In A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, tries to define the fine balance between hope and despair as the four strangers share their stories with each other. Innate humanitarian values begin to cloud the divides of caste, class, religion.
Review
I came across A Fine Balance while searching about books set in the era of ‘Emergency’ in India when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. The novel shines light on mushrooming callous government officials , employment programmes that benefit higher authorities rather than down-trodden masses , violence of rights of lower caste, all ensuing from a government struggling to prevent its downfall while being scarred by corruption.
Mrs. Dina Dalal, a Parsi widow in her early 40’s, Maneck Kohlah, her paying boarder who she was forced to take in due to financial needs, and two Hindu tailors, Ishvar and Omprakash Darji, whom she hires to sew dresses for an export company are the four main characters about whom pivots the main storyline. All of them are fleeing from something – Dina from accepting charity from her brother’s patriarchial household and forced remarriage, Maneck, is studying for a diploma to survive in a new world while his village in the mountains undergoes development (or destruction) by road construction and electrification projects leading to deforestation and the tailors, Ishvar and Om from caste, communal and institutional violence of Indira Gandhi’s emergency rule. As Dina struggles to break free from the norms society has set for aging, single women, her life gets entwined in the stories of the other three.
Another prominent character is the Beggar Master, who supervises the beggars in the city. He cares for the same people who he mutilates inorder to earn money for him. And surprisingly, they all love him. I was shocked beyond words in the descriptions where he keeps a notebook with future plans on expanding his business with new and innovative mutilations that would earn more sympathy and hence monetary benefits. He labels his actions as art. The four main characters of the novel find nothing odd about the Beggar Master’s art and this seems to conflict with their assigned character arcs.
There are certain characters that I couldn’t get acquainted with because their entry and exit seemed so abrupt that they are almost unbelievable. One such character is the proof reader who makes a brief acquaintance with Dina and Maneck on separate occasions and yet seems to remember every detail of his conversations even after many years. I found Maneck’s return to the unnamed city after years to be wobbly as well as lacking the fine writing in the earlier part of the novel.
I wouldn’t say it is the ‘one’ book that gives a reality check on the situation in India, especially during lesser fortunate times, but I would still recommend A Fine Balance for the ambitious subject it has tackled and nearly succeeded. Rohinton Mistry makes us think about kindness in inhumane scenarios.
Title : A Fine Balance
Author : Rohinton Mistry
Published by : Faber
Published : 2006
Language : English
Pages : 624
Rating : 3.5/5
I found this to be a profoundly depressing book. Liked it, but also intimidating and unsettling, as it makes clear my sheltered and fortunate life.
True, the book makes you think alot. As well as makes you gracious for the fortunate life that we lead.
I shuddered when I read about Beggar Master, although I have heard a lot of stories about it, Resh. I still want to try reading this book sometime. I have got Mistry’s ‘Such A Long Time’ in my stash. Maybe, I will try this one after I meet ‘Such A…’
He was the most shocking character, partly because of how well Mistry puts it and partly because we know such stories are true. Will be looking forward to reading your review after you are done with ‘Such a long time’.
Our entire world is in a – very – fine balance indeed. Not just India.
And every other day the balance is tilted the… sad, tragic way.
I’ll make a note of that book. Thank you for the review. And have a fine, balanced week.
🙂
Brian
That is true Brian. Every balance hangs by a thread. Hope you have a lovely week too.
I would love to read more books about India. Thanks for this review. It sounds like an important and thought-provoking read.
It is a good book Nicole. Except for some minor hiccups and abrupt end, the book paints a very realistic picture of how cruel the government can be for its survival. And how it takes advantage of the divides among the minds of the people to inflict more harm to the residents.
I find books like these both interesting and heartbreaking to read. It’s a style a lot of Filipino authors use as well, telling a real story of fictional people during a difficult period of history. You learn a lot, and yet you feel grieved for your countrymen. Did you find you felt the same?
That is right. I remember you talking about Filipino authors in one post of yours. Such books are very realistic and yet very depressing.
This looks like an interesting read. I can only imagine the difficulty for any author to tackle the injustices that have taken place in India. I appreciate your review of this! I’m new to book blogging and have been loving meeting fellow book lovers 🙂
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Thanks Jennifer. And thank you for visiting. If you ever read this book I would be interested to know your thoughts.
It sounds well worth a read. By the way, your photos are fantastic 🙂
Thanks Becky. The author has tackled such ambitious topics very well
Hmmmm, this does sound interesting. And haha, I was about to say the photos were great and caught my eye, and I see someone beat me to it!
That is so sweet. Thank you!
I read this one is high school so I have somewhat hazy memories of it, but I remember finding it profoundly depressing. But at the same time I felt like I was learning to be more aware of how different life might be for someone else in a different place. But I can understand your comment about the minor characters, which I wonder if this isn’t a symptom of writing of book of this size?
Perhaps you are right. With a book of this size, the minor characters might have been overlooked causing the hiccups in the writing.