This book encapsulate the lives of typical Annawadi residents, a slum next to the Mumbai airport. Their lives are difficult and very stressful but as Sunil, one of the street boys ponders, that even though he has a bad life, "a boy's life could still matter to himself".
We
…more learn how the most disenfranchised members of this slum are able to survive and even flourish: Abdul the garbage sorter, Kalu, the scrap -metal thief, and Manju a college student who can get a degree by memorization or "by-hearting" her lessons. However, when tragedy strikes them it is very difficult for these slum residents to overcome adversity.
This book certainly made me realize that the pervasiveness of corruption is in all aspects of life in India. Bribes are a way of life and accepted as such. Even the Indian criminal justice system was a market and in Abdul's words "innocence and guilt could be bought and sold like a kilo of polyurethane bags". However some of these residents also have hope of improvement in their lives, and this hope is what motivates them, even when their conditions are deplorable. Other residents lose their hope and commit suicide.
Overall, this "narrative nonfiction" reads like a novel. Katherine Boo has depicted the residents of Annawadi in a sympathetic yet realistic manner. She has researched this community with thoroughness and imparts her information in a very readable prose. (less)
Power Reviewer
