<P> The novel is a work of fiction set in the summer of 1977 that draws on places and historical events in India . The Patel Family's discussions of the political situation refer to the Emergency period of the mid-1970s, when Indira Gandhi's administration ruled by decree, curtailed press freedoms, and imprisoned political opponents . Pondicherry is a former French colony in India . It does have an Indian Coffee House and Botanical Gardens . The Botanical Garden had a zoo in 1977 but did not have any animals bigger than a deer . Munnar, the destination for the Patel family's vacation, is a small but popular hill station in Kerala . Madurai, also referenced in the novel, is a popular tourist and pilgrimage site in Tamil Nadu . </P> <P>--Phoebe Kate Foster of PopMatters </P> <P> Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as just "Pi", is the narrator and protagonist of the novel . He was named after a swimming pool in Paris, despite the fact that neither his mother nor his father particularly liked swimming . The story is told as a narrative from the perspective of a middle - aged Pi, now married with his own family, and living in Canada . At the time of main events of the story, he is sixteen years old . He recounts the story of his life and his 227 - day journey on a lifeboat when his ship sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean during a voyage to North America . </P> <P> Richard Parker is a royal Bengal tiger who is stranded on the lifeboat with Pi when the ship sinks . Richard Parker lives on the lifeboat with Pi and is kept alive with the food and water Pi delivers . Richard Parker develops a relationship with Pi that allows them to coexist in their struggle . </P>

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