First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

Winner of The Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, The Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby Award, and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Irish Times International Prize.

A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry’s stunning internationally acclaimed bestseller, is set in mid-1970s India. It tells the story of four unlikely people whose lives come together during a time of political turmoil soon after the government declares a “State of Internal Emergency.” Through days of bleakness and hope, their circumstances – and their fates – become inextricably linked in ways no one could have foreseen. Mistry’s prose is alive with enduring images and a cast of unforgettable characters. Written with compassion, humour, and insight, A Fine Balance is a vivid, richly textured, and powerful novel written by one of the most gifted writers of our time.

Happy Friday everyone! Well, technically it is already Saturday. Regardless, it is that long-awaited day of the week because it means that we are about to have some reprieve after a long week of toiling at the office. Yes, another work week is in the books! I hope everyone ended the work week on a high note. I hope you accomplished all the tasks you set to complete at the start of the week and that you were able to do a good job. It is the last workday of the week, so it is time to party and unwind. It is time to let go of everything that stressed us during the week, at least temporarily. It is time to dress down. Woah. I just realized that yesterday was the last Friday of September. How time flies! We are nearly three-quarters done this year. We have three months left but I believe it is more than enough to complete the goals we set at the start of the year. I hope the remainder of the year will be great for everyone. I hope that the coming months will be brimming with good news, blessings, and pleasant surprises. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy in body, mind, and spirit.

Before I can fully dive into the weekend, I am capping the blogging week with a fresh First Impression Friday update. This weekly blog meme has become an integral part of my weekly blogging rites. Apart from allowing me to figure out my initial feelings about the book I am currently reading, it has developed into a springboard for my book reviews. For the ninth month of the year, I decided to read recently published books I have long wanted to read, including some of the books that are part of my 2024 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List and that are nominated for the Booker Prize. Unfortunately, I have run out of recently published books to read, prompting me to switch my focus to books that are part of my ongoing reading challenges. This journey led me to a book that I have been looking forward to for some time, Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance.

Before I started wading through must-read lists, I had never encountered the Indian writer. Even when I encountered it through the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, I immediately forgot about it; I guess there were just too many books on the list. When I encountered the book while browsing through a secondhand bookseller a couple of years later, I obtained a copy of the book without further ado. A year later, I made it part of my 2024 Top 24 Reading List, making it the twentieth book from the list I read. I guess I am completing this annual reading list earlier than usual. In a way, I am hitting two birds with one stone because the book is listed as one of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, making it the 16th book from the list I read this year; I made it a goal to read at least 20 books from the list.

Anyway, A Fine Balance is set in mid-1970s India and charts the fortunes of four main characters. Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash, or Om for short, were traveling on a train to a big city – interestingly, the city where the characters converged remained anonymous and in a country with bustling metropolises like Mumbai, Madras, Kolkata, Delhi, and Lucknow, among others, it could be anywhere – after escaping from their village. They belonged to the untouchable Chamaar caste who learned how to sew from a Muslim man named Ashraf. In their countryside village, the lower castes were constantly oppressed by the upper caste. Ishvar’s brother Narayan, for instance, was killed when he challenged a powerful upper-caste villager named Thakur Dharamsi who oversaw voting in the area. Thakur nearly decimated the Dharji clan, with only Ishvar and Om the only survivors.

While on the train to the city, the uncle and nephew tandem came across Maneck Kohlah, a college student. Maneck was on his way to the city to pursue his studies. Unlike Ishvar and Om, Maneck was born into a more affluent family in a mountain town in the Kashmir Valley. However, his father, Farokh’s once successful soda business has struggled to compete in a modern industrialized India. Maneck, the only child born to his family, did not want to be separated from his parents and felt betrayed when he was sent to boarding school. Farokh sent his son to university to gain a new trade. At the city college, he chose refrigeration and air-conditioning. In the city, he stayed at the student hostel and became friends with Avinash, who is also the student president. With Maneck struggling to fit in with the other boys at college, Avinash was his only friend.

Completing the quartet of main characters is  Dina Dalal. Like Maneck, Dina was born to an affluent background; her father was a doctor. Following her father’s death when she was just twelve and the gradual withdrawal of her mother from life, her brother Nusswan took over family affairs. Nusswan was abusive to her sister but Dina was not one to back down, challenging her brother at every turn. Of the possible suitors Nusswan lined up for her, Dina did not choose one and instead married Rustom. However, after three years of marriage, Rustom was killed in a bicycling accident. Refusing to take any assistance from her brother – she was cognizant that it came with a price – Dina became a tailor under the guidance of Rustom’s surrogate parents. Two decades later, her eyesight gave, leaving her unemployed. Fate still smiled at her after she met Mrs. Gupta, a lady from a company called Au Revoir Exports. She agreed to let Dina sew the patterns on ready-made dresses.

It was at this juncture that the paths of the four characters converged. The catalyst was the declaration of a state of emergency (popularity referred to as the Emergency) by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi citing internal and external factors that threatened the country. The effects of the Emergency were immediate. Political activists – including Avinash – went into hiding; Avinash’s political activism was the antithesis of Maneck’s lack of interest in politics. Maneck, following a humiliating ragging session by fellow hostel students, was forced to move out of the student hostel. In another serendipitous moment, Dina decides to rent her apartment. At the same time, she decides to hire tailors because her eyesight won’t allow her to complete her work. Cue Maneck, Ishvar, and Om. In Dina’s apartment, an interesting clique of friends from different backgrounds started to flourish.

A Fine Balance is very complex and is multilayered. However, it is these very same elements that are keeping me reeled into the story. If my memory serves me right, it was in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi that I first came across the Emergency; I might have encountered it in other works but I am not sure. Mistry’s novel is providing me more insights into how the Emergency has impacted India and its denizens. Other elements of contemporary Indian history were also woven into the story; the partition featured prominently in the story of Ishvar and Om. On top of these, the novel captured the transition from tradition to modernization. Politics is also very palpably exhibited in the story. Corruption and greed continue to permeate and undermine modern Indian societal structures.

Various layers of Indian culture and tradition were captured in the story. It also highlights how some of these are outdated and are being dismantled. Take the case of Dina. Historically, women are subservient to the wishes of the men in their lives. However, she had no scruples going against the desires of her brother. Her yearning for financial independence also sets her apart; it was, however, glaring how she was the only prominent female voice in the story. Another interesting element in the story is the coming-of-age of both Om and Maneck. They are of the same age but come from different backgrounds. Om’s uncle was fixated on finding his nephew a wife – it was even a contentious part of the story – while Maneck’s concern was different. They do, however, share some experiences, such as their sexual awakening.

The novel, to say the least, is very eventful. I have a little under two hundred pages to go but I can sense that there are more events headed toward the characters which can alter the landscape of their lives on both macro and micro levels. I can’t wait to see how Mistry orchestrates the story toward a fitting conclusion. All of these make me look forward to how the story will unfold and ultimately conclude. How about you fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!