The Hungry Tide: Part 1: Garjontola Summary & Analysis

For the final run of the depth soundings, Fokir's boat enters the shallows near the shore. Piya puts down her binoculars and studies the shore. She notices bits of brick and points to them. Fokir answers "Garjontola." Finally, he steers the boat to shore and jumps into the mud. He lifts Tutul out and motions for Piya to follow, pointing into the forest. She agrees to follow and promptly starts to fall upon hitting the mud, as it's deeper than she expected. Fokir catches her and Piya feels embarrassed by their closeness, but feels better seeing Tutul laugh at her.

Fokir leads Piya out of the mud to the forest, cutting through the brush with a machete. He and Tutul approach a small alter with unfamiliar figures on it, though she notices a tiger. She watches Fokir perform a ceremony and notices a word that sounds like "Allah," which perplexes her. She has no idea what she's seen, but follows Fokir and Tutul back to the boat. She approaches Fokir when he waves her over to point to a paw print in the mud. Piya knows it's from a tiger, but thinks that Fokir wouldn't be so nonchalant if there were a tiger around. Piya's reverie is broken when she hears the Orcaella return with the tide.