The Hungry Tide - Amitav Ghosh [108]
“And what’s his relation to Fokir?”
“Oh, he’s like an adopted parent,” said Kanai. “Fokir lived with him after his mother died.”
Horen was waiting at the foot of the embankment with Fokir at his side. Kanai recognized him at once: he was squat and wide-bodied, just as he remembered, but his chest seemed even broader now than before because of the substantial paunch that had burgeoned beneath it. With age the folds of Horen’s face had deepened so that his eyes seemed almost to have disappeared. Yet it was clear that the years had also added stature to his presence, for his demeanor was now that of a patriarch, a man who commanded the respect of all who knew him. His clothes too were those of a man of some means: his striped lungi was starched and carefully ironed and his white shirt was spotlessly clean. On his wrist was a heavy watch with a metal strap, and sunglasses could be seen protruding from his shirt pocket.
“Do you remember me, Horen-da?” said Kanai, joining his hands in greeting. “I’m Saar’s nephew.”
“Of course,” said Horen matter-of-factly. “You came here as a punishment in 1970. It was the year of the great Agunmukha cyclone — but you left before that, I think.”
“Yes,” said Kanai. “And how are your children? You had three then, I remember.”
“They have grown children of their own now,” said Horen. “Look, here’s one of them.” Horen beckoned to a lanky teenager who was dressed in jeans and a smart blue T-shirt. “His name is Nogen and he’s just out of school. He’s going to be on our crew.”
“Good.” Kanai turned to introduce Piya. “And this is the scientist who wants to hire the bhotbhoti: Shrimati Piyali Roy.”
Horen bobbed his head in greeting to Piya. “Come,” he said, pulling up his lungi. “My bhotbhoti’s waiting.”
Following him up the embankment, Piya and Kanai saw that he was pointing to a vessel anchored off the sandspit that served as Lusibari’s jetty. Painted in white lettering on its bow was the legend MV MEGHA.
At first sight there was little to recommend the vessel: it sat awkwardly in the water and its hull had the bruised and dented look of a tin toy. But Horen was proud of it and spoke of its merits at some length. The Megha had carried a great number of passengers, he said to Kanai, and none had ever had cause for complaint. He proceeded to recount many tales about the picnickers he had taken to Pakhiraloy and the bridegrooms and borjatris he had ferried to weddings. These stories were not hard to believe, for despite its general decrepitude the boat was clearly intended to cater to large, if huddled, numbers. The lower deck was a cavernous space crisscrossed with wooden benches and curtained with sheets of yellow tarpaulin; the galley and the engine room were located at opposite ends of this space. On top of this was a small upper deck, with a wheelhouse and two tiny cabins. Over the stern hung a tin-walled toilet. This was the head, and, being little more than a hole in the floor, it was reasonably clean.
“She’s not much to look at,” Kanai admitted, “but she might be just right for us. You and I could each have a cabin on the upper deck, and that would keep us away from the noise and fumes.”
“And what about Fokir?” said Piya.
“He’d be on the lower deck,” said Kanai, “along with Horen and the helper he’s bringing with him — his fifteen-year-old grandson, I believe.”
“Is that going to be the whole crew?” said Piya. “Just the two of them?”
“Yes,” said Kanai. “We’re not going to be crowded for space.”
Piya gave the Megha a doubtful look. “It isn’t the research ship of my dreams,” she said. “But I could live with it. Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t get how this old tub is going to follow the dolphins. I can’t see it going into all those shallow creeks.”
Kanai relayed Piya’s question to Horen and then translated the answer for her benefit: Fokir’s boat would be accompanying them on the journey; the Megha would tow it all the way, and on reaching their destination the bhotbhoti would stay at anchor while Piya and Fokir tracked the dolphins in the boat.
“Really?” This was what