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A Fine Balance is Rohinton Mistry’s second novel and a slap in the face of everyone who believes in the justice and equation of life.
The story is set in India in 1975 and covers a span of one year (that excludes the epilogue which takes place in 1984), a year that is overshadowed by the State of Emergency declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Although it is never actually said where exactly in India the story takes place, anyone a bit familiar with the particulars of India’s big cities will soon find out that the “city by the sea” is Mumbai. The same applies for Indira Gandhi who is never referred to by name, but is simply called “The Prime Minister”.
The narrative centers around its four main characters Dina Dalal, Maneck Kohlah, Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash who get together in Dina’s flat. Dina is a Parsi widow in her early 40’s who is reluctant to give up her fragile independence to do what is expected of her, namely move into her bullying brother’s house to play the role of a submissive servant or get married to someone he chooses. Instead Dina tries hard to overcome financial hardship and starts to set up a small business in her flat. She hires two tailors (Ishvar and his nephew Om) and takes on a fellow Parsi as a boarding guest (Maneck) to be able to pay the rent and everyday’s expenses.
What follows is the description of each of these disparate characters and their respective backgrounds. We learn that Dina originates from a traditionally prosperous family, but has to suffer her brother’s abusive dominance ever since her parents died. Despite her brother’s rigidity Dina tries to live her own life and chooses her own husband who unfortunately dies after only three years of marriage, once again leaving the beautiful woman to struggle for a dignified life.
Maneck Kohlah has been sent to Mumbai to study after a sheltered childhood in the Himalayan hills where his parents have a little shop that allows them to lead a largely carefree life. After his bad experiences of racism and brutality in the student hostel his parents arrange for an alternative accommodation with Dina.
Ishvar and Om belong to the leather curing Chamar caste that is considered untouchable. In their rural surroundings the family has suffered the most disturbing treatment from the upper castes which is really why Ishvar and his brother (Om’s father) were apprenticed as tailors in an attempt to break away from the constrictive rules of the caste system. Om also learns the tailoring business, and after a series of events he and his uncle move to Mumbai to find work and a better life there.
All of the characters are repeatedly exposed to various forms of mental and/or physical abuse and the arbitrariness of the political situation the Emergency evokes. After initial reservations the four very different people get used to each other and even carefully build friendships in the simple two-room flat that gives shelter to all of them. There are those periods of peace and joy when the quartet seems like a real family that enjoys the security of a home. But most of the time the story is about struggle. Dina struggles hiding her illegal business from the rent collector and keeping the flat that is the basis for her fragile independence. Maneck struggles getting his college degree and getting along in the new city environment without the familiar backup of his loving parents. The tailors struggle for a place of their own and a regular life - Ishvar is even very intent on finding a wife for his nephew - that protects them from the ever present sword of Damocles, a life on the pavement.
The story holds a number of colorful and illustrious minor characters, most of whom are found on the streets and in the slums of Mumbai. Rohinton Mistry paints a picture of poor urban life that is worlds away from the glittering world of the rich and famous of the metropolis, and yet exists in the very midst of it. It is here in the whirl of absolute misery and poverty that the worst cases of human deceit and lies can be found as well as the most touching signs of friendship and humanity in their purest form.
***SPOILER ***
This is a sad book and it doesn’t come with a happy ending. Over the course of the events there are many signs of hope, joy and even comedy, but Mistry does not nurture any illusions. The arbitrariness of the powerful affects them all, and it is painfully shown that the poor, handicapped and powerless have no advocate in an unjust society. Dina finally loses her flat and is forced to move in with her brother and “make herself useful in the household”. The tailors are hit worst, both have to suffer a sterilization camp and Om even gets a full castration. As an effect Ishvar has to have his legs amputated and Om’s body starts swelling because of the hormone changes. The two tailors end up on the streets living as beggars. Maneck who is devastated by the ruin of his friends finally ends his life by stepping in front of a speeding train.
***END SPOILER***
This is probably the most heartbraking and devastating book I have read in years, and the characters Mistry develops so very intelligently cannot be forgotten easily. The author expects his reader to have some background information about the political situation of the 70’s and the Prime Minister’s doings in particular. It is highly critical of Indira Gandhi and offers the reader a coherent view on the atmosphere of this time and on a government gone crazy. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the political history of India and the structural deficiencies that made and still make life such a burden for so many. It is a good read, very well written and authentic.
