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.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Sunday, 8 May 2011
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.
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.
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