Reading this book was like watching certain episodes from Tom Hanks’ Cast Away. Except that there’s a clever twist of representation from each character, especially of Piscine Molitor Patel (who’s nicknamed “Pi”; that of 3.14159 value in our Physics class) who is the sole human survivor in a cargo ship that sunk in the blue Pacific (Manila was mentioned on page 131*). It’s an uplifting and amusing story of how a 16-year old survived on the same boat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan and 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.
Given that the story is really inventive, hence bagging the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, one of my favorite chapters was pre-ship tragedy when he was exploring and experiencing test of faith. Although it’s not the actual case, but I felt the particular chapter was talking to me. As you probably know, I’m based in UAE wherein several religions are observed by different people (it’s a fact everywhere). But in this part of the world, most of the people are Christians/Catholics, Muslims and Hindu. I was nodding and non-maliciously smiling as I read this part:
Note: Without his parents and religious leaders knowledge, Pi embraces three religions and on that fateful day they coincidentally met in Salai seaside esplanade. That his secret exploded like a bomb.
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