Among a crowd of college girls on Kolkata’s Park Street she might not have looked entirely out of place, but here, against the sooty backdrop of the commuter station at Dhakuria, the neatly composed androgyny of her appearance seemed out of place, almost exotic.”
-- Kanai (Part One paragraph The Tide Country)

Importance: This quote appears in the first chapter of the novel and is a description of Piya from Kanai’s perspective. As it is also the reader’s initial introduction to her character, they are being persuaded to view Piya as Kanai does - as an outsider, untraditional, but intriguing.

On the banks of every great river you’ll find a monument to excess.”
-- Nirmal (Part One paragraph Canning)

Importance: Rivers are an important symbol within the novel and, in this quote, Kanai is remembering what Nirmal said to him in Canning in 1970. Port Canning was built by Lord Canning on the banks of the Matla River, in spite of warnings by...