Amitav Ghosh talks about the culture of audiobooks as his work, Jungle Nama, is set to turn into a stage production

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 shares.

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 Dhona, the avaricious rich merchant, Dukhey, and his mother; it is also the story of Dokkhin Rai, a mighty spirit who appears to humans as a tiger, Bon Bibi, the benign goddess of the forest, and her warrior brother, Shah Jongoli.

The original print version of this legend, dating back to the 19th century, is composed in a Bengali verse metre 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, a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, has come up with an audio edition of the folktale performed by Ali Sethi.

There is something about the Sunderbans that makes Ghosh visit them again and again. “What interests me the most is that these stories are frequently about non-humans as well as humans, as is the case with Jungle Nama,” says this Padma Shri honoree.

Sethi, Ghosh says, lives a very cerebral and thoughtful life, so he was able to completely enter into the spirit of Jungle Nama. “The songs he has composed for the audiobook are at once catchy and musically interesting,” he adds.

Speaking about the culture of audiobooks, he says, “I think that we will be hearing about books much more in the years to come. This has already become a major part of the book market, and I think this will continue.

The writer’s latest book, The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis was released in October.

The author, who has been writing on the subject of climate crisis in many of his works, and even pointed out in The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable that not enough contemporary novels were addressing climate change as a central issue of our time, feels that the principal reason for the lack of media coverage of the climate crisis around the world is the fact that mainstream media is largely controlled by big corporations and billionaires, who have a vested interest in playing down the seriousness of the crisis. “Of course, there are some honourable exceptions,” he adds.

—IANS