"It was a story that would make you believe in God" says the author Yann Martel in the beginning of the book. Though there are may be arguments about this, a consensus can be easily reached about the fact that the book is a treat to savor.
Piscine Molitar Patel, is a young man in Pondicherry, a tiny area in southern India which was once part of French India. The first part of the novel tells of Pi's childhood as the son of the zookeeper in Pondicherry. Growing up in the zoo, Pi learns a lot about animals. He educates us in the ways of animals, both penned and wild, and in how to keep them content and controlled. Infact, these lessons turn out to be his saviour in the later part. He is especially interested in Religions and infact does not confine himself to one religion as Love of God is his belief. Pi does not want his parents to know about this and it is witty when he says "They didn't know that I was a practicing Hindu, Christian and Muslim. Teenagers always hide a few things from their parents, isn't that so? All sixteen-year- olds have secrets, don't they?".
Soon thereafter, Pi, his brother Ravi and his parents decide to emigrate to Canada along with the animals in their Zoo. Unfortunately the ship sinks and Pi finds himself in a boat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a huge Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. As the animails fight for survival in the boat, eventually only Pi and Richard Parker are left in the boat. Though Pi fears that Richard Parker might come and attack him anytime, he decides his only hope is to try to show him who is the alpha male in their particular highly restrictive jungle. He succeeds in it with the help of a whistle and makes sure that whenever he blows the whistle, Richard Parker listens to him as instructed (though after many initial failures). Pi also makes sure that he has defined his boundary within the boat very clearly so that Richard does not intrude in his area! Pi is forced to become a non-vegetarian, starved of food for many days and almost becoming blind in the end!! But after all these struggles, he still maintains his belief in life and never lets his faith down.....Though the readers guess it correctly that Pi Patel survives all these in the end, the story still keeps you engrossed till the very end!
Probably here is where he teaches a beautiful lesson that life is infact a struggle. Though there may be obstacles in the form of Richard Parker, one must never lose faith upon oneself to overcome the difficulties.
