Unutterable Sufferings of Girmitiyas in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies

Abstract

The displacement of people across ages occurs due to various reasons, such as religion, betterment, education, marriage, love, war, money and so forth. But the worst of all is as indentured labourers. Amitav Ghosh, in his Sea of Poppies, presents a historical account of the plights of Girmitiyas. The novel draws the trajectory of Grimitiyas from their hometown to the longing for their homeland. In the course of their journey, Ghosh delineates the development and transformation of the self. Amitav Ghosh, in Sea of Poppies (2008) has represented the harrowing plight of the indentured labourers, their transformation, dislocation and longing for the homeland from the postcolonial perspective. The paper is an attempt to give voice to the unheard voices. It analyses the novel from the rubric of colonial and subaltern aspects. As diasporic communities are recognized worldwide, we know their success story, and the paper helps us to know the pain behind it.