THE FOREST BENEATH THE MOUNTAINS

<p>Description</p><p>Shaken by the news of his mother's death a man leaves his job in Delhi and</p><p>returns to Assam. Twenty-five years ago his father a forest officer here was</p><p>found shot dead in his jeep. With the passing of his mother the man learns new</p><p>and startling details of his father's life and trying to reclaim an entire life suddenly</p><p>made unfamiliar he starts digging into events from far back in time visiting</p><p>places where his father had served in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas.</p><p>But the forests he had once roamed as a boy with his father and his band of</p><p>hard drinking rugged companions have long disappeared. Settlers have</p><p>moved in and insurgents and security forces now prowl the area. Wandering</p><p>what was once the Chariduar reserve forest the man meets a kaleidoscopic</p><p>cast of characters-people trying to find anchor in an uncertain world-</p><p>some of whom are remnants of a rapidly disappearing past and some from the</p><p>region's turbulent present: foresters elephant catchers army contractors</p><p>insurgents police commandos drifters and double-dealers. As he gets closer</p><p>to the truth about his father he finds himself drawn into a local conflict a</p><p>world of shifting realities from which he will struggle to disentangle himself.</p><p>Wide unhurried and immersive The Forest Beneath the Mountains is a</p><p>compelling blend of memory family stories ecology and history. It is a</p><p>story of people and places at the margins of the Indian republic and of the</p><p>inevitable taming of wilderness by man.</p><p><br></p>