The Seventh Night

The Seventh Night 249-276

Part1

The last chapter is about Balrams live change from a hunted criminal to a solid pillar in Bangalore.

Back on the last day of Balram’s life as driver he made him self a plan how to get to Bangalore. He wanted to travel in zigzag which turned out to be really hard because he had to keep the red bag and Dharam in each hand. On the third day in Hyderabad Balram bought a cup of tea when he saw his police poster on the wall.

A man looked at him and when Balram wanted to run away the man caught him by his wrist. He was another guy from the darkness and wanted to know what’s written on the posters because he couldn’t read.

Balram told him those were police posters and two of them were terrorist from Kishan and the third poster was from the man who caught them. That was Balram’s poster but he didn’t tell him. 

When they finally arrived in Bangalore Balram and Dharam lived in a hotel for four weeks because Balram took so long to recover his nerves. He wasn’t that kind of guy who could just move on after killing someone.

So after those four weeks they moved into an apartment and Balram started to think about how to earn money. He sat down and listened to the city. Everything came together to outsourcing. That means you are working in India on the phone for an American company. The work time is the night and Balram was wondering how the people came to and back form there work place. That’s how he would fit in and that’s how the entrepreneurs came in. He went to a Toyota Qualis dealer and wanted to rent a car.

Balram called every outsourcing company to offer a taxi pick up service but every company already had one. He was depressed for a day but then thought what Ashok would have done. He went to the police with his red bag and made a deal with the police. He offered ten thousand rupees and a little bit more and the police checked the taxi services for drivers’ licenses. Two days later Balram had his White Tiger Drivers company.

In the beginning Balram was a driver too but the stopped. Now he has sixteen drivers, twenty-six air-conditioned vehicles, a lot more money than he borrowed from Mr. Ashok and a website. On the website are a lot of pictures from each driver and his cars and if anyone needs his help he just has to click “contact Ashok Sharma now”, that’s how he calls him self now.

In his company he treats his employees like employees and does not slap, bully, mock or insult anyone. The relation ship between master and employee is just on the working base. Everything else would he to dangerous for a White Tiger.

He also explained the long interruption the other day in this chapter. One of his drivers killed a young boy on his bike when he drove a group of girls home. When Balram arrived at the place of the accident the police was already there. The driver got yelled at from the dead boys’ brother. They convinced the brother to go to the station. The police officers knew Balram and the brother understood why Balram took him to the station.

But Balram felt bad and made the driver find the address. He drove there offered the family money and a joy at his company. He mother didn’t take the money and refused the job offer. The father thought differently about it. Balram felt better after he went there but he was scared that his employees noticed it and tried to cheat him.

Three moths after Balram came to Bangalore he went to a temple and talked in a pray to his whole family and told them to leave him in peace. Dharam, the last family member Balram really has, hoes to a good English school in Bangalore and gets what he wants. Balram thought he keeps the secret as long as he gets food, because without Balram he wouldn’t have such a good life.

In the end of the chapter Balram talks about him self. He sees him self as a part of the new Bangalore and the new India together with all the work that is going on in the city, all the companies that are coming to Bangalore and all the buildings which are getting build. He dreams about getting into real estate because it’s the Bangalore of “tomorrow” and he would sell his company to another entrepreneur. Even if this won’t happen or he get’s caught some day he would say it was all worth it.

Part2

Pg. 275 “I’ve made it. I’ve broken out of the coop!”

I really like that Balram is proud of him self and that he would not do a thing differently in his life. It shows how self-confident he became during his life. But in the same moment I don’t like and understand how he could be so cold to his family. I thought the Indian families would stick together and won’t be so mad at each other. He should have sent some of his money to his family. It won’t get in my head that he doesn’t really care if his family died because of his acting or not.

The ending made me interested in how his life would continue. He last sentence was pg 276 “ I think I am ready to have children, Mr Premier.” Is he really going to marry? Who would he marry? A woman with golden hair or a Nepali woman? Does he get caught? How would Dharams’ life be?

Part3

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

The Sixth Morning 167-189

Part1

At 6:20 am Balram returned from an accident which happened in an outsourcing company Balram is working with. In this chapter Balram is going to talk about how he got corrupted from a sweet, innocent villager into a citified felloe full of debauchery, depravity and wickedness. Those changes happened because of Mr. Ashok who came innocent from America and turned corrupt in India. He changed and how could a servant not change with him? On day Balram drove him to the mall, the Sheraton hotel, where Mr. Ashok got himself a Nepali girl, the PVR Saket, a huge cinema like the ones in America and than finally back home. While waiting at the cinema he talked to another servant and read American magazines with women as a cover.
The friendship ended like every other servant-servant friendship, when the master needed the servant. Balram took the car after he drove Mr. Ashok and the girl home. He drove around the malls and trough the streets.

The next morning nothing happened so Balram had a bad feeling about the last night. He eavesdropped on them and heard that the girl was is former love and not a Nepali or prostitute. They met because Balram told her he changed but she isn’t convinced because with one phone call from his father and brother he was the old one.

The Minister’s sidekick, a man Mr. Ashok met when he brought a lot of money to the minister’s house, came with him the other night. They talked, drank whiskey and stopped for a Russian prostitute which looked like Kim Basinger an American actress. She spoke perfectly Hindi and was in real a Ukrainian student. All three went to a hotel an hour later Mr. Ashok came outside in a bad health. Balram drove back and wanted them to come out but then a police officer came and Balram left.

On the way home Balram was bitter and thought about Delhi, the civil war and the blood on the streets. That night, driving alone trough Delhi, he saw hundreds of homeless people. Back in the Buckingham Towers B Block the gatekeeper saw Balram again returning alone.

Before he went to his room he went to the back of the car to look for a golden hair, which he still keeps in his desk today.

Part2

Part3

Sahara Mall

http://www.delhilive.com/page/sahara-mall-gurgaon-200804042541

Greater Kailash

http://delhi.clickindia.com/areas/greaterkailash.html

The Fifth Night

The Fifth Night 147-166

Part 1

This chapter starts out with Balram telling Mr. Jiaboa about the Great Indian Rooster Coop,

which means that the entire Indian economy is based on the trustworthiness of servants. For a better understanding he gave some examples, here is one: Every day are chauffeurs driving an empty car with a black suitcase in the backseat! Inside of it must be a million or two million rupees. And he will never touch that suitcase. He takes it where every the master wants him to put it, puts it down and goes. That all because Indian are the most honest people.

In the other part of the book Balram talks again about his time in Delhi as driver for Mr. Ashok. Balram sat a whole day in his little room until he got called up again. The Mongoose opened the door and the Stork was there too. Balram had to give him feet massages. Until Pinky Madame came out of her room no one told Balram he hadn’t go to prison because they had a contact at the police and no one reported the accident. The stork hit him again, like he always does when the water is cold or the massage is to strong. Pinky Madame ran back to the room and slammed the door. She is the only one in the whole family with a conscience.

On night Pinky Madame woke Balram up to drive her to the airport. Balram was confused because Mr. Ashok didn’t come with her and he never heard that a woman leaves her husband in real life. Mr. Ashok was really sad and a little depressed that Pinky Madame left him. He drank a lot of whisky and did not eat. Balram took care of him like a wife because someone had since his wife left. He felt like it was his duty. Balram tried to cheer him up with singing, joking and philosophy. The minute the Mongoose came back the whole relationship changed into a normal servant master relationship. Balram was still just the servant, just the driver. On day they were driving past a slum were a lot of families were outside. Mr. Ashok was touched by that and told his brother the Mongoose that family is everything and that he is happy to finally have someone real by his side, after 5 nights with just the servant. Back at the house the Mongoose opened a letter from Balrams granny Kusum and read it out loud. They need more money because it’s getting bad again and Kishan married but Kusum will not order Balram to marry. She wants him to visit. Balram had to bring Mr. Ahsok to the mall and stayed in the car to think. He thought about marriage and how Kusum would get the dowry.

At 1:32 in the morning he suddenly had to leave because of an emergency.

Part 2

The following quotes are from the part where the Mongoose came back to Delhi after Pinky Madame left Mr. Ashok and Balram started to take care of him like a wife because he felt like it was his duty.

Pg 160 “The moment he arrived, everything changed for me. The intimacy was over between me and Mr. Ashok.”

Pg 161 ““When I was in Americas, I thought family was a burden, I don’t deny it. When you and Father tried to stop me from marrying Pinky because she wasn’t a Hindu I was furious with you, I don’t deny it. But without family, a man is nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had nothing but this driver in front of me for five nights. Now at least I have someone real by my side: you.””

Balram really started to take care of Mr. Ashok and felt bad for his situation. He did everything to cheer him up and the relationship really started to get better between them. I think Balram was really happy about it because he felt lonely so often. When the Mongoose came back it must have felt like a slap in his face. It must be so depressing and unmotivated. Mr. Ashok talks derogatorily about Balram and is not pleased at all for his help. I thought Mr. Ashok is different than his brother and more like Pinky Madame because he married her and was so happy. He liked the westernized way of life and that must have changed him. But I guess I was wrong after all.

Part3

Yoga

http://www.indiaconsulate.org.br/html/english/yoga.php

http://www.americanyogaassociation.org/general.html

Rooster Coop

I just found links with a connection to the book. Both are webblogs, too.

http://jagruti.orangy.in/2009/02/great-indian-rooster-coop.html

http://readnright.blogspot.com/2008/06/rooster-coop-trap.html

End of Fourth Night

The Fourth Night 128-145

Part1

In this part of the book Balram continues talking about his life as a driver in Delhi.

On day he drove Pinky Madame to the Mall, waited for a few minutes and went in his new white shirt and new black shoes in the mall. He was so scared that he didn’t make it to the guard in front of the mall at the first try. The second try he thought he gets caught every second but he made it inside the mall. He was proud but felt like guards were watching him all the time. That was his first taste of the fugitive’s life.

Inside the mall he absorbed everything, the golden light, all smell of perfume, cool, air-conditioned air and shops with walls of glass and huge posters of handsome European men and women hanging on the walls.

Back outside in the parking lot he changed and went to the other drivers, who haven’t noticed that he was in the mall. They were all looking at a cell phone. On driver got it from his master, so he can call him to let him know where and when he is suppose to pick him up.

The following days the traffic got really bad and Pinky starts again talking about going back. Mr. Ashok is a good husband and tries to come up with something new to surprise her every time. For her birthday Balram had to dress up as a maharaja and serve her some pizza, which smells awful in his opinion. Later that day he drove them into the city to T.G.I. Friday’s and Balram waited until after midnight. When Ashok and Pinky woke them, they were loud and happy. Pinky Madame wanted to drive the car. She was really drunk but said everyone is driving drunk in India. Ashok was to drunk to stop her. As a joke they left Balram in a street but picked them up a few minutes later. Pinky was driving really fast and trough one red light after the other. Then they hit a black thing. Balram drove them home and Pinky was under shock. At the house she said it wasn’t a dog. While Balram cleaned the car he found cheap, green fabric. Mostly homeless kids from the darkness are wearing this. Balram was supposed to keep it a secret. The next day the Mongoose was waiting in the lobby. Balram was a ‘part of the family’, that’s what he made him believe. The Mongoose just wanted him to sign a paper where he admits to drove the car alone on the day of the accident. In India it’s an honor for the servants family if the servant/ driver goes to jail for his family. Balrams family knew is already because the Mongoose visited his granny Kusum. They bragged with the news and were proud how loyal and prefect Balram is as a servant. In Delhi the jails are full of drivers who took the blame from there masters.

Part2

In the blog post before I was interested in how it’s going to continue with the clothes Balram bought. He went into the wall which shows that he is courageous and interested in new things. It shows that Balram thinks independently. He is not a normal servant because it takes a smart guy to get into the mall without a guard noticing him. He wears the shirt just to get in the mall, after that he changes into his colourful cloths again. This could mean that he is not comfortable being that smart person. He likes acting strong sometimes but in the moment he doesn’t have the confidence to stand up for himself and neither the options.

In some parts for example when he is driving Pinky Madame alone or when she acts out he seems uncomfortable and insecure. E.g. He knew that Pinky Madame and Mr. Ashok were drunk the one night so in my opinion he should have said something or make them realize how dangerous it can be. If he would do so, she wouldn’t hit the child and he didn’t had to go to prison.

Part3

T.G.I. Fridays – fast food restaurant

http://www.tgifridays.com/home/welcome.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.G.I._Friday%27s

The Fourth Night 97-128

 Part1

In the first part of this chapter Balram talks about the time he lived in Delhi with Pinky Madame, Mr, Ashok and his brother. Pinky Madame and the brother did not get along well, but Mr. Ashok needed him for business meetings. Balram was driving them everywhere and got lost a few times. Mr. Ashok always defended Balram against his brother, when he was angry with him about the driving.

The situation between Pinky and Mr. Ashok’s brother turned out to be worse than Balram thought because he was suppose to bring him to the railway station. Before he left Delhi he told Balram he is suppose to leave the ait conditioning and music out while he is waiting in the car, it’s a rule. And every Ghandi statue he sees is a camera inside, so that the police see everything.

After the brother left Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madame went out a lot more. Her skirts went shorter, her bubs were hanging half out and for Balram the situation was unpleasant. He tried to avoid the rearview mirror to not get aroused.

On morning Balram took his time to get upstairs so Pinky Madame was annoyed and got angry with Balram when she saw how filthy he was. He had to go and wash himself. During that he noticed he got red teeth from all the red paan he ate. After they got back from the mall, Balram went to a local market to by some shoes and a shirt which look similar to the ones Mr. Ashok has. He also bought some toothpaste to get ride of the red teeth.

Part2

Pg 121: “Each time she came in with that low black dress, my beak got big. I hated her for wearing that dress; but I hated my beak even more for what it was doing. “

I think in a way it is really funny that he gets attracted by his boss’s wife but really inappropriate in the same time. He must feel really bad about the situation and like he said he hated his beak even more. On the next page he was suppose to make her some ginger tea and during that he is scratching his groin without noticing. Pinky Madame sends him down to clean himself. Is must be so embarrassing for him because he didn’t even know he did something wrong. Later he even blames his dad because he never taught him not to scratch his beak. I think he feels bad about it and tries to avoid the fault.

Pg 127 “Then one night, after Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madame had gone up. I went out to the local market.”

At the market he is going to by a shirt and shoes which are really similar to the ones Mr. Ashok wear that day. I am wondering why he is buying those clothes especially because he said on page 126 and 127 that he would never pick a shirt like that, he needs color. I’m looking forward to continue the reading. I think its most of the time interesting even those he is “just” telling his story of life. Getting to know other lifestyles is important for me, because I think that’s how a person develops in a good way.

Part3

Markets in Delhi:
http://www.indianholiday.com/tourist-attractions/delhi/markets-in-delhi.html

The Fourth Morning

The Fourth Morning pg. 79- 95

Part1

In the beginning of this chapter or next letter to Mr. Premier, Balram talks about democracy. China has sewage, drinking water and Olympic gold medals but no democracy. India has a democracy and that is why they are going to beat China. Balram likes the democracy and even owns them there date of birth.

Back in Balram’s childhood he remembers to get his birth date form the government, back when he was still working in the tea shop. Every worker had to go voting because the election was suppose to be close and the owner of the tea shop made a great deal for all his workers. Balram didn’t know his date of birth so that day was his 18^th birthday.

At the time of this election the Great Socialist has been the boss for a decade. His symbol was symbolizing the poor shaking off the rich. People weren’t sure if he is a good or bad boss. His power was going down because he had a lot of criminal proceedings against him.

While Balram was working as a ‘driver’ the Great Socialist came to visit or better to say, he came to remember the Stork of the one million and a half he has to give back to him. It seemed like the Stork doesn’t have the money.

On the next morning when Balram was blow-drying the dogs Ram Bahadur came up to him and told him that Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madame are going to Delhi for three months and only one driver is going to take them. He will earn 3000 rupees a month.

Ram Persad, the other driver, start acting different in the last weeks. He didn’t eat with us anymore and his breath gone bad and in the evening he is leaving every night at the same time. On day Balram was following him. He went to a part of the city he never been before. Ram Perdad started running and stopped in front of a house, washed his face, gargeled, spat and took of his sandals and put them done into squares of a grille. Then Balram got it, Ram isn’t allowed to eat, it’s Ramadan. Balram went back, found the Nepali and told him he new that he and Ram are working together, that’s when Balram became the number one servant.

He slept in the bed for the first time, when he woke up Ram left without a word. So Balram was driving to New Delhi and on the way there he had to grin every time they passed a bus. He was driving in an air-conditioning car to New Delhi.

After that he stopped because he wants to talk about something different now and it is going to be darker. That’s where he is going to start at midnight.

Part2

Pg. 92-93  “ I thought, What a miserable life he’s had, having to hide his religion, his name, just to get a job as a driver – and he is a good driver, no question of it, a far better one than I will ever be. Part of me wanted to get up and apologize to him right there and say, You go and be a driver in Delhi. You never did anything to hurt me. Forgive me, brother.”

I like this statement from Balram. It’s hard for me to explain why because I’m not really sure.

I guess I like it because I it makes Balram human. It shows that he still cares in a way but the money for himself and his family is more important for him. I believe you can’t blame him for that with respect to the knowledge we have about his childhood.

He doesn’t want to live in those poor conditions and he doesn’t want his family to live like that either. His personal welfare is more important to him than Ram’s.

I think in this part of the book is Balram just happy to be successful in his job and to get out of the darkness into the light, New Delhi.

Part3

New Delhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Delhi

http://delhi.clickindia.com/general/

I also liked the ‘History’ and the ‘do’s and don’ts’ site