“Holding this book in your hand, sinking back in your soft armchair, you will say to yourself: perhaps it will amuse me. And after you have read this story of great misfortunes, you will no doubt dine well, blaming the author for your own insensitivity, accusing him of wild exaggeration and flights of fancy. But rest assured: this tragedy is not a fiction. All is true.” (Honoré de Balzac, Le Pére Goriot. In: Rohinton Mistry: A Fine Balance, preface)

About

A Fine Balance is the second book by the Indian-Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry and was first published in 1995. It is set in India between 1975 and 1984, against the backdrop of the Indian Emergency, when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, on the advice of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a “State of Internal Emergency.” Indira Gandhi thus had the legal authority under Indian law to rule by decree, prevent elections, and significantly curtail the freedoms of the civilian population. This period is considered one of the most controversial in the history of independent India. The title is published by Faber and Faber London as part of the “Revolutionary Writing” series. This is a series that publishes provocative political fiction by international authors.

Plot

Dina Dalal, Ishvar Darji, his young nephew Omprakash Darji, and the equally young student Maneck Kohlah are four individuals from India. Each with their own social background, memories, dreams, destiny, and unique story. It is indeed “a fine balance” that determines their daily lives between success and setback, dream and nightmare, survival and downfall. Their lives intersect as if predetermined yet influenced by chance. Just as Dina’s patchwork quilt grows larger and more diverse with each added, meaningful scrap of fabric, so do the tragedies and joys, sorrows and happiness of the protagonists intertwine. All against the backdrop of political unrest in India, which continually tests the fate of the four survivors in unforeseeable ways.

“If time were a bolt of cloth”, said Om, “I would cut out all the bad parts. Snip out the scary nights and stitch together the good parts, to make time bearable. Then I could wear it like a coat, always live happily.” (page 310)

For readers…

…who are seeking something deeply stirring, moving, and touching. Something that leaves them different than they were before reading.

Rating

This book deeply touched me. I don’t know much about the actual life circumstances of the (ordinary and less privileged) population of India during these political upheavals, so I cannot say anything about the authenticity of this book. What I can say is this: I hated Dina’s brother alongside her, loved with her, mourned, and fought with her. I tried, along with Ishvar, to make something better out of my own miserable life, struggled for dignity, and fought for justice. Alongside Omprakash, I wished for revenge against cruel murderers, tried to find youthful exuberance where there was no room for it, and desperately attempted not to lose hope for a worthwhile future. Maneck made me feel the conflict between my own dream and that of my father. Together with him I tried naively to close my eyes to the misery of the world, and at the same time not to break down because of it. I laughed, cried, worried, mourned, and hated. I cursed the injustice in this world and actually a bit the author, because he holds it in front of the reader so mercilessly. This book didn’t let me go for days, it haunted me even in my dreams, and relentlessly showed me how infinitely fortunate I am. Because life doesn’t give everyone a quilt full of beautiful fabric scraps.

An absolute READ IT!