[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-319684-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-319684-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","sea-of-poppies","Sea of Poppies","","Sea of Poppies opens with Deeti, a young woman in northern Bihar, whose ordinary winter day is interrupted by an extraordinary vision of a tall-masted ship on the distant ocean. The narrative follows her routines of household care, worship, and the daily journey with her wounded husband Hukam Singh as social boundaries and caste tensions shape their lives. 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Schooners—Fiction. 2. Voyages and travels—Fiction. 3. Sailors—Fiction. 4. Travelers—Fiction. 5. Social classes—India—Fiction. 6. Opium trade—History—Fiction. 7. India—Social conditions—19th century—Fiction. I. Title.  \nPR9499 .3.G536 S43 2008  \n823'; .914—dc22  \n2008030854  \nMap by Jeffrey L. Ward [www.fsgbooks.com](www.fsgbooks.com)  \n1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2  \nAll characters in this publication are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  \nTo Nayan  \nFor his fifteenth  \nPART I  \nLand  \nOne  \nThe vision of a tall-masted ship, at sail on the ocean, came to Deeti on an otherwise ordinary day, but she knew instantly that the apparition was a sign of destiny, for she had never seen such a vessel before, not even in a dream: how could she have, living as she did in northern Bihar, four hundred miles from the coast? Her village was so far inland that the sea seemed as distant as the netherworld: it was the chasm of darkness where the holy Ganga disappeared into the Kala-Pani, 'the Black Water'.  \nIt happened at the end of winter, in a year when the poppies were strangely slow to shed their petals: for mile after mile, from Benares onwards, the Ganga seemed to be flowing between twin glaciers, both its banks being blanketed by thick drifts of white-petalled flowers. It was as if the snows ofthe high Himalayas had descended on the plains toawait the arrival of Holi and its springtime profusion of colour.  \nThe village in which Deeti lived was on the outskirts of the town of Ghazipur, some fifty miles east of Benares. Like all her neighbours, Deeti was preoccupied with the lateness of her poppy crop: that day, she rose early and went through the motions of her daily routine, laying out a freshly washed dhoti and kameez for Hukam Singh, her husband, and preparing the rotis and achar he would eat at midday. Once his meal had been wrapped and packed, she broke off to pay a quick visit to her shrine room: later, after she'd bathed and changed, Deeti would do a proper puja, with flowers and offerings; now, being clothed still in her night-time sari, she merely stopped at the door, to join her hands in a brief genuflection.  \nSoon a squeaking wheel announced the arrival of the ox-cart that would take Hukam Singh to the factory where he worked, in Ghazipur, three miles away. Although not far, the distance was too great for Hukam Singh to cover on foot, for he had been wounded in  \nthe leg while serving as a sepoy in a British regiment. The disability was not so severe as to require crutches, however, and Hukam Singh was able to make his way to the cart without assistance. Deeti followed a step behind, carrying his food and water, handing the cloth-wrapped package to him after he had climbed in.  \nKalua, the driver of the ox-cart, was a giant of a man, but he made no move to help his passenger and was careful to keep his face hidden from him: he was of the leatherworkers' caste and Hukam Singh, as a high-caste Rajput, believed that the sight of his face would bode ill for the day ahead. Now, on climbing into the back of the cart, the former sepoy sat facing to the rear, with his bundle balanced on his lap, to prevent its coming into direct contact with any of the driver's belongings. Thus they would sit, driver and passenger, as the cart creaked along the road to Ghazipur – conversing amicably enough, but never exchanging glances.  \nDeeti, too, was careful to keep her face covered in the driver's presence: it was only when she went back inside,","cbCairok3an16rGv","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairok3an16rGv","pdf",1532330,399,"English","# Part I - Land\n## One - The vision of the ship","[{\"question\":\"Who is Deeti and what changes her ordinary day?\",\"answer\":\"Deeti is a young woman living inland near Ghazipur. Her day shifts when she instantly recognizes a tall-masted ship appearing on the ocean as a sign of destiny.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does Deeti’s husband Hukam Singh need transport to the factory?\",\"answer\":\"Hukam Singh is wounded in the leg after serving as a sepoy in a British regiment. The injury is not severe enough for crutches, but it makes walking to the factory impractical.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Deeti’s unusual grey-eyed appearance affect her community?\",\"answer\":\"Her light grey eyes make her stand out and intensify others’ fears and superstitions. Young people sometimes taunt her as if she were a witch, but her gaze also drives them to scatter.\"}]","Sea of Poppies | PDF",1789946160,614]