Behind The Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo: Depiction of The Urban Poor in Mumbai

Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a brilliantly written nonfiction book that portrays the segregation of poverty in modern India. Boo narrates about the life experiences of families in a suburban slum, Annawadi, which borders the ever-expanding Mumbai International Airport. She uses workers in the informal sector such as garbage pickers and sorters to reveal the hazardous working conditions in the informal sector. Annawadi, which Boo refers to as the Undercity, undergoes complex layers of urbanization that threatens its existence due to conflicts of interest with the ruling class. The standards of living in Annawadi indicate India’s rigid development policies that inhibit the social and economic mobility for the urban poor in Mumbai.

Boo criticizes the government’s failure of mass education as the source of illiteracy among residents of Annawadi. In a poverty-stricken nation such as India, education is paramount. However, teachers do not appear for work in numerous public schools in Annawadi. Boo uses the case of Manju to portray the failure of the education system. Manju created an improvised charity school outside her shanty to teach children in the Undercity during her spare time. Meanwhile, corrupt politicians take over bridge schools established by the government and NGOs to benefit the middle class and the affluent population. Consequently, the urban poor become victims in the structural failures of the government to offer mass education.

The criminal justice system in the country undermines the rights of the people of Annawadi. In the book, police extort prisoners and demand bribes from Zehrunisa to continue running her garbage-sorting business. Falsely accused of murdering his neighbor Fatima, Abdul faces a hostile justice system. The court wants to try him as an adult since there is no record of his birth date, but Zehrunisa resolves to acquire a fake birth certificate for him to get a trial as a juvenile. Everyone asks for a bribe including hospital clerks, neighbors, and police. One cannot know whether the outcome of the trial is a triumph of justice, an accident, or because of indifference on the side of a judge who is not interested with the details of the case.

Many well-off Indians of Mumbai want to eliminate rather than improve the social-welfare duties of the government. Boo notes that they leased private security, paid private school tuition fees, and cleaned city water. The affluent Indians want the government to consent to their requests irrespective of the consequences. This notion is evident among influential citizens who distribute opportunities in an insider trade. Their collusion with lawmakers leads to corruption that denies the majority of Indians in the undercity an avenue to voice their concerns. There is land grabbing by corporate and government modernization projects that leave the people in Annawadi desolate and defenseless.

The urban poor in Mumbai will continue to face social and economic difficulties due to the rigid development policies of the government that rig the system against them. The depictions in the book only rely on firsthand experiences of citizens in the undercity under the oppression of the police, poor education system, and a convoluted justice system. These variables hinder their economic progress leaving them under the mercy of the ruling elite. Boo’s vivid analysis of the Indians’ life experiences raises uncomfortable questions about the government’s obligations to provide equal opportunities to all citizens.