A Fine Balance

This novel revolves around four major characters, 2 relatively well-off city folks (Dina, Maneck) and 2 belonging to a backward caste (Ishvar, Om) in India. Through the book we see them get together inspite of their many differences to laugh together and understand each other's pain points. The novel is set against the backdrop of the emergency period in India, and sheds light on the gruesome acts committed in the name of “development” to the poor people, and how in the end “development” in a corrupt, broken social system is the same as oppression. This is possibly the reason why, most people find this book too hopeless to continue.

In this book, I realised early on that every happy instance for the characters would be followed by something terrible. (Not a good feeling to experience when you are rooting for all the characters)
While all the characters are very-well written and the writing isn't boring at all, I do wonder whether this is the right ending. It feels like, in the end the reader, like Maneck, loses all hope and resigns to the broken system accepting that no change for the better is possible.