New Delhi, Feb. 14 -- In the opening essay of Wild Fictions, which looks at migration through an altogether original prism, Amitav Ghosh observes that illegal immigration is often not by the destitute, but usually by people who have the means to pay for airfares and agents.

"The Bengali migrants (from Bangladesh) I spoke with in Italy insisted, almost without exception, that environmental changes were only one of many factors that shaped their decision to leave. More easily identifiable factors .(included) the desire to emulate friends, neighbours and relatives who had already made the journey."

Ghosh quotes a report from National Public Radio, the US radio channel, which interviewed a Cameroonian immigrant to Madrid who confirmed that ...