Life of Pi

Life of Pi by Yann Martel, is no wonder a book which is well known among readers worldwide for a decade or so. The book being the winner of Man Booker Prize in Fiction on 2002 wasn't really the reason for it to grab my attention but the number of status updates in my friends' facebook profiles recently. As the book lover in me always preferred to read the book instead of watching the movie. Without wasting much time I got hold of the book and started reading.

The story as the title conveys is indeed about the life of Piscine Molitor Patel, an Indian boy who was born and brought up in Pondicherry, a small union territory in South India. His name would sound rather weird to most of us just like many others who were around him during those days without the slightest interest in swimming to understand that he was named after a famous pool in France. Anyhow it was quite amusing how this smart kid overcame the usual taunting of his friends because of the name by introducing him as "Pi" other than sulking over the situation. Pi's father Mr. Santhosh Patel was the owner of the Pondicherry Zoo and I believe that this fact gave a vibrant start to the story of his life. In 1977 Patel family decides to sail to Canada. Unfortunately "Tsimtsum" the ship they were sailing drowns in the Pacific Ocean on 2nd July 1977 leaving then 16 year old Pi on a lifeboat as the only survivor. The real adventure begins only then as he was to share his life boat with 4 other refugees of the shipwreck who are none other than an injured zebra, a hyena, a female orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.

The story is divided into three parts. First the childhood of the protagonist, second the life of Pi in the lifeboat and third a conversation of Pi with two Japanese officials who came to meet him after he landed in Mexico. The narration was mainly done as the flashbacks of Pi, and there were sections in the words of “Visiting Author” at the Pi household many years after the epic adventure, blending the story with alternating point of views.

Stories of castaways’ might be common, but this story has a specialty. The author assures the reader beforehand that it has a happy ending, however, the excitement, curiosity and the uncertainty of reaching a land would never leave the hearts of the readers making them hang on till the very end. The book is a natural page turnover! Unlike many other stories the flashbacks were hardly dated or written in a proper order of events. The author has understood the mindset of the majority, not to bore them with a stack of diary entries but offering a thrilling adventure without killing their interest to read. The very jumbling of incidents made the story more colourful and saved it from being monotonous. Despite the major part of the story being set amidst an Ocean where you could see nothing else other than water, every little incident of survival, the climate and the emotions were described in detail, each and every paragraph was enriched with fresh content. I even hardly noticed the lack of conversations.

The comments and the behavior of the Japanese officials were funny and hilarious, and I consider the third section of the story as an excellent climax because the light humor gives a soothing effect to the senses of the reader after 227 days of a stressful journey.

I highly recommend this book to every reader. It’s a must read and truly a precious piece of writing which every book lover should cherish. As Mr. Adirubasamy says “it’s a story that will make you believe in God”

Ending the note with a context from the book.

“I saw my suffering for what it was, finite and insignificant, and I was still. My suffering did not fit anywhere, I realized. And I could accept this. It was alright. NO! NO! NO! My suffering does matter. I want to live! I can’t help but mix my life with that of the universe. Life is a peephole, a single tiny entry to the vastness-how can I not dwell in this brief, cramped view I have of things? This peephole is all I’ve got!”