" A Fine Balance "

1. "A Fine Balance" Rohinton Mistry

2. INTRODUCTION • The novel "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry is based upon India's historical and cultural background as well as autobiographical aspects that enhance the text's overall effectiveness. • "A Fine Balance" takes place in India during the 1970s—a time of brutal violence and political turmoil. It follows the grim lives of 4 ordinary people who have each suffered a loss. Dina is widowed after a terrible hit and run accident and decides to enter the tailoring business to sustain her independence. The tailors she hires—Ishvar and Omprakash—are forced to find work in the city after having their family murdered and their homes destroyed. Dina also takes in a boarder—a student named ManeckKohlah, whose family continues to suffer the consequences of the 1947 partition.  • The novel portrays their bleak journeys, and how they are united by the same goal to "maintain a balance between hope and despair" (Mistry, 268).

3. HISTORICAL INFLUENCES India as a British Colony • India had been a British colony until 1946, when British officials agreed to grant India independence if a new form of government could be decided. This sparked political disagreements, resulting in tension between Muslims and Hindus. • The novel digs into Ishvar's past, when he and his brother Narayan live through a period where "sporadic riots which had started with the talk of independence were spreading as the country's Partition became a reality" (Mistry, 141). They witness Muslims being beaten to death and having their property destroyed. Due to this violence, Ashraf (Ishvar's uncle) is forced to change the name of his shop and eventually relocate because he is Muslim. At one point, his family is saved by Ishvar and Narayan as rioters stand outside their shop and shout, "We know it's a Muslim shop! Burn it!" (Mistry, 149). Through the hardships that Ashraf and his family face during these periods, the reader gains insight into Ishvar and his brother's characters and values, and a background of Ashraf's character for future appearances.

4. THE EMERGENCY • "A Fine Balance" revolves around the Emergency, a time of political turmoil and unrest. The Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had been accused of election malpractice, after which she declared a state of internal emergency on June 25, 1975. According to SudhanvaShetty from The Logical Indian, "Civil liberties were suspended, media was censored, state and parliamentary elections were postponed, and anyone who wrote or spoke against the Government was put behind bars.“ • The novel is fairly accurate in its depiction of the Emergency; most, if not all, its aspects present in the novel are also present in history. By depicting stories that are accurate to historical facts, Mistry enhances the impact that his novel makes on the reader. They are reminded that the horrors they witness are not just stories—they are, in fact, real life events. 

5. The Emergency: Cruelty and Sterilization • A major aspect of the Emergency was forced sterilization. Before sterilization was mandatory, incentives for sterilization were offered, and those who did not agree to the procedures were penalized (e.g. cut salaries, ration cards refused).  • In the novel, when Ishvar and Om go to apply for a ration card, the Rations Officer tells them "If you let me arrange for your vasectomy, you application can be approved instantly." (Mistry, 205) • According to an article by Gemma Scott from The Luminary, "The Shah Commission documented a similar incident in the village of Uttawar, Haryana. On December 6th [1976], after around eight hundred villagers refused to co-operate with Emergency family planning, police raided the village with 'armed rifles [and] tear gas' (Government of India, August 1978, 28). Following the raid they sent many villagers to Hathin police station for 'interrogation' and took a further one-hundred-and-eighty to nearby family planning centres at Mandkola for vasectomies." . • Eventually, sterilization procedures became obligatory, no matter how many children you had. This terrible regulation is reflected in Chapter 15, when both Ishvar and Om are forced to undergo the procedure. 

6. Continued… • Ishvar and Om go back to their home village to meet with Om's potential brides. While at the marketplace with Ashraf, they watch as "horns blaring, police swept into the marketplace...then [they] began to advance and grab people" (Mistry, 613). The tailors are taken in while the police leave Ashraf to bleed on the pavement after "lashing out angrily with his [stick]" (Mistry, 615). The trucks take the people to a sterilization camp, where despite Ishvar's pleads to spare Om because he still has no wife or children, they are both forced to undergo vasectomies.  • The mercilessness of the government authorities in the novel accurately reflects the reality that the citizens of India faced during the Emergency. The fact that such horrors are more than just stories creates a significant impact on the reader; it makes the novel even more appalling and memorable. • Often when reading fiction, readers forget the extent to which it could be true. With its shockingly truthful representation of India's history during the 1970s, "A Fine Balance" is an example of a work of fiction with a powerful ability to reveal the truths behind reality. 

7. CULTURAL INFLUENCES The Role of Women • Like many countries around the world, women in India have been, and are, oppressed. In patriarchal societies especially, crimes against women are common, as they are seen as inferior to men. These crimes may include rape, abuse, and even burning of women. Female children are also viewed as less valuable than male children. This is evident in the novel, as having daughters was frowned upon; mothers were beaten by husbands and some were even ordered to "discreetly get rid of the newborn" (Mistry, 114).  • The suppressive role of women, as portrayed in the book, is important in understanding the significance behind some of the characters' actions, such as Dina. Her choice to move out of her brother's place on her own and remain unmarried despite his wishes gives the impression that she is strong-willed and confident in herself even though she is crossing gender boundaries. 

8. Social Class • Social class plays a crucial role in the characters' fates in "A Fine Balance". During the novel's time period, India's social hierarchy was divided into castes, with the very bottom labeled as the "untouchables". People of lower castes were prohibited from walking through upper caste areas and were brutally punished for defying the wishes of those higher than them. They were essentially treated as slaves.  • In the novel, people of lower rank were punished harshly for even insignificant crimes. Ishvar's grandfather discusses how "[the upper caste men] accused [a lower caste man] of stealing...they chopped off his left-hand fingers" (Mistry, 110). Another example of caste inequality appears when "[a lower caste woman] refused to go to the field with the [upper caste man's] son, so they shaved her head and walked her naked through the square" (Mistry, 111).

9. Continued… • Narayan, Ishvar's brother and Om's father, endures a humiliating and disturbing death. After attempting to assert their rights as voters during the parliamentary election, Thakur Dharamsi, a man of high rank, takes Narayan and the two other men to his farm, where they are "hung naked by their ankles from the branches of a banyan tree" (Mistry, 169). "[H]is men urinated on the three inverted faces...burning coals were held to the three men's genitals, then stuffed into their mouths" (Mistry, 170). To announce their power, they "began working their way towards the untouchable quarter. They beat up individuals at random in the streets, stripped some women, raped others, burned a few huts" (Mistry, 170). As if he hadn't done enough to express his superiority, Thakur displays Narayan's "mutilated body" in front of his family, and the house, along with everyone in it, was set on fire.  • This scene in particular displays the cruelty and absurdity of the treatment of people based on social caste. The cultural influences give light into the horrible circumstances that the characters live in and are ultimately the cause of many misfortunes. For example, Thakur forces Om to do a second, irreversible sterilization procedure as punishment for spitting at him. The reader realizes the helplessness that the characters face and appreciates the strength that they possess to overcome such hardships. 

10. Continued… • The cultural influences in the novel are also significant in reinforcing the theme that you can't judge others until you get to know them. For example, Dina initially judges the tailors for being of lower class, explaining to Maneck, "There is a difference, and you cannot pretend there isn't — their community, their background" (Mistry, 341). She begins to wonder of "the line between compassion and foolishness, kindness and weakness" (Mistry,445), unsure of how to maintain her authority. Eventually, Dina begins to realize that despite their social differences, they are no less than her and deserve to be treated as her equal.  • With the influence of culture, the reader further understands the context in which the actions that play out are based upon. The unique beliefs encourage the audience make comparisons to their own culture and reflect on the text. 

11. Autobiographical Connections • Rohinton Mistry was born on July 3, 1952 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India into a Parsi family. He attended the University of Bombay for a BSc in Mathematics and Economics and emigrated to Toronto in 1975, a month after Indira Gandhi had declared a state of internal emergency. He studied at the University of Toronto for a BA in English and Philosophy. Mistry had quit his position working at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, to focus on writing full-time. (Reisman) • "A Fine Balance" is set in his native city of Bombay — giving him first-hand experiences with India's culture, and knowledge of its history, in which he applies to his books. 

12. Continued… WOMEN IN MISTRY'S NOVEL • Rohinton Mistry was the second of four children, with a father working as an advertising accountant executive and a mother occupying the role of a housewife. (Morey, 2)  • Peter Morey suggests that "[his mother] is the model for some of his later female characters, using their domestic capacities to keep households together and children fed in spite of the impul- sive and often destructive tendencies of their husbands." (Morey, 2) Based on this idea, it is likely that his experiences growing up with his mother influenced the development of these female characters. • For example, before Dina decides to live independently from her brother, she is faced with the duties of taking care of her mother and completing the household chores. She does so because "[i]t would be good for her, teach her how to look after a home" (Mistry, 19). After her father dies, her mother becomes depressed and Dina is one who keeps their family together.  • The reflection of Mistry's views of his mother in the female characters within the novel helps develop them as "heroes" through the tragedies they endure, changing the audience's perspective on women during a time when they were oppressed.

13. Rohinton Mistry & ManeckKohlah • Rohinton Mistry and his character, ManeckKohlah, share a number of similarities that could suggest that they share the same views. Not only are they both from a Parsi community, but they both experience the Emergency in the eyes of a young student. Although Mistry had only witnessed the Emergency for one month, his realist views (Reisman) are reflected in his novel and portrayal of Maneck. Perhaps it is Mistry's connection with him that allows Maneck to reflect most deeply on his experiences. He sympathizes with the other characters, and tears up at the idea that "[life] seemed so hopeless, with nothing but misery for everyone..." (Mistry, 316)

14. CONCLUSION • The historical, cultural and autobiographical aspects of Rohinton Mistry's award-winning novel, "A Fine Balance", effectively work together to produce an unforgettable tale of the human spirit. It teaches its audience to consider both the positive and negative aspects of their life and reminds them that "[y]ou have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.” (Mistry, 268)