Summary

Signs: The following morning Piya asks Kanai if he can monitor the dolphins from Fokir’s boat. Alone on the water, Kanai asks Fokir if he remembers Nirmal or Kusum and Fokir replies that he sees his mother’s face everywhere. Heading back to the Megha, Fokir spots tiger tracks on Garjontola shore, and suggests taking a closer look. As Kanai steps onto the mud a rope wraps itself around his ankle and he falls. When he sees Fokir smiling he reacts angrily, shouting obscenities at him and when Fokir tries to help him, he calls him a “son of a pig” (326). Fokir returns to the boat and rows away. Kanai retreats backward from the water and, reaching a clearing in the center of the mangroves, sees a tiger watching him. He crawls back to...