A Fine Balance: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

After Omprakash and Ishvar have left Ashraf but before they start their new job with Dina, they live in the slum that Nawaz picked for them. Omprakash wants to go back to Ashraf, but Ishvar urges him to make the best of their current situation. He talks about soon finding a wife for Omprakash. The two of them learn that in the slum where they live, water only runs rarely, and people get angry if you take too long collecting it. A stranger named Rajaram introduces Ishvar and Omprakash to some of the customs in the area, like how the best place to empty your bowels is the railroad tracks.

Rajaram continues to give advice to Ishvar and Omprakash, telling them to get a ration card for food and allowing them to borrow his stove. The three of them spend the evening talking, with Ishvar and Omprakash telling Rajaram about their past at Muzaffar Tailoring Company. Rajaram says he used to be a barber but now collects hair, which can be sold to foreign countries. He shows them some hair samples, and they talk about how Dina has such nice hair.

Omprakash gets distracted when he sees a girl carrying firewood. He saw her earlier when she was collecting water. He hears someone call her name and learns that it’s Shanti.

Later, Ishvar and Omprakash go to the rations office but find that the boss is away on his meditation break. When he gets back, they fill out a form for him. But the Rations Officer informs them that their address is in a “jhopadpatti” (slum), meaning they aren’t eligible for rations. Still, he tells them they can become eligible if they get a vasectomy. Ishvar tries to lie about having a vasectomy but doesn’t have a certificate to prove it. He doesn’t want one and especially doesn’t want Omprakash to have one. They leave.

Outside the rations office, Ishvar and Omprakash meet a man who calls himself a “facilitator” and says he can get them a rations card. He explains that the Rations Officer gets a promotion if he fills his quota of sterilizations. But Ishvar and Omprakash don’t have enough money for the Facilitator’s offer.

Ishvar and Omprakash go to their first 10-hour day of work for Dina and come back exhausted. They see people on the train jumping off early because they don’t have tickets and police are chasing after them. Because of all the confusion at the station, they are late getting back to Rajaram for dinner. Rajaram explains that such raids by police to discover people without tickets are uncommon—people seldom get arrested because the jails are already too full with Prime Minister’s enemies.

The local slumlord keeps adding more huts to the neighborhood. During monsoon season, Ishvar and Omprakash’s roof leaks. They continue to have dinners with Rajaram, and one evening he surprises them by asking for a loan of 10 rupees. That evening, they hear Rajaram in his hut having sex.

The next morning, Omprakash looks into renting a bicycle. He seems to really enjoy the freedom of a bicycle, but Ishvar can’t help worrying about him. Eventually, Omprakash convinces Ishvar to hop on too, and they take the bicycle to Dina’s, where they hide it.

While they’re working that day, Omprakash waits for the right moment before all of a sudden stabbing himself in the finger with his scissors, getting blood on a dress they’re working on. Dina panics, trying to save the dress by soaking it in water and calling Omprakash careless. Omprakash says he needs to see a doctor. Reluctantly, Dina lets him leave. She looks forward to when Maneck finally moves in and she’ll have a more stable source of income.

Dina leaves in a taxi to go see Mrs. Gupta. Instead of going to a doctor, Omprakash uses his bicycle to follow her. Along the way he gets hit by a car, and people around think he’s seriously injured. He gets up and is surprised when a chauffeur in the car gives him 50 rupees. Someone on the pavement tells him that he could’ve earned even more if he’d pretended to be more injured and stayed down longer.

When Omprakash gets back, Ishvar thinks he’s discovered the company that Dina works for, but in fact, Omprakash is just happy because he spent some of the money he obtained on candy. Meanwhile, Dina makes preparations for Maneck to move in. She gives him her bedroom and moves into one that’s a lot shabbier.