Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Jungle Nama’ to be a stage production soon

New Delhi: A few days back, when author Amitav Ghosh was doing an event for his book ‘Jangal Nama’ in Mestre, Italy, some of Ali Sethi’s songs were played. Later, everyone wanted to know where they could get them. “We are now actually developing a stage performance of ‘Jungle Nama’ with the help of the […]

New Delhi: A few days back, when author Amitav Ghosh was doing an event for his book ‘Jangal Nama’ in Mestre, Italy, some of Ali Sethi’s songs were played. Later, everyone wanted to know where they could get them. “We are now actually developing a stage performance of ‘Jungle Nama’ with the help of the University of Pennsylvania,” Ghosh said.

‘Jungle Nama’ (HarperCollins) is Amitav Ghosh’s verse adaptation of an episode from the legend of Bon Bibi, a tale popular in the villages of the Sundarbans, which also lies at the heart of the novel ‘The Hungry Tide’ (2004). It is the story of the avaricious rich merchant Dhona, the poor lad Dukhey, and his mother; it is also the story of Dokkhin Rai, a mighty spirit who appears to humans as a tiger, of Bon Bibi, the benign goddess of the forest, and her warrior brother, Shah Jongoli.

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The original print version of this legend, dating back to the 19th century, is composed in a Bengali verse meter known as dwipodi poyar. The book is a free adaptation of the legend, told entirely in a poyar-like metre of 24 syllable couplets that replicate the cadence of the original.

The first-ever book-in-verse by Amitav Ghosh, ‘Jungle Nama’ evokes the wonder of the Sundarbans through its poetry and is accompanied by artwork by the artist Salman Toor. Now, Audible has come up with an audio edition of the folktale performed by Ali Sethi.