The Sixth Night

The Sixth Night 191-247

Part1

Chapter seven is about Balram and the end as Mr. Ashok's driver.

In the beginning Balram talks again about his life as servant by Mr. Ashok.

Mr. Ashok and other masters started to do an evening walk. They are walking in circles around the house. After one they go to there servant, drink some water, take the towel and run another round. Mr. Ashok attends twice a week. On the way back to the apartment Balram met Vitiligo-Lips to order a girl with golden hair for Mr. Ashok. But actually the girl was for him self. During the week Balram did some things to cheat his master by using the car as a taxi, taking the car to a corrupt mechanic and steeling petrol to sell it. When Balram had enough money he went to the other servant, Vitiligo-Lips. He took Balram to a hotel an managed a girl for seven thousand rupees for him. At first Balram was really happy but when he just wanted to get started he saw that the hair was just dyed golden. He freaked out and got beaten up by the manager. Back in the apartment, Mr. Ashok was in Balrams room. He called after him but he didn’t show up so he decided to come down. Mr. Ashok didn’t know that Balram lived in such bad conditions; that’s why he wants to give him money for a better apartment. They were talking quite a lot and in the end they ended up a cross the street at a tea shop. Mr. Ashok wanted to try the kind of food Balram eats. He liked the okra, cauliflower, radish, spinach, daal and lassi a lot.

The other day the Mongoose came back to Delhi. He had a red Italian bag with him which was full with money. The money was for the minister. They paid him money so they don’t have to pay taxes. Mr. Ashok had the job to do that frequently. The first time the Mongoose came with Mr. Ashok and than took off to Dhanbad again.

The next time Mr. Ashok had to handle the money to the minister. Balram took the red bag and went to the car while he discovered all the money in the red bag. Balram felt like everyone knew about his idea to steal the red bag. He saw things and actions witch he interpreted.

With Mr. Ashoks permission to go to a temple Balram took of to the “red-light-district”. He looked at a few very skinny and pretty Nepali girls but nothing stirred from above his waist. Then Balram started a fight where he could just lose. He punched one and every other pimp came to punch him back. Balram ran away more and more into the old Delhi. He came to Darya Ganj, an old book market. While walking trough the market be looked at books but didn’t buy any but got to knew poems. He liked them a lot. Then he came into the slaughter quarter. It’s a famous part of the old Delhi but no one ever really saw it. He saw a buffalo and heard him talking to him about his family, that all of them died.

The next morning Balram wanted to talk to Mr. Ashok about his problems. But in the car Mr. Ashok just paid attention to his cell phone. He thought Balram wanted to get married in Laxmangarh. Mr. Ashok got excited because he likes the city and wanted to go with him. At the mall Balram walked around and found animal prints which he was going to follow. He ended up at a slam.. The people here were building the malls and the houses of the rich people. The slam had a safety wall which was a row of shitting men. They were sitting there giving a shit and some of them didn’t feel embarrassed by Balram watching them.

Back at the apartment a guy was in Balrams room. He had a letter for him. Which said he is selfish that he hadn’t send money back, so his family decided to send him Dharam. He had to take care of him and they are going to organize a wedding for him. Kusum is going to send Mr. Ashok a letter. Balram was furious and hit Dharam he fell on the ground and his face turned blue. Balram was ready to kill Mr. Ashok but with Dharams arrival he didn’t do it. That evening he went to Mr. Ashok who was being really nice and happy for Balram to have company. Dharma was quiet, went 5 years to school and learnt like Balram did. They talked a little until Vitiligo-Lips came who wanted a tea. He used Balram because of the other night when Balram went to a hotel for a prostitute. In the night Dharam had to get a lizard out of Balrams bed. He seemed to be amused by Balrams fear.

The next day he drove Mr. Ashok and Ms. Uma to Lodi Gardens when the streets were full with people. The election results were announced that day. The election changed because the The Great Socialist and his group came up because they got the votes from the darkness. Mr. Ashok got really upset and angry. They paid the money wrong and he had to fix the income-tax mess. He was on the phone the whole day and in the night Balram drove him to the Imperial Hotel. When he came out Balram had to drive Vijay, Balrams childhood hero and the pigherd’s son who turned from a bus conductor in a politician. Mr. Ashok and his family had to pay Vijay lot money to get out there and Vijay knew they are going to pay the money.

Balram took the next morning off to go to the zoo with Dharam. They walked from cage to cage stopped a few times and continued walking. At the cage of the white Tiger Balram fainted and talked to his grandmother Kusum. He said he was sorry but he can’t live in a cage his whole life. In the evening Balram and Dharam wrote that in a letter to Kusum.

It was raining the next day. Balram fixed the car so he’d be ready if Mr. Ashok needs him and went back to Dharam. Before he left he gave him 10 rupees for the day and picked Mr. Ashok up. He was on the phone. Balram drove in the city from Bank to Bank. When Mr. Ashok had seven thousand rupees together he wanted to go to the Sheraton. On the way there they drove by a park. The streets were empty. Balram stopped the car and told Mr. Ashok he needed his help because the tire was stuck in mud. He got out and got down to the tire. Balram rose up behind him and rammed a broken Johnnie Walker Black whiskey bottle into his head.

He thinks a lot about why he didn’t just gag him and left him in the bushes unconscious. He thought about two possible answers. The first thought is he recovers and calls the police, the second thought is that it was an revenge in advance which means Mr. Ashok an his family would have done terrible things to Balrams family which Balram did not want. So he had to kill him.
He drove to the railway station and thought about getting Dharma. First he hesitated but then he watched a little boy playing with water and drove back to get him.

Part2

Pg. 191“The dreams of the rich, and the dreams of the poor – they never overlap, do they?”

I like this statement because it’s the truth in every society. In India the poor want to be like the rich, they want money, food and they want to get fat. Being fat means being rich but the rich people dream of being as skinny as the poor people. This is such a contradiction of the social life and really ironic in my point of view.

Another interesting part was when Balram heard the buffalo talking to him about his family. He said kishan, his aunt and grandmother Kusum died. I think this shows that Balram feels bad an guilty for not sending back his money.

Part3