In the beginning of this chapter Balrams talks about Delhi. He shares some facts about this city and the pride of their civic planning and the showcase of the republic. The rich people live in big housing colonies like Defense Colony or Greater Kailash, but they have no logic system of numbering the houses. Balram remembers about a story, when he had to take Pinky Madam to one of these housing colonies. But he doesn’t find the right apartment because of the illogic number-system. Then he tells something about the street names in Delhi. When you ask somebody where you can find the street you are looking for, nobody knows the right answer. The traffic system is designed in a way that the phase where car-drivers or pedestrians need to stop is relatively short. As a consequence many people ignore the rules, say walk or drive whenever they want. Balram also explains that in Delhi many poor people need to live on the streets as they do not have a job, no money and nobody being able or willing to help them.
While waiting in front of the mall a man asks Balram how he likes Delhi. He doesn’t want to get touched by this man, because he has a skin disease. Especially many of the very poor people in India are suffering from this skin disease.
The servants have to wait outside the mall for their masters while they go on a shopping-trip. They smoke and chat all the time. He also mentions that the police in Delhi are totally rotten in this city. The man tells Balram something about a magazine called “Murder weekly“, they read while they are waiting for their servants.
Later Mukesh Sir, Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madam come outside the mall with shopping bags. Balram puts them into the car and drives them to their apartment building, Buckingham Block B. It’s one of the best Blocks in Delhi. After he leaves the bags in the apartment he goes down to the basement to his room in the servant quarters. Then he meets the man with the skin disease again, sitting with the other servants together in the quarter.
The next day, Balram cleans his Honda City while waiting for the next job his master Mr. Ashok wants him to do. Then he gets advised via the lobby microphone to wait with his car at the main entrance of Buckingham B Block. Pinky Madam and Mr. Ashok, joined by the Mongoose, have a Congress Party at the headquarters. After ten minutes, Balram arrives at the headquarter. The brothers tell Balram that they are back in half an hour.
Two hours later, the brothers return. They say that they have to go to the president house. While waiting in his car Balram observes that the brothers together with a huge fat man leave the building talking to each other. On their way home Mr. Ashok said only one sentence. In his view the political system in India is a nothing else then a joke.
After an hour of trashing the traffic, they got home. When they get out of the car the Mongoose misses one rupee being of the opinion that Balram got it. He has to search for it. When Balram assesses that he can´t find the rupee, he takes one of his pocket and gives it to the mongoose.
When Balram sees that Mr. Ashok get verge the tears, while he makes food for him in the apartment, he knows that something is wrong.
The next morning Mr. Ashok tells him to drive Mukesh Sir to the railway-station. At the station Mukesh Sir gives him some instructions about the actions of the police and what he is not allowed to do in the car. After that the Mongoose turns to Mr. Ashok and tells him to check up the driver, but Mr. Ashok doesn’t pays attention to his brother.
In the second part of this chapter, Balram talks about a night, when he drunk some alcohol in an English liquor shop. Next morning, when he came back to the apartment in the Buckingham Block, Pinky Madam recognizes that Balrams seems to be ill. She advises him to make some tea, because of his headache. Pinky Madam gets very angry, when she notices that Balram scratches his groin with the hand while making tea. She sends him to his room, because he looks pretty bad.
The next evening, Balram drives Pinky Madam and Mr. Ashok to the mall. When they arrive there, Balram gets out of the car and sees the man with the skin diseases again. There are many other servants, waiting for their masters like Balram and the man. They talk about the magazine “Murder Weekly“. While waiting, Balrams sees a man with sandals who wants to go into the mall, but the security guards don’t let him in. One of the servants said, that everybody should behave like this man did, then India would be a safe country.
After their return Balram goes to the local market and buys his first toothpaste, white t-shirt and black shoes. When he drives Pinky Madam to the mall the next day, he tries to see the mall from inside by wearing his new clothes. He is lucky as the guards allow him to enter the mall. After getting some inspirations of the mall, he goes back to the car and changes his dress into the casual one.
The third part of the Chapter starts, whit Balram sitting in the car together with Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madam. Pinky Madam gets angry because of the chaos on the streets and the traffic jam. Mr. Ashok tries to get her down and then they start to argue about their travel to Delhi. At this point Balram thinks that Mr. Ashok is a good husband, because he always tries to make her happy. Balram starts telling the Premier a story, when both of them were kids laughing at him all the time. At the evening he goes to the bedroom of his master, because he heard some slapping followed by screaming. Half an hour later, when Balram wants to sleep, another servant yells for him. He has to take both of them with the car to the Connaught Place. On their way to this place, there was an icy silence between Pinky Madam and Mr. Ashok.
At the Connaught Place, the two leave the car and Balram meets the men with the disease together with some other servants. They make a fire while waiting. When the two come back they were drunk. Balram drives both of them back to their apartment. On their way home, Pinky Madam wants to drive the car, but Mr. Ashok doesn’t let her. At the traffic signal a child comes to their car, with a Buddha statue in his hand. Balram likes it and Pinky Madam asks him, if he wants to have this sculpture, but he doesn’t want it. When Balram wants to drive away, Pinky Madam says that he should stop, get out off the car and spend the night with the Buddha. After Pinky Madam gets in the driver seat, they drive away and Balram stands alone in the dark and empty street. A bit later, a car crosses the street, it’s the car from Mr. Ashok, they pick him up and Balram sits on the back seat. Pinky Madam is too drunk to realize the situation, as a black thing hit the car. She asks what it could have been but Balram and Mr. Ashok work as a team and put her on the backseat. Balram gets in the driver seat and drives them with full speed back to her apartment.
At the apartment, they grab her and place her into the elevator with a scarf around her mouth to stop her screaming. Then Balrams asks Mr. Ashok what it could have been that has hit the car, as Balram thinks that it could have been a child. After this conversation, they go to sleep.
The next morning Mr. Ashok wants to talk about the situation last night. Mr. Ashok wants Balram, to write a paper saying that it was Balram driving the car while the accident on the street happened. Balram can´t believe what Mr. Ashok asks him to do. For him this situation is a fucking joke.
What I like/dislike in this chapter?
What I dont unterstand in the first part of the chapter is,why they have no logic numbering system of the appartments in Delhi.The people get lost in this system. What I really disliked was the situation,when the servants had to wait outside the mall because they wear sandals and so they were not allowed to enter the mall.That´s definitely not fair.I found it interesting,when Balram describes his place,where he live as a servant.I think that´s a very strange daily routine,to live in this quarters and work all the time for their masters.It makes me sad,when I read,that the poor people live on the streets and are handled like trash. They get no money from the state,when they don´t work,so it´s very hard to feed their families. I was surprised when Balram told,that he bought his first toothpaste ever.That shows me that you earn not much money as a servant. At the end I was kind of shocked,as I read the situation,when Pinky Madam hit a small black thing with the car, but they undertakes nothing. Another thing I can´t believe was, when Mr. Ashok told him,that Balram has to say, that he made the accident.
I found an interesting link,about the quarters,where the servants live...
I have a picture from one of these servant quarters...
Here is an other picture from an traffic jam in india,like Balram tells about it in the chapter...
See you,
Tim
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