The time of the Tiger

 I have just managed to escape from a jungle in the east Thailand.. How did this happen? How did I end up there? This must be due to a book I bought while on a recent trip.

As I usually do in every trip, this time also, I visited a bookstore in the town, eager to find a book that is at the top of the booklist there. Noticing my desperation, the shop assistant offered a book. This was the “The Understory” written by a Thai writer named Saneh Sangsuk. He is a leading fiction writer in Thailand. He has also managed to win remarkable awards in Thai and Global literary circles. However, his writings are only now being published in English.

This book has been translated to English from Thai by a Mui Poopoksakul. Mui is a lawyer living in Berlin. She has translated several selected works of major contemporary Thai writers into English. This translation of hers, manages to convey the original emotions without being overpowering. Despite the British English accent, it is very easy and comfortable to read.

The book which is about 200 pages, quickly draws us in to the narration as soon as we start. But this is definitely not a fast read. The story opens up into multiple layers. And hence requires a slow read to help us savour the flavour.

The Context of the story is Thailand in the 1960s, when farmland slowly started emerging from the forest. It is also a period when people are changing from peasants to workers.  This is also the period when the Thai society was a jumbled mixture of hunter-gatherers, later agriculturalists, and those who were lost in the urbanization of the industrial revolution. The main protagonist of the story is Luang Paw Tien, a Buddhist monk living in the village of Praeknamdang, which lies along the forest in the east, where changes are slow to reach. He lives through the changes that transforms the village. That experience of living a lifetime through that change also transforms him into a storyteller. 

Initially, the narration eases us into the book with the pleasurable art of Storytelling. That way, it binds us closely to Tien. Using that intimacy the narration slowly absorbs us into Tien’s story. The writing, which initially captures the beauty of the forest, slowly drags us into the darker depths soundlessly & suddenly through an unseen stalking tiger.

As the times progresses, he slowly presents us with his life struggles, and through them also presents the impact on the society and landscape. Our gaze, which initially opens with a kind of wonder at the narrator Tien, makes us cry, laugh and later also tremble with him. He presents both the grandeur and terror of a forest.

Tigers, peacocks, and snakes play an important role in Thai culture. We see them a lot in their traditional dances. Saneh also uses them in his story in a similar manner.

Tien's early life, which starts off sweet at first, suddenly changes its course with the arrival of a tiger. After that, he continues to live as a motherless child along with his hunter gatherer father. as the story progresses he is forced into a final confrontation with a tiger. 

In this book, the tiger, Tien, and his father are symbolic of the time. His father is presented symbol of hunter gatherer society. His wife, who is interested in agriculture, is a symbol of the agrarian society that followed.  Tien’s condition is symbol of the mixed state of society at that time. The tiger seems to be symbol of the change that impacts all of them.

In the end the story is one that enchants, dazzles and haunts us.