The Emergency

     For those of you who have been reading along with me, A Fine Balance, you might be a little uncertain about what all the fuss about the government is about, and this so called Emergency. Well I've decided to let you guys in on what the Emergency really was, and what kind of important events occurred in this nearly 2 year period.

     The Indian Emergency took placed from June 1975 to March 1977, a 21-month period in which Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency, effectively giving her the power to rule by decree. The Emergency was so crucial and unavoidable for the people of India, because it suspended all elections and civil liberties, therefore Prime Minister Indira Gandhi could not be overthrown in the time of the Emergency. This, along with all the wicked events that occurred in those 2 years, made the Emergency one of the most controversial times in the history of Independent India.

     Opponents had long made allegations that the Congress party, lead by Indira Gandhi herself, had performed electoral fraud to win the 1971 elections. A socialist named Jayaprakash Narayan was able to direct popular action against the Central Government. Narayan and his supporters, who were increasing in numbers by the day, sought to unify students, peasants, and labour organizations in what he called The Total Revolution to nonviolently transform Indian Society, and overthrow Indira Gandhi. Indira's Congress Party was eventually defeated in Gujurat (my family's home state!) by a coalition of parties calling themselves the Janata Party (People's Party), and even faced an all-party, no confidence motion in Parliament.

     On June 12, 1975, Indira Gandhi was found guilty in the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign. Her election was declared null and void by the Allahabad High Court, and she was stripped of her seat in the Lok Sabha (Parliament?). However, most of the smaller, apparent mistakes of Indira were dropped by the judge and she was simply found guilty for misuse of government machinery. This decision of the judge infuriated some people, and strikes in labour and trade unions, student unions, and government unions swept across the country, at an effort to appeal for a judgement against Indira Gandhi for her crimes. These persistent efforts finally worked as Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha (Judge of the High Court), finally passed judgement against Indira Gandhi. The ruling later became the primary reason for the imposition of emergency called by Indira Gandhi. It also encouraged greater belief in the judiciary and democracy in India. In her own words, Indira had brought democracy in India "to a grinding halt," and she advised the continuation of the Emergency over every six-month period until her decision to hold elections in 1977.

    
     Well guys and girls, now you know what Rohinton is talking about when he refers to the Emergency. I hope this cleared up a few questions or doubts in your mind, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the book.

Plot Summary

     Hey everyone, how's everyone doing? I would just like to inform you that I am about 30-40 pages from finishing the novel A Fine Balance; therefore I believe I can write about what I thought the plot was. So here is the plot summary:

     A Fine Balance is a story that takes place after the Independence of India in 1947. Over time, the story progresses into the time of the Emergency-called by Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi- till near the end of the Emergency. One thing to note right away is that none of the characters ever address Indira Gandhi by her name, instead they simply refer to her as "the Prime Minister," who knows why, perhaps just a sign of respect. The main characters, Dina Dalal, Maneck Kohlah, Ishvar and Om Darji, are all lead to each other due to economic forces that at the time; are drastically changing India.

     Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash Darji (commonly referred to as Om Darji), were part of the Chamaar (from what I know, Chamaar means skin) caste, along with the rest of their family. The Chamaar caste traditionally cured leather and in their high times were considered untouchable. However over time, the Darji family realized that being in the caste system seems to put them in debt with the higher classes of the village, and also putting them in a powerless state as well. Therefore, in a risky attempt to break away from the caste system, Ishvar's father (Dukhi Darji; Dukhi meaning emotionally hurt), decides to apprentice his two sons Ishvar and Narayan to a Muslim tailor in a nearby village. Soon after, they became trained tailors, and were ready to work. As a result of their newly acquired skills (also passed down to Om), Ishvar and Om move to Mumbai to find work, because soon after becoming tailors, the Muslim's tailor shop became unavailable due to a "pre-made clothing shop" had opened.

     Maneck Kohlah, was from a small mountain village in norther India, who moves to the city to acquire a college certificate "as a back-up" in case his father's soft drink business (Kohlah's Cola) is no longer able to compete after the building of a highway near their village.

     Dina Dalal, was from a traditionally wealthy family. Over the years she maintains tenuous independence from her brother who she dislikes with a passion, by living in the flat of her recently deceased husband, Rustom Dalal (a chemist). Dina distances herself from all the political occurrences and keeps herself in line with her tailoring. In fact, she does quite well for herself, as she learns how to sew from her mother-in-law, and soon begins to make money for herself by doing little sewing jobs for her neighbours. Dina once says to Ishvar that she distances herself from the political ferment  of the period:
"Government problems and games played by people in power," she tells Ishvar. "It doesn't affect ordinary people like us" (Mistry, 86)
However by reading 90% of the novel, I've found out that in the end, it does after them, drastically.

     Now I don't want to completely ruin the book for you readers, and therefore I'm not going to post anything of the rest of the book. Upcoming blogs are going to be about the Darji's, and "The City by the Sea - Part 2."
Thanks again to all my followers, I'll keep you posted.

Maneck Kohlah

     Maneck Kohlah is a young lad born to a pair of very loving parents, in the mountainous state of India. His father, Mr. Kohlah owned a general store that had been a part of the family for as long as he could remember. Due to some government frauding and caste discrimination, the Kohlah's had their farm land cut in half. This forced them to rely heavily on their general store for income. Their store sold common household necessities and manufactured the locally popular soda; the Kohlah Cola. A majority of Maneck's youth was spent going to school (in which he became successful), helping at the family store, and going on pleasant walks with his father. Due to the the dwindling income and a slight change of heart/attitude of Mr. Kohlah, Maneck was sent to boarding school when he was came into grade 4. Maneck never liked the fact that his parents sent him to boarding school, because he really loved his life in his village, especially helping his father at his store. Due to this apparent stunt, Maneck's relationship with his parents begins to deteriorate; only because he feels betrayed from being separated from his parents, BY his parents. One time when Maneck comes home fr a vacation break from school, he is left with the shop for 2 days. Much to his delight, he decides to change some things around, to perhaps make the shop look better. Unfortunately, this stunt wasn't accepted by his father, as his father scolded him for making the shop look different than the one he left him in charge of. Maneck loses much respect for his father and begins to separate himself from his family, on purpose this time. It is obvious, Maneck's parents only want the best for him; so much that they are even willing to send him away if that is what it takes to educate him further. Much to Maneck's dismay again, they send him to a college and pick his major, "Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning," for him.

     Maneck attends the college that was chosen for him, staying at the student hostel on campus. The night he first arrived at his hostel, he feels exhausted so he decides to settle in on the bed provided in his room. In the middle of the night, he feels something strange quickly crawling up his leg, and much to his surprise (and disgust), he discovers an infestation of cockroaches. Clearly disgusted, he does what anyone would do almost automatically, he started to stomp on the cockroaches. The student neighbouring Maneck hears and comes over with pesticide spray (makes Maneck's job a little easier haha). This neighbour actually becomes good friends with Maneck, and his name was Avinash, the student president of the school. Avinash teaches Maneck chess and they often play together when they have nothing else to do (almost all the time).

     As anyone could tell, the hostel's living conditions were quite poor and the food was worse, in fact it was almost inedible. This problem was confiscated quickly to Maneck's delight, when a vegetarian student found meat in his soup. The students were disgusted and decide to nearly destroy the cafeteria workers. Luckily, the student president was there, Avinash, as he inspired the students and leads them in an uprising against the Institution for better conditions. Avinash becomes involved in political events, something Maneck doesn't care for, and their friendship, like most things in Maneck's life, deteriorates as it fails to become a priority in Avinash's life. The two apparent 'friends' saw each other quite infrequently, proving to Maneck again, he had no one.

     When the Emergency is declared in India, political activists had to go into hiding in order to be safe, even students like Avinash need to stay low and get to safety. Maneck, no longer having friends in the hostel, attempts to have his parents accept him back home, but instead his mother arranges a different living sutation for him, and he moves in with Dina Dalal. Maneck still has Avinash's chess set, because he never got the chance to return it; it is the only token and memory he possesses of his friend Avinash. This is when the stories of Dina Dalal, Maneck Kohlah, along with the tailors Ishvar and Om Darji, started developing together, as the true story of Maneck's future was yet to begin.

Dina Shroff

     Hello again everyone, for today I've decided to give a detailed description of Dina Shroff (later Dina Dalal after marrying Rustom Dalal) life in A Fine Balance.

     Dina's family was wealthy, not extremely wealthy, but they had enough money to afford luxuries that most others could not. Her father was a doctor who died when she was merely 12 years old. After her father's dead, her mother went threw withdrawals for pretty much the rest of her life, and therefore was unable to take care of Dina and her brother Nusswan. Nusswan, who became the man of the house, surprisingly was rather abusive to Dina, to say the least. He would force her to do all the housework, all the cooking, cleaning, hit her when she misbehaved, and even made her drop out of school. Nusswan had dropped so low that he once even made Dina tape her hair that she cut off back to her head, because she did so without permission (how humiliating that must've been for Dina when she went to school!). Dina was a strong-will girl just like her father, and so she rebelled against Nusswan for most of her childhood, including when she had become of age. Dina rejected all of Nusswan's prospective suitors harshly, giving them no thought whatsoever. Instead, Dina found her own husband, a Parsi named Rustom Dalal, who she met at a concert hall and gradually became very close to. Surprisingly enough, Nusswan and his wife Ruby were quite happy for Dina (not because she is getting married, but because they had finally gotten her out of their house). Dina moved to Rustom's flat, and they lived a happy married life for 3 years. Unfortunately the worst thing that could possibly happen to Dina happened. Dina was widowed as Rustom died on their 3rd wedding anniversary (even the worst DAY for it to happen!). Rustom was hit by a bus while he was on his bicycle, on the way to the grocery store.

     Forced to start a new life, Dina became a tailor with the help and guidance of Rustom's parents (this helped her avoid moving back in with Nusswan, thank god). Dina had become quite good at sewing, in fact she had also started quite the little business, going to a few houses in the neighbourhood and sewing them certain things in return for a some rupees. Dina had also found a handsome young man that she became quite close to, but later stopped seeing because of personal reasons and the memories of Rustom. After 20 years of a repetitive life, Dina's eyesight starts to become weak, making her sewing almost impossible for her. To her luck, she eventually met a lady named Mrs. Gupta from a company called Au Revoir Exports, who said she would buy ready-made dresses in Au Revoir patterns. Mrs. Gupta agrees to let Dina sew the special and 'Secret' Au Revoir patterns, and in return paying Dina. However, the twist was that Dina could not sew anymore because of her poor eyesight. Therefore, not wanting lose this oppurtunity to make money and pay the rent for her flat, she decides to hire tailors (and also a paying guest, for a little more income).

     This is where the 3 other central characters are revealed, in Ishvar Darji, Omprakash Darji, and Maneck Kohlah. The author takes the time to reveal each of their pasts, oscillating through the 3 stories and showing how they all came to the current situation (to Dina Dalal's flat; as it is often refered to).

City by the Sea - Part 1

     Hello everyone, I'm posting this blog to tell you that I have read about a quarter of the book A Fine Balance already. However in this post I've decided to only summarize a portion of the first chapter which is called "City by the Sea". This is quite a long chapter, and a very informative chapter at that (the reason why I am only summarizing the first half of it). The chapter begins with introducing a character Dina Dalal and goes deep into her past; more specifically all the way from her childhood, till present day when she is a widowed lady who works for a clothing company.

     Anyone who has even a little background about India, would know that the "City by the Sea" is actually the city Mumbai (back in the 70's was called Bombay). Mumbai is located right on the Western shores of India, and is nowadays referred to as a beach city, much like Miami, Florida. Mumbai could very easily be the capital of India, as it has probably the 2nd largest population in the country, along with shopping malls, recreational facilities, beaches, immigration offices etc., give it the features of a true capital. Although back in the 70's Mumbai wasn't as popular as it is today, it was still 'over' populated with many slums, beggars, etc., and all of these things are referred to by Rohinton Mistry in this novel.

Without further ado, like I promised, here is the summary of the first chapter "City by the Sea":

     At the end of the prologue we are given somewhat of what the plot could be; we have 2 tailors and a college boy who come to Mumbai, 2 looking for a tailoring job and the other a place to stay. Both parties arrive at the same place, Dina Dalal's home, where they obtain exactly what they were looking for; work and a place to stay. However this entire chapter is used to go into the depths of Dina Dalal's past, by using a literary device; flashback. Dina Dalal tried to avoid going into her troublesome past, however she does occasionally catch herself remembering the times before her marriage, when she was Dina Shroff. Dina was the daughter of a man that was well known and ambitious towards his career as a general practitioner. Dina's father, Dr. Shroff, was greatly admired and respected by his daughter Dina, as she was what we call a "Daddy's Girl." Dina tried to do everything like her father, and attempted to model herself after him. Dina had a sibling, an elder brother named Nusswan. Nusswan, Dina's elder by only 9 years, was forced into taking care of both his little sister and his mother after the death of Dr. Shroff, who died treating villagers. Nusswan, at a young age of about 18, was now responsible of both Dina and their mother, he decided to rule over his family with a heavy hand. He did this by constantly and gradually assigning Dina with more and more chores around the house, which included cleaning, tidying, and caring for her mother. As their mother's mental health started to weaken, Dina found herself having to remind her mother to do the even most common daily tasks, from bathing and eating to even helping her put her clothes on correctly.

     Time passes and Nusswan grows up to become a business man with much respect from both his business colleagues and the relatives of the Shroff family. Nusswan began telling their relatives what a nuisance it is to take care of his sister and mother, along with running a business all at the same time. This really made Nusswan look like a hero in the eyes of everyone, as he had gotten everyone on his side, absolutely disregarding the rest of the story, the truth of the story. Dina had absolutely no luck in her life, other than the luxury of getting away from Nusswan to go to school, especially after the passing away of their mother; this left Dina and Nusswan to live with each other, no one else but them (NOT GOOD!). Dina would go to school and see all the other girls, how they would dress up, how they would wear their hair, nicely cut short. Unfortunately, Dina decided to ask Nusswan if she could cut her hair short like the other girls in school, and of course this infuriated Nusswan. However, the rebel Dina had become towards her brother, she got her hair cut anyways from her friend who wanted to become a hairstylist. Nusswan did the unthinkable when he saw what Dina had done, he made her TAPE the hair she cut off every day before she went to school (What a JERK!).

     Again years go by, and Dina becomes of age to get married. Nusswan states to his wife who he married about 5 years prior, that Dina had become quite a beautiful girl; implying that she could get almost any guy. Nusswan, the nosy brother he is, decides to try and set Dina up with some of his colleagues perhaps thinking to get some kind of profit out of her marriage (marrying a business man could mean more money and name for him).

That's a fitting end for today's summary, a suspense-filled future awaits the readers of this book. Nusswan has been very authoritarian his entire life towards his entire family, especially Dina, what do you think Nusswan will make Dina do this time? Who do you think Dina will have to marry; will be handsome AND rich, or simply rich?

If you have any questions about the story so far please post them as I am more than willing to answer them for you. Also, if you have any predictions of what you may think might happen or the answers to the questions the ending produced, please post them as I would love to hear them and I'm sure others would take interest in them as well.

That's all for today, enjoy your reading everyone!

Introduction to 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry

     Hello, my name is Om Patel, and I am a grade 12 academic English student at Fort Erie Secondary School. For our ISU, we were to choose an academic level novel to read and explore from various angles, and therefore choosing an interesting novel not only for myself but for anyone else, was an extremely important task. This is because I want people to be highly interested when reading my blogs, listening to my presentation, let alone reading the novel itself. Keeping these things in mind I chose the novel A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.

     A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry takes place in Mumbai, India between 1947 and 1977 during the high point of The Emergency; which was a 21-month period when elections were halted and the government expanded their power. A Fine Balance is a story about 2 Parsi's (an Indian religion), a man, his nephew; all having various backgrounds-Dina Dalal, Ishvar Darji, his nephew Omprakash Darji, and the young student Maneck Kohlah-who all come to together in the same place, Mumbai.

     Ishvar Darji and Omprakash Darji, both came from a poor Indian village not far from Mumbai, and became tailors under professional training from a friend of Ishvar's father. They struggled to find work in the city of Mumbai, also called "City by the Sea." Dina Dalal is a widow from a middle class Parsi family that gives the Darji's sewing work in her secret export company. Maneck Kohlah is a Parsi teenager from a mountainous village in northern India who is the son of one of Dina's college friends, who moves in with Dina to get away from his college residence. Due to The Emergency, these four characters are caught in the midst of numerous situations where the chaos could very well swallow them altogether. As the book progresses each of their tales slowly unfold and express the lives of people in India from the 1940's to the 1970's, in the midst of the chaos created by the government itself.

     As I've explained already, the novel A Fine Balance is based and set in India. I have an Indian background because my entire family (excluding my brother and myself), was born and raised in India, including my parents, my grandparents, and so on. This really urged me to read this novel and perhaps give myself a chance to learn more about the days of my parents and grandparents, and what it must have been like for them in their youth. Whenever I think about reading a novel, I read a little bit about that book prior to actually selecting it; usually the first few pages. Believe it or not, the very first page of the book states the name of one of the four main characters; Omprakash Darji (Om Darji). Since my name is also Om, having the same name as a central character of the book made this an almost greater factor for myself in terms of choosing this novel to read. This is mainly because I honestly have never heard or seen my name anywhere in English literature whether it is used to pray and worship god, as someones name, or simply used at all for that matter.

    

     I'm hoping for this novel to really help me learn more about my heritage and what my parents' lives might've been like. I'm also hoping I can keep you up to date and also help you get an idea of what the novel is about through my blogs. If you are someone that wants an Indian opinion about an English/Indian novel, then please follow my blogs and I promise to keep you all posted.