First published in 2012,Behind the Beautiful Forevers is an
outstanding non-fiction book about contemporary India .Though non-fiction , it reads like a thrilling novel. Its
254 pages reveal , in an
authentic way ,about society ,
government and political system in a
slum in Mumbai. Katherine Boo spent more than three years
in India( November 2007—March 2011) , studying a slum named Annawadi from inside . As the sub title says, it is a book about life , death and hope in a Mumbai under city. I agree with Boo
that there is a shortage of India- based
non-fiction . This book has certainly filled that gap
somewhat.
The book is about
frustration , poverty , jealousy , false complaints, corruption in the
Indian social system , police and government. Annawadi is
about 200 yards off the Sahar Airport Road, an encroachment on the land of airport . Beautiful Forevers
are the sunshine yellow ads for the
ceramic tiles, that are painted on the wall , behind which Annawadi slum
exists.
Corruption
at cutting edge level is very high. Any
certificate about birth or caste or other identity indicators can be purchased with bribe.”Abdul was 17 years
old if he paid two thousand rupees , and twenty years old if he did not”. The
book reveals how police
investigations result one way or the
other depending on whether bribery is paid or not , how the trial drags on and on , how Sarva Shisha
Abhiyan funds are diverted by a nexus
between government officials and NGO’s, how there is a disenfranchisement of
migrants and hijras. The book
seems to say that poverty
makes criminals of everyone in
Mumbai. The law is enforced merely as a
means to extort money. Police detainees
are obliged to forsake their
savings to have a false criminal charge
dropped. Boo exaggerates at times: “ The
Indian criminal justice system was a
market like garbage .Innocence and guilt
could be bought and sold like a
kilo of polyurethane bag” .
The book also
indicates that poor people in slums in India just want to get ahead of other people around them. It is a major reason why India does not erupt in well organized rebellion from the
bottom . “ What appears to be indifference to other people’s suffering has a
great deal to do with conditions that
can sabotage innate capacities for moral action. . . . In slums , it is
blisteringly hard too be good. The astonishment is that some people are good” .
Boo keeps herself entirely out of the
narrative until the last chapter. Though not well versed in Indian languages ,
and taking the help of translators throughout , Boo has been able to
enter and express the thoughts and emotions of the slum- dwellers quite intimately and accurately.
I recommend you
to read this short, classic non-fiction
book about contemporary India.
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