She looked at the seed as if she had never seen one before, and suddenly she knew that it was not the planet above that governed her life: it was this minuscule orb--at once bountiful and all-devouring, merciful and destructive, sustaining and vengeful.
-- Deeti (chapter 20)

Importance: In this scene Deeti is holding a tiny poppy seed in between her fingers aboard the Ibis. She's pregnant and has just received a pouch of seeds, dubbed more valuable than treasure, from the midwife who passed away. The quote reveals the eco-critical perspective that undergirds the entire novel because Ghosh, through the character of Deeti, connects all events back to a single seed. The seed is connected to international trade and also represents new hopes and possibilities for the future. Back in India, the East India Company controls seeds of the profitable variety of poppy it forces farmers to grow for opium.

How was it that...
-- Paulette (chapter 20)