Article archive / December 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 4. Source pages: 13.
Judith Stewart, PhD Psychologist Past President the Florida Psychological Association Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
“Here is a review of the best book I have read this year. It’s a Christmas book because it’s so thought provoking and puts our Xmas in a very different perspective (at least it did for me).
“The last time I was in India I took a cab to the Mumbai airport. Along the many miles of highway there was a wide littered swale that ended at a tall wall. By stretching a plastic tarp from the top of the wall to the bottom a tent like structure was formed, and families lived within. Every foot of wall space was taken. I wondered what it could be like to live in such incredible poverty.
“Pulitzer prize winning author Katherine Boo gives one answer in her book, Beyond the Beautiful Forevers, Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. For three years she lived in and describes life in Anawada, a ½ acre 338 family community in the shadow of luxury hotels. The rule for survival seemed to be, get what you can for yourself at ANY COST to others. There was simply no other way people could see to survive. I found myself stunned by the way this was lived out. Doctors in the publicly funded hospital charged additional fees for their services or you die. People would watch you die on their doorstep. Neighbors cheated each other. Young people killed themselves rather than go any further with their lives and there was no way out. Hope dies hard and people had dreams, like being the best garbage picker and thus making a little more money. Dreams don’t often come true in such a community.
The book is very well written and the people are real and well portrayed . Their stories are followed for the time the author was there. That makes the book both fascinating and unbearable.
“After I read the book I find myself stumbling through my life with a new understanding of alternatives to what I see every day, a new understanding of how limited and lucky my life is and what human beings are capable of. I also saw the continuity in human behavior of greed , cheating, being indifferent to others. The difference it seemed to me is that in our culture greed is the motive. In Anawada survival is the motive. Painful.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.