Prologue
The book’s setting is July 17th, 2008 in the Annawadi slum in Mumbai. Annawadi is a slum in Mumbai that is owned by the Airport Authority. The main character, Abdul, is hiding from the police in his “trash shed.” He is in the “trash business,” in which the poorest of the poor collect or trade trash for money at recycling plants. Building development in India have boosted the economy, making this trash business “boom.” With the caste system in India, slowly dissolving, many of the slum residents are now envisioning new, better lives for themselves.
Part 1
Chapter 1
Karam, Abdul’s father, begins the chapter discussing the children of Annawadi dreams of alleviating themselves out of poverty and becoming rich. In this chapter, Abdul discusses the the stigma and hatred Muslim face in the majority Hindu city of Mumbai. Annawadi was made by migrants from southern India who built the airport and never left. Many now hold temporary jobs, which keeps them in poverty. However, the residents appreciate the fact that they are a step above the extremely poor citizen of Mumbai who must catch small animals to eat. Furthermore, Abdul’s garbage business is doing well in wake of China’s upcoming Olympics. Abdul describes the poor conditions in the slum, with many residents contracting respiratory diseases due to nearby factories polluting the air. He also describes how in the recycling plant conditions are extremely unsafe, and one boy even lost his hand. Abdul’s acquaintance Rahul also regales the young boys in the slum with stories of the foreigners in the “rich people” hotel he works at. Emphasized in Chapter 1 was the importance of an education in alleviating children out of poverty. After eighth grade, parents must pay for their children’s education.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 details the government corruption in India. The government is attempting to change its worldwide image, and is falsifying information to achieve this. Women like Asha, Rahul’s mother, fake documents in order to receive government money for fake projects and initiatives. Asha uses this to benefit only herself, or will get loans for people who need them in return for a portion of said loan. Moreover, the government will often be run by bureaucrats who are being paid by businesses to promote their interests. In addition, the far right party Shiv Sena attempts to push out Muslims and increase the Hindu population in Annawadi.
Chapter 3
Riots targeted at northern migrants reach an all time high in February 3008. From the point of an orphan boy Sunil, we see a new perspective on the lives of of the residents of Annawadi. Orphans are kicked out of orphanages when they reach the age of about 11, as having older children will present a bad image for the orphanage. He used to beg for charity meals, but he has aged out of that as well. He began to scavenge in order to afford food, however he does not like the dangerous work. Many scavengers contract diseases from the junk they work with. The scavenging business has taken a hit due to an increase in city workers picking up trash, as well as the airports cleaning its own junk. Annawadi is on airport land, and when a company buys the airport it wants to tear down Annawadi to develop on it. Many scavengers get high on Eraz-ex to distract from their hunger.
Chapter 4
Education is imperative for the children of Annawadi, as it is the only way to get out of the slum and poverty. Public schools are not adequate, as they just let the children play and do not teach. Asha’s daughter Manju, actually uses the grant her mother received to educate the children in the slum, much to Asha’s chagrin. One subject that is extremely useful to learn is English, which Manju teaches the children. Some children, like Sunil, do not go to the school in order to scavenge. They have no hope in education, and would rather spend their time on something worthwhile, their work.
Part 2
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 starts off with discussing Fatima, a cripple, and her struggle with mutual recognition. Many see Fatima as a living, breathing joke due to her disability and larger than life attitude. In some cases in the slums, female children are seen as dragging down the family This chapter also details the adverse effects of monsoons on the slums, with no one being able to work when the strong rains go through the area.
Chapter 6
The Husain family begins to renovate their “house” in the slum to drive its value up. By driving up the value of the home, the city government is more likely to either deed the land over to them to sell to the airport or give the family housing in city owned apartments. While the renovations take place, the family must put their possessions outside, drawing the attention and jealousy of the neighbors. The renovations shake Fatima’s hut drawing out her anger, and eventually she goes to the police to fake an assault report. The police do nothing, so Fatima sets herself on fire. The neighborhood shames her for setting herself on fire over a petty squabble, and no one will take her to the hospital.
Chapter 7
Fatima enjoys being in the hospital: she feels as though she matters with the treatment and visitors from her neighborhood. Asha works out a deal where the Husains pay her medical bills if she refrains from pressing charges. However, she has already reported that the Husains set her on fire. Unbeknownst to her, her daughter told authorities that Fatima lit herself on fire, conflicting with her story. She restates her claim to imply that she set herself on fire after Abdul pressured her to by beating her. Fatima’s family must pay for everything in the hospital, which is expensive and unaffordable. Abdul turns himself in, and the police beat him and his father in an attempt to get a high bribe in order to be claimed innocent. Asha arranges for the beatings to stop to show her power to the citizens of Annawadi. Zehrunisa receives a blessing from a monk to better her situation as she goes into custody. Meanwhile Fatima dies from infection, and her children are sent to an orphanage. The Husains are in charge of the burial.
Chapter 8
Floods come to Annawadi and wash away much of the good trash, bringing financial stress to the already battered Husain family. Zehrunisa is hysterics; she cannot offer collateral for jail bonds, Karam’s health is failing in jail, and the police officer she bribed is mad she told people that he accepted a bribe. Due to lack of records, Abdul is determined to be a minor and is sent to juvenile prison center that has much better conditions than the jail in Mumbai. He is forced to bathe, and then socializes with the other inmates. Muslims represent the prison population at a unproportional rate. Many of the children are imprisoned on child labor charges, which Abdul find unfair. He begins to support child labor in the sense that to provide work. A doctor tries to extort Abdul in order to have him listed as a minor, and after Abdul expresses his fury the doctor explains that he survives on bribes. After hearing a motivational speaker, Abdul decides to live more virtuously.
Chapter 9
Asha and her family go to her hometown to go to her nephews wedding and to arrange a wedding for her daughter. The village has improved since her childhood due to public funding, however the improvements had little effect on the farmers and other citizens. The public funding is used to better private enterprise, and situations like drought are rarely fixed. Manju does not want to resign herself to rural life by marrying a man in Asha’s hometown. Asha and Manju decide that Manju should be selling insurance to rich people to make money. Her mother forces her to teach less, so she volunteers. No one believes educating will do any good. On Asha’s birthday, she decides to sleep with a police officer to gain power, which causes her family to become d
istraught.
Chapter 10
Sunil finds the body of a dying boy on the road, but due to the fact that those who report bodies can be framed with murder he refrains from reporting it. The reason for death is determined to be tuberculosis at the hospital. As other bodies turn up, many slum residents wonder if Fatima has put a curse on the area. Sonu, a boy in Annawadi, is trying his best to overcome his situation in the slum. He has an arrangement with the airport security guards to get more trash, and he works hard at night to get ahead in school since he can’t go during the day. One scavenger who steals from the airline recycling bins gets caught by the police and is forced to become an informant. Instead of doing this, he flees to the country to his abusive father. Abdul is released from the detention center by his mother so he can save the recycling business that is failing under the leadership of his little brother. Kalu’s body is found dead at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 11
As the death rate continues to grow, many people are losing hope, especially the young scavenger children. The deaths are mainly due to murder, however the police list them as disease go avoid having to look into these murders. The police use the murder of Kalu as leverage in keeping the boys off of airport grounds, by threatening to charge them with his murder if they go on airport grounds. Some slum dwellers kill themselves over the anxiety and fear they live with. The police rarely list the cause of death correctly.
Chapter 12
This chapter skips time to late 2008 from July. Many people are just as or more stressed then ever. Fatima has become symbolic for the problems that the women in Annawadi face, especially oppressive marriages. Women have since set themselves on fire. Also, after the murders many of the boys in the slum are still on edge. Asha has become the slum lord of Annawadi. To help the citizens of the slums escape their troubles, large parties are thrown on festival days. Women who attempt to kill themselves through poison are looked down upon, and are often beaten by their family if they survive.
Chapter 13
Due to economic hard times in America, the recyclable business begins to take a downturn, and the tourism industry takes a hit due to terrorist attacks. Many people resort to thievery and catching frogs and rats to survive. Many slum residents begin to get “philosophical” about their lives, wondering whether they are actually living or if they matter. Even slum members who want to be honest are often forced to be dishonest and do unethical things to survive.
Chapter 14
The court system in Mumbai/India is extremely corrupt as whoever can pay the most money wins. To be proven innocent, the Husain family will most likely have to offer bribes. There is a fast track court that is quicker than the regular courts, which can take over a decade to process cases all the way through and are often extremely expensive. In the Husain’s case, many Annawadi residents who did not even see the event are pulled in as witnesses. They testify in the Husain’s favor, however Fatima’s husband makes up a lie on the stand which is effectively countered by the defense. One of Fatima’s friends Cynthia tries to tell an elaborate lie, but is flustered and has her testimony thrown out of court.
Chapter 15
The Husain’s have had to sell all of their trash in order to pay for their lawyer. The cultural climate of India has improved; the rich are attempting to improve the government to increase security and Muslim and Hindu relations have bettered. Many people vote in the parliamentary elections in an attempt to change India’s situation. The Husain’s garbage business fails, and their judge is transferred causing stress in the family. The special officer in charge of the case tries to trick the Husain’s out of money, and fails. Abdul compares himself to ice in dirty water, he hopes that the judge will see his cleanliness.
Chapter 16
Asha has become depressed due to her waning power and living situation. She realizes that she is not that far ahead of anyone, and he lives in the slum just like everyone else. Asha begins helping slum residents sell their homes to middle class Indians and politicians who think they can make a buck off of selling the homes to the government or airport. One woman decides she doesn’t want to sell her house, and Asha does nothing to help her as a gang of men force her out. She also begins corruptly dealing with the government on a new education initiative which makes her family money. Asha tries to convince Manju to quit school and live off the fake school scheme for life, and she shuts down Manju’s school. Parliamentary elections are approaching and one candidate has a clear advantage. She is a bollywood star, and her father held the seat before her. In a blatant show of corruption, she gives the slum new sewer covers but moves them to a larger slum when it’s determined those votes are needed more. Voter suppression is rampant in India and is directed towards poor slum dwellers. Asha refuses to help those affected, seeing herself as better than them.
Chapter 17
The same government is elected in India, and little to no change is instituted. The destruction of slum and construction of new developments begins. A lot of recyclables are unearthed due to the construction, bringing some money to the slum residents. Reporters come to cover a story on bad living conditions of some fake zebras, while the murders in the district are ignored. Many residents begin to understand the lives of the horses they were jealous of are more important than theirs. The trial begins to be put on the backburner for the Husain family as they must figure out how to survive and eat after the collapse of the garbage business. Eventually, even though Abdul’s trial drags on for years, the other Husain’s are acquitted for Fatima’s murder. The residents of Annawadi continue their day to day business of survival, unable to aspire to anything else.
Author’s Note
Boo closes the book discussing the process in which she went through to write it. She discusses her research methods; how she collected interviews, recorded events, and obtained personal records. She relays to the reader her own personal questions regarding poverty and justice that made her decide to take up this project. She also discussed how some members of the police would threaten slum members if they continued to talk to her out of the fear of what she would report.