply set his sails, in essence detaching himself from morality.

The drama reaches another level with the arrival of commissioner Lin who is a smart and canny administrator who has promised the king that he will root out the opium scourge. Then begins a cat and mouse game between the merchants and the Chinese administration with each upping the ante. As the commissioner tightens the screws the merchants forced to yield more and more eventually leading to a minor victory for the commissioner when the book ends with the war very imminent.

Amitav Ghosh's prose is lush and wonderfully evocative of 18th century China. The bustling Hutongs with the china-men speaking in their pidgin, the boat women's course hand and tongue, the tactful notices of the mandarins make you feel you are indeed in the middle kingdom. It is quite easy to see the similarity between the opium trade of the 18th century and today's oil economy as both have a bunch of western countries setting upon Asian countries in the name of free trade and indeed freedom proving Marx's dictum of history repeating twice.

There are other small details too that stay in your mind like the multi-course meals served among the merchants, the effect of the inhaled opium, the Indians with their diversity trying to conjure a little India foreseeing the Indian nation a century later, the underlying racism of some of the British merchants, these and many more details are vividly written.

This book will invariably be compared to the first one. As brilliant as 'Sea of Poppies' was this book should be rated higher. Although few of the characters from the first book like Deeti and Neel don't get too much prominence you understand it is for a reason as Bahram becomes such an overpowering character in this book. The moral dilemmas are more starker as they are played out in all its complexity in Bahram's mind which takes the novel to an altogether different plane. He realizes in the end the falsehood of his rationalizations and tragically realizes that the trade is nothing but a deal with the devil for which he has to pay. Bahram's dilemma is beautifully summed up towards the end as he says overlooking the young Indians playing in the maidan 'what was it all for, was it just that these fellows could speak English, wear hats and trousers and play cricket'.

In the end with the opium wars looming in the background the stage is set for a fantastic denouement in the final book of the trilogy which will bring to an end one of the great works of modern literature.