George Wittet's Gateway of India has a grey hue to it. After all, it's pouring outside. The monsoon is here, we're told. Call it timing or otherwise; we couldn't help but imagine similar brushstrokes paint a vivid picture from 1839-40, in the torrential waters around south China — the area where Amitav Ghosh's Flood of Fire ends in fine form.


Amitav Ghosh was in the city to launch the last book of his trilogy titled Flood of Fire. Pics/Bipin Kokate 

"Yes, River of Smoke was launched around this time, too," smiles Ghosh when we remind him of the monsoon connect. Our introductions revisited, we are ready to set sail. Pun intended. "I love being on water," when we prod early on, about why a ship forms such an integral part to the trilogy. "It's such a wonderful thing to write about. It provides you with classical elements like time, place and action. So much can happen in a concentration of space.