From what one has read of his novels, one expects Amitav Ghosh to be a polite, reserved writer, most comfortable doing his research and frowning over notes at his desk—the kind who will tolerate scribes patiently, heave a sigh of relief when they’re gone, and whose daily parlance includes words like “Anglophone”, “subaltern”, “commodification” and “cultural appropriation’’.One certainly does not expect the white-haired, kurta-c