How is Mumbai presented through the perspectives of Abdul, Asha and Sunil?
This essay will be about different perspectives of Mumbai through three protagonis. They are: Abdul, Asha and Sunil. The three of these characters live in a large slum which is next to the international airport of Mumbai called Annawadi. They all have different perspectives of Annawadi, from negative to positive. Asha is seen as an unofficial slumlord by the government and police force. Abdul is the manager of scavengers who look for scraps of metal, which sell it to him and then sells it to bigger company for more profit. And there is Sunil who one of the lowest of all the social ladder and is one of the scavengers who sells his scraps to Abdul for rupees. In this essay I will tell you how Katherine boo presents the perspectives of these three characters and the techniques she uses.
The first time we’re formally introduced to Abdul is when he wakes up without whining. Before that we’re introduced to him when he has to run from the police for being accused of setting the “one leg” on fire and hides in the rubbish. Abdul’s view of Annawadi is that he dislikes it but he doesn’t hate it. This can be seen in tgis quote: “besides, this was the gentle going hour which he hated Annawadi the least.” This signifies that Abdul has and equal perspective of Annawadi which seem to make him secluded to his own thought, but in his thought he would like to move out of the slum but he knows he can’t yet. This means that he will have to carry on suffering in the slums with loss to be able to move out of the slums and life a more sufficient life. Abdul knows he has to move out as quick as possible because he know that the government are trying to take it out. It is illustrated inis quote: “Annawadi sat two hundred yards off the the sahar airport road a stretch where new India and old India collided.” It is notable that this means that the richer part of India is developing but the poor parts of India (slums) is holding it back so they have to find a way to develop it as well or have to find a way to remove them because they see them as a sign of shame and they want it there so there will only be positive.
Asha is also known as the slum lord of Annawadi is a type of person who see’s everything as a business opportunity. Since Asha is named slumlord by the government and police force, she has to listen to them so that she can keep her status. One thing Asha and the government have in common is that they think Annawadi is a pile of shame: “Mumbai was a place of festering, grievance and ambient envy” this resembles the quote from Abdul where he mentions “new India” and “old India” collide and makes it notable that she wasn’t raised in Annawadi and was raised in a more sophisticated environment , and she wants Annawadi to change to her preferences, which is the same views as the government. Another reason she wants Annawadi to develop is because wealthy people blame slum dwellers for hold them back: “wealthy citizens accused the slum dwellers of making the city filthy and unlivable.” This means that slum dwellers are the cause of India not developing and making it a place of animal where people are unable to live. This means that if the slum dwellers carry on how they are then then Mumbai will be a place where only the poor can live in and the rich will be cast out.
Sunil is a child who isn’t a orphan but was raised in an orphanage eventually he is kicked out of the orphanage and as he has a sister she doesn’t want to be without him so they go together to live with their father who is broke: “their father still rented a hit on annawadi’s stenchiest lane.” This means that Sunil has to work in the place where his father lives so he can afford to pay rent for the house. Another thing is he does a job where he steals a huge amount of iron instead of look for pieces of scraps and he eventually realises that there is more than stealing the iron: ” he could only conclude that workings behind kalu’s night jobs where beyond s twelve year olds ability to grasp” this means that even when Sunil works he won’t understand what happens to make the job possible and what a it for.
In conclusion the reason that the three of these people have different perspectives is because even though they live in the same slum they all earn money to a different amount and are raised differently to each other. Sunil even though he is raised to find scraps to sell he thinks it’ll be better to steal because he earns more which leaves him with cash so he can spend for himself without worrying about buying food or paying for the rent of the hut. Asha even though she is a unofficial slumlord she earns more than anyone, but as she was not raised in the slum but with her family who had a good amount of money she wants more to spend it for herself. Abdul even though he earns more money than most slum dwellers he was raised in the slum and he is used to the way he live but all he wants to do is earn enough money to move out of the slum.
