Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity By Kathrine Boo
I will keep this review free of spoilers and give you a general idea of what I make of its contents.
Katherine Boo writes extraordinarily about realities of life in the shadows of concentrated wealth in emerging economies. Perhaps myriad groups of readers can relate to the description of an unforgiving border between the rich and poor in such countries. The book feels like a South Asian drama set in a particular province, wherein there is a multitude of stories, not all interwoven but each appealing in its own way. There is a large list of characters, mostly young delinquents living in a particular slum of Bombay. What constitutes unbearable tragedy for those of us more privileged is the modus operandi for residents of Annawadi. Losing one’s friends does not mean broken ties but lost lives, sometimes at a very young age. Psychological disorders are accepted widely with apathy and assimilated into the workings of this complicated machinery that runs the slum. The tales tell of crime, pain, cruelty and inequality that together form the social fabric of slum residents. Will some of them rise to the occasion and reach out successfully to their lofty dreams? Find out for yourself in this magnificent book that encapsulates this horrendous divide which we have become accustomed to. The story is largely from the perspective of slum dwellers, however due to the large number of characters, perspective is lost and one feels like an impartial spectator. Brilliant work of fiction (but is it really fiction?) and a breath of fresh air.
This book should resonate well not just with Indians but many of their neighbours from Pakistan to the Far East Asian and even Eastern European countries.
Written by HA
