I may take this for granted, but I think most people know there is a substantial amount of poverty in India, even as it rises as a global power. Regarding Mumbai, the city on which the author focuses, the statistics are there to back that up. I've also heard this from multiple friends who have family there or who have traveled there. Even as it Mumbai advances, there are still millions living in poverty there.
In this book, the author follows a handful of people in one slum in Mumbai. Her main focus is this underlying question: Is it even possible to break the cycle of poverty under these conditions? She goes deep into how corruption is the name of the game. At the heart of the story is one family who falls apart at the seams because a neighbor blames them for her self-inflicted misfortune. The justice system is a joke. The education system is tragically broken. The living conditions are not even fit for wild animals.
I enjoyed the book because it actually reads like a novel and the writing style is light for such a multi-layered topic. It's the first non-fiction book I've read this year that felt easy even though it was tackling some very difficult themes.
In the end we are left with more questions than solutions, but I think a good book is supposed to challenge you to think differently about the world in which you live. There is no happy ending, and not everyone makes it to the end of the book alive. It was disheartening to read about these broken lives, and even more disheartening to realize that the solutions are not forthcoming. It is worth a read for a candid look at the underbelly of one of worlds fastest growing cities.
