A Fine Balance

Maneck is a handsome 17-year-old college student with “[f]ine strong arms […] And dimples, when he smiles” (197). He comes from a happy family that has coddled and protected him from the harsh realities of life. Maneck arrives in the city to study refrigeration and air conditioning; he rents a room from his mother’s friend Dina. Because Maneck’s past was so free of care, he has trouble adjusting to the squalor and misery that run rampant in the big city. Even though he forms an emotional attachment to Dina and the tailors, he never seems able to overcome the loss of his golden childhood. Ultimately, because he can only see the negative in what happens to his friends, he concludes that life holds no lasting happiness and commits suicide.

Ishvar Darji is a 46-year-old tailor who comes from the untouchable caste. His face is scarred, but his demeanor is kind: “Ishvar’s disfigured cheek was grotesque […] His smile and his funny, undecided moustache tended to soften the damage” (75). Ishvar looks after his nephew Om with fatherly concern. Even though Ishvar and his family suffer at the hands of those in power, he never loses his ability to look on the bright side, partly because he would rather forget what has happened than confront those responsible.