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!