How is Mumbai presented through the perspectives of Abdul, Asha and Sunil?

This essay will be based on the perspectives of the three main protagonists : Asha, Abdul and Sunil, of Mumbai. All three of the characters live in the slum town of Annawadi which is next to Mumbai’s international airport. Each individual has their own view of Mumbai whether it being good or bad and the each have their own roles they have to play to survive in the slum. Asha has become the slum lord through hard work and dedication, Abdul is the manager of his own rubbish scavenging business and is very isolated in his opinions of Annawadi and finally Sunil is also in the rubbish scavenging business but he is the one who collects the rubbish and sells it to people like Abdul for him to sell. I will be exploring in this essay how Katherine Boo presents each of the characters through the numerous language techniques she uses.

In this book we were first introduced to Abdul. We are told how he is not comfortable around his neighbours through the quote, “His general approach towards his neighbours was this: The better I know you, the more I will dislike you and the more you will dislike me”. This quote could show how little Abdul cares for his neighbours and how much he dislikes them. Annawadi is shown to be a place with no opportunities and no good, in the quote, “This was the gentle going hour of which he hated Annawadi the most”. This quote coming from Abdul shows how even in the early hours, having to wake up realising you are basically nothing and have no real opportunities, is truly why he disliked Annawadi.

Secondly in this book we are introduced to Asha and we are told how she is the mother of Rahul and how she has ambitions of becoming the slumlord of Annawadi. This is basically a landlord of slum property, typically one who charges rent and controls the way the money coming in and out of the slum, is distributed. Later on she found an opportunity, which in her eyes was very rare, she notices the present slum lord does no longer have the hunger for power and she feels this may be her chance to prove herself worthy of being the new slumlord. Although a slumlord is an unofficial position or rank Asha feels this position is where she will show her true power and dominance.

The difference between Asha and Abdul is that Abdul feels that there is a sense of community in Annawadi. Every day he wakes up and sees how every single house is made up of the same things and feels everyone in the slum share one important aspect of this book. ‘Poverty’. However Asha in her new position doesn’t see Annawadi that way. My reasoning for this is because Abdul makes a living through hard work whereas Asha makes her living through scamming people. There is also one major difference between the two residence of Annawadi, Abdul is a lot poorer than Asha who has all the money you could want.

Finally we are introduced to the character Sunil who is a rubbish scavenger who works for someone like Abdul. He collects the rubbish and sells it to Abdul who then sells it for more. These two characters are extremely similar in the way that they see Annawadi as a community and how they make an honest living unlike Asha who sees Annawadi as sort of a prison she needs to escape and does not make an honest living. For Sunil unlike Abdul and Asha, poverty is at every turn.

Abdul and Asha although they are not stupidly rich they still have some money to turn to and to buy in some cases luxurious items. Whereas Sunil doesn’t have that privilege. He does have little amounts of money coming from the rubbish he sells to Abdul but that is still not enough to live a healthy and natural life. Through all of these doubts and mountains in Sunils way he still finds a solution to carry on living that is what is remarkable and so unique about this character. He is at the bottom of the food chain and is making his way to the top slowly but surely by working hard.

Although these characters are different people they all have something in common. They all want to make something better of there life even if it seems impossible to them. Asha, who, before became the slum lord, was just an ordinary slum dweller. Abdul was in the same situation as Sunil, at the bottom, picking up trash. But now Abdul is the one who is in charge of his own business in which Sunil takes orders from. Now although Sunil isn’t as high ranked and successful as Asha or Abdul, he keeps on trying to make his own opportunities in Mumbai as in his eyes Mumbai is a land of opportunity.

Now in conclusion I believe that each perspective is completely different because each person not even these specific characters, everyone in the slum, all live separate and different lives whether it be in poverty or all the wealth in the world. So Mumbai can be presented in so many ways depending on the person. It could be presented as heaven or hell, paradise, the abyss or even purgatory. I say this because people such as Asha, Abdul and sunil are either treating Mumbai like its more than what it is or like something to just survive in.