News & Articles

Katherine Boo, a journalist with Duluth ties, gave an Alworth Peace and Justice lecture at St. Scholastica on October 16, titled “Life, Death, and Hope in Mumbai, India”.  It was based on her book “Behind the Beautiful Forevers”.  I have since read the book and would characterize the stories she wrote as of corruption, deceit, and hope.
The title, “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” comes from the ad for floor tiles on a wall separating the squatter slum of Annawadi from the luxury hotels near the Mumbai Airport.  Annawadi was originally set up by temporary workers who came from outside Mumbai to work on the airport and the hotels.
Since then people from other areas came to Annawadi, seeking a better life than subsistence farming.  At the time of the stories, the occupants included Hindus, Muslims, and Christians.  They included Dalits (Untouchables) and other “lower” castes.
Some of the adults had low-paying jobs, some permanent, some temporary.  Older boys had temporary jobs or dealt in various goods, like recyclable trash.  Much of the trash was scrounged from the roadsides, from bridge ledges, and dumpsters.  Abdul, one of the main characters was a low-level buyer and sorter of trash.  He in turn sold his sorted trash to larger buyers.
All of these people, to get something done, had to bribe other people.  Police who wanted to make false accusations or who would look the other way on petty infractions.  Teachers who would give answers to tests.  Low-level employees who took bribes before hiring others.  Doctors who gave medical care at free hospitals but wouldn’t operate until they were paid by the patient.  Officials who would change false documents to closer to the truth or would create false documents.  Administrators of private schools who accepted children as students, even schools supposedly run by international charitable organizations.
The literacy rate varied considerably, from not reading at all to reading both Hindi and English.  The schooling varied from none at all, to failing at the ninth grade level, to attending college.
Deceit was rampant, both among the Annawadians and from outside the slum.
Asha, a woman who managed to get herself appointed “slumlord”, was a master of corruption and deceit.  She was essentially the liaison between the residents and the administration of that part of Mumbai.  She had to pay bribes up the chain of corruption and took bribes from her neighbors.  She often took these latter bribes by inflating the fee or bribe that had to be paid to the local government.
Those who hired for temp jobs would promise one wage at the beginning of the work and then pay as low of one fifth the promised wage at the end of the work.
People would make down payments on goods and even better houses, and then the sellers would sell the goods or houses to others and not return the down payments.
A turning point in the book was when two families had a dispute.  More as a threat than anything else, one woman doused herself with kerosene and lit a match.  Everybody rushed to save her with water and to beat the flames out.  The woman loudly blamed her neighbors for setting her on fire.
She was eventually taken to a hospital to be treated for her burns, and the police came to investigate.  Despite testimony from many people, they took three of the neighbors, the father, a son, and a daughter, into custody.  In jail they beat the father and the son to coerce them to confess.  The father and son would not confess to something they did not do.
An officer in charge of evidence summary told the mother that she would change the charges if the mother paid her a large bribe.
The woman who burned herself eventually died, mostly because of inadequate care.  The hospital asked a high price for the needed medication, even though it was supposedly free.  Her husband could get the drugs cheaper on the street, but even then he didn’t have enough money for a sufficient quantity.
The charges against the neighbors were now raised to murder.  They still held to their innocence.  Although the father, daughter, and son were released from prison, they had to endure a lengthy trial in a “fast-track” court.  They would appear, wait for some time, have a few minutes of testimony presented by a witness, see another case brought before the court, and wait until the next week for another appearance in court.  I don’t remember how long the trial went on.
I’ve probably put too many “spoilers” into this summary of “Behind the Beautiful Forevers”.
I do recommend reading it as a well-wrought tale of corruption, deceit and hope in India.  The Duluth Public Library has it as well as a set of CDs, and you can find it at your local bookseller.