'A Fine Balance' is set in India of the 1970's and is the story of two low caste tailors : unmarried Ishwar and his nephew Om who come to a large Indian city by the sea (Bombay goes unnamed) to make a life for themselves after going through trauma and caste violence in their villages. They find employment with a spirited Parsi widow Dina Dalal who is desperate to maintain her independence inspite of having little education and being widowed early. To augment her meagre income, Dina takes in a friend's collegiate son Maneck Kolah as paying guest in her small rented flat. The only child of his parents, Maneck is unused to city life having spent his life in the hills. These are the four main protagonists around whom the book revolves. The narrative sweeps across generations but the core story is spread over a year or so which also happens to be the time when Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in India. The book details how these people's lives intermingle and their collective journey through periods of stress, happiness, trauma and the strong bond which develops only to be tested vigorously when Emergency is imposed.
Mistry is a master story teller and I thoroughly enjoy his writing style. As a chronicler of Bombay life and Parsi living, he is par excellence. The easy flow of his pen gives clues to Mistry's intellect and imagination. The book has its endearing moments and stands out for spinning beautiful webs of human relationships. The book offers keen insights into the Emergency and its excesses but overall is more an account of poverty across urban and rural India. A fair number of stigmas associated with and atrocities committed on 'untouchable' masses described in the book are decisively true. Its the generous doses of exaggeration and stereotyping which don't amuse the Indian reader who is more aware of ground realities than the Canada emigrated Mistry. Considering the book is written in the mid 90's and is hailed as a work of hard hitting realism, the reader is wont to ask the source of this realism : how did Mistry get all these details about village life (Mistry is a Bombay boy), how did he get information on Emergency (Mistry has been living in Canada for the past 35 years) and so on. One cannot help but think of all the themes he could have written about, this particular one of poor untouchables in the Emergency period is an ill suited one given Mistry's background. He is purporting to write facts against a real background with fictional characters. And whilst some characters are well developed, others exist on the periphery without purpose, without motive and with the most despondent names like Worm, Beggarmaster, Dukhi (sad)! Mistry's seemingly own prejudices also creep into the story. Keep all the uncouth, depressed, negative characters on one side and you are left with all the Parsi characters who are beyond reproach - ranging from the well meaning, generous, enterprising Dina Dalal to the sophisticated, refined, progressive thinking Maneck to his forward looking, cosmopolitan family. I have nothing against Parsis ; if anything, I have the highest regard for this microcosm of a community which has given more to Indian society than received from it. However, Mistry's prejudiced characterizations did strike a sour note. Mistry's attention to detail is inspiring but seems overdone in a few instances like having a full chapter devoted to stray kittens drinking milk from a saucer !
A Fine Balance is part of Oprah's Book Club and that will help you decide if you should read the book or not. Like the club's founder Oprah Winfrey, if you are into poverty pornography, then the book is a must-read for you. If your reading profile is similar to mine : like good prose and lucid writing style with an ability to distinguish between fact and fiction, the book will interest you. If you are an inquisitive soul who's never been to India and wants a window into the India of your imagination where only deprived souls live despicable lives hoping for 'The Slumdog Millionaire' moment to happen, then this book (like the afore mentioned movie) is your destination. My only advice in this case is go to India soon after to do a self-check.
Mistry is a master story teller and I thoroughly enjoy his writing style. As a chronicler of Bombay life and Parsi living, he is par excellence. The easy flow of his pen gives clues to Mistry's intellect and imagination. The book has its endearing moments and stands out for spinning beautiful webs of human relationships. The book offers keen insights into the Emergency and its excesses but overall is more an account of poverty across urban and rural India. A fair number of stigmas associated with and atrocities committed on 'untouchable' masses described in the book are decisively true. Its the generous doses of exaggeration and stereotyping which don't amuse the Indian reader who is more aware of ground realities than the Canada emigrated Mistry. Considering the book is written in the mid 90's and is hailed as a work of hard hitting realism, the reader is wont to ask the source of this realism : how did Mistry get all these details about village life (Mistry is a Bombay boy), how did he get information on Emergency (Mistry has been living in Canada for the past 35 years) and so on. One cannot help but think of all the themes he could have written about, this particular one of poor untouchables in the Emergency period is an ill suited one given Mistry's background. He is purporting to write facts against a real background with fictional characters. And whilst some characters are well developed, others exist on the periphery without purpose, without motive and with the most despondent names like Worm, Beggarmaster, Dukhi (sad)! Mistry's seemingly own prejudices also creep into the story. Keep all the uncouth, depressed, negative characters on one side and you are left with all the Parsi characters who are beyond reproach - ranging from the well meaning, generous, enterprising Dina Dalal to the sophisticated, refined, progressive thinking Maneck to his forward looking, cosmopolitan family. I have nothing against Parsis ; if anything, I have the highest regard for this microcosm of a community which has given more to Indian society than received from it. However, Mistry's prejudiced characterizations did strike a sour note. Mistry's attention to detail is inspiring but seems overdone in a few instances like having a full chapter devoted to stray kittens drinking milk from a saucer !
The most favourable aspect of Indian poverty seems to be that all those who write books about it are feted with awards, large royalties and critical acclaim from a western media which likes to believe that real India is a deprived and hungry country where the poor and low caste masses are beaten, castrated, pissed upon, made to eat faeces and generally live a life which will make a street dog's life seem lustworthy.
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