A Fine Balance Paperback – 20 November 2003

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is a capricious journey of a young man from hills, a widow trying to keep her head straight and two villagers hoping to have bare minimum for sustenance. This novel follows the pre-independence, independence and emergency state of India. Main characters cross path with each other in the backdrop of political and social turmoil and amidst rampant caste discrimination and political oppression, shading light on unlikely frendship of two amongst them. It is in stark contrast with what one may have felt what independence looks like. This is a novel that resonated deeply with me. It forced me to think deeply on empathizing with lives from different walks of world, yet connected univocally by humility, ambition, love, and thirst of life. Last 30 pages are sheer gold in terms of literary pleasure and shocking revelation at the end has pushed me to rate it 5 stars. Definitely definitely recommended.

This is the most depressing book I have ever read. It's not one of those books in which after a lifetime of struggles the protagonist triumphs in the end. Not, in this book everything goes to hell and never gets better. It's so emotionally exhausting and depressing that it has made me sick to the stomach. The depression hits hard when the book is set in your own country. The emotions hit you more, heartbreak is more intense and feelings are more deep rooted when you know this are your own people and your own history. It took me several months to finish this novel and when I finished it, I found myself completely lost of words. It took me a couple of months to write about this remarkable novel. But, don't hold back from reading this novel because of this, it's emotional depth is what grants it's masterpiece status.Set against the backdrop of state of emergency declared in India in 1975, the book covers the span of 30 years from time of partition to 1970s. It explores how the political environment of the country and the unjustified violence and corruption during those 21 months affected various socioeconomic classes of India. Rohinton Mistry follows four main character two tailors, Ishvar and Om, a widow who employs them, Dina and college student, Maneck, who stays with Dina as paying guest. All these characters come from strikingly different backgrounds and whose outlooks of society varies by the injustices meted out to them. A fine balance gives a very focalised glimpse of India's most controversial time.It covers all the problems faced by Indians during those times. Extreme poverty, patriarchy, inter-caste violence, forced sterlization, the obliteration of basic human rights through its characters. The one thing which book excel is in it's character development and perfect depiction of consequences of political events people of India have of face through the characters of this book. From four major to every minor characters of the book explores the niche of life perfectly. Every characters pulls you towards them.Rohinton Mistry has written a book which will be reflection of our crooked society for many generations to come. 'A fine balance' has made an fixed mark on my soul. Though it's a work of fiction but somewhere out there in past and present, every single bit of it, in some form it's true.

"After all, our lives are but a sequence of accidents - a clanking chain of chance events. A string of choices, casual or deliberate, which add up to that one big calamity we call life" ~ Rohinton MistryA turmoil created within 614 pages! When it comes to thick book I usually don't prefer that but, this was legit worth it. A fiction giving a clear picture to the fragments about India back in 70s which we all must have heard/read. Being its cruelity, brutality, insensitiveness, people's sufferings, pain, bleak life, a desire to rise and live a happy life and many more thing.This is the second book which I've read that portrays India in its raw form. The first one was "Godan" and second one is this "A Fine Balance". Raw in a sense the author hasn't tried to romanticize things for readers. I personally don't know much about India's history in detail. But when I read these kinda book it gives me goosebumps. The topics that has been chosen and the way it has been portrayed is immensely heart wrenching and shocking, being it the emergency period, caste-discrimination, unfair means in politics, etc.People like me who are always delved into YA, contemporary, romance etc. should at times pick historical fiction too. So basically I'm urging everyone to read this. This book has the capability to blow your mind. Not everything was good, at times I felt it was being dragged but that can be overlooked when we talk about the whole book.The story revolves around the four major characters Ishwar & Omprakash, the tailors; Maneck: a college student and Dina Dalal: a widow who lives her life independently. The story begins with describing about Dina's life and then later smoothly shifts to other characters and gets linked. Through Ishwar and Omprakash, the uncle-nephew duo; Mistry has drawn the picture of village life of that era perfectly. Even the minor characters did the phenomenal job.Okay so I don't think I won't be able to write a perfect review. But pick this masterpiece if you want to witness India's not so beautiful side.

Without a doubt the best book published in the modern era. Flawless. Treat yourself.