jmthemes+in+slumdog+millionaire

Publisher’s weekly states the novel “exposes the predicament of India’s underclass in general.” Outlook says it “points at dilemmas in a country in a country where divisions of caste, class and above all, the wide abyss between rich and poor, nags at any notion of equality, education and social justice” - Ram as an orphan explains” street boys like me come at the bottom of the food chain. Above us are the petty criminals… extortionists…loan sharks…dons…big business houses. But above all of them are the police"
 * Slumdog Millionaire Themes **
 * 1) **Effects of poverty**

** //A Synopsis by IndiaOneStop.Com// **
 * Even more than 50 years after independence from almost two centuries of British rule, large scale poverty remains the most shameful blot on the face of India.
 * India still has the world’s largest number of poor people in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 350-400 million are below the poverty line, 75 per cent of them in the rural areas.
 * More than 40 per cent of the population is illiterate, with [|women], tribal and scheduled castes particularly affected.
 * It would be incorrect to say that all poverty reduction programmes have failed. The growth of the middle class (which was virtually non-existent when India became a free nation in August 1947) indicates that economic prosperity has indeed been very impressive in India, but the DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH has been very uneven.
 * The main causes of poverty are illiteracy, a population growth rate by far exceeding the economic growth rate for the better part of the past 50 years, protectionist policies pursued since 1947 to 1991 which prevented large amounts of foreign investment in the country.
 * Poverty alleviation is expected to make better progress in the next 50 years than in the past, as a trickle-down effect of the growing middle class. Increasing stress on education, reservation of seats in government jobs and the increasing empowerment of women and the economically weaker sections of society, are also expected to contribute to the alleviation of poverty.
 * Eradication of poverty can only be a very long-term goal in India.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] Percent of population living [|under the poverty line], which is 356.35 rupees or around $7 a month in rural areas. Among the causes ascribed for the high level poverty in India are its history under [|British rule], large population, low literacy, societal structure including the caste system and role of women, dependence on agriculture, and the economic policies adopted after its independence. Since 1950s Indian government and non-governmental organizations have initiated several programs to alleviate poverty, including subsidizing food and other necessities, increased access to loans, improving agricultural techniques and price supports, and promoting education and family planning. These measures have helped eliminate famines, cut absolute poverty levels by more than half, and reduced illiteracy and malnutrition.[|[3]]
 * Poverty in India** is widespread with the nation estimated to have one of the largest concentration of poor people in the world and housing a third of the world's poor. According to the a 2005 [|World Bank] estimate, 42% of [|India]'s falls below the [|international poverty line] of $1.25 a day ([|PPP], in nominal terms Rs. 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs 14.3 in rural areas); having reduced from 60% in 1980.[|[1]] According to the criterion used by the [|Planning Commission of India] 27.5% of the population was living below the [|poverty line] in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994[|[2]]

The boys are maimed to maximise their earning potential as they have to rely on the sympathy of the public. With so many baggars, genuine and not, they have to be seen to be more deserving therefore more hurt or deformed. It is an oversupplied market so Maman has to fight hard for his market share and niche. This is made explicit when the music tutor says"When he (Salim) sings it is magic.And his face. Who can resist his face? I would say easily a potential of four or five hundred rupees. We have hit the jackpot Maman. Our response as NZders is horror at this complete exploitation and lack of humanity. It is like human slavery and a world aprt from the Welfare state where the government has a responsibility to look after its weakest members. Children are generally not orphaned or abandoned. There is a benefit system to provide care and support for a parent and child, foster homes and CYF agencies to monitor care. Ram and Salim are given a way out by the kindness of Neelima.Radney states"Whenever I am a little short, I go to her. She not only gives me food, she gives me money to cover the shortfall. || Chawls are described as the " a bundle of one-room tenements occupied by the lower middle classes ..the smelly armpit of Mumbai. We, who reside in the overcrowded chawls, we simply live." It is a common roof over their heads and a "common place where they shit and bathe. The residents of thechawl may not meet each other for social occasions, but they have to meet while standing in a queue outside the common lavoratories. ... the walls of the rooms within the chawl are very thin ...you can listen to amost everthing going on in the next room." The easiest way to understand them is to imagine them is a crowded block of boarding houses/ homeless shelters/ bedsits/ one room dwellings which are very overcrowded. The way to survive is outlined by the manager to Ram."Whatever happens inside the four walls of a home is a private matter for that family and we cannot interfere You are a young orphan boy. You have not seen life.But I know the dialy stories of wife-beating and abuse and incest and rape, which take place all over Mumbai.Yet no one does anything. We Indians have this sublime ability to see the pain and misery around us and yet remain unaffected by it.So, like a proper Mumbaikar.close your eyes, close your ears, close your mouth and you will be happy like me." So the principle of hear no evil, see no evil and touch no evil is a means to stay alive. Ram rejects the advice and becomes his brother's keeper; takes responsibility for others and wants to make a difference. Ram and Salim are just boys but can afford to pay the rent and that is all that is asked of them. They live among all sorts of people.
 * Maman**
 * We are appalled by the callous and calculating cruelty of Maman towards the boys in his charge. He takes advantage of poor, street kids because he has money and so has power over them. He misleads them into thinking that they are ging to have a good life but actually he ruins them. Ashok states "We are not schoolchildren. We are beggars. We are quired to give (their earnings) to Maman's men in return for food and shelter. He is no angel, but at least he gives us two meals a day." Their immediate need for food has to take over and so they are trapped into the cycle of poverty. When a boy does not earn the rquired 100 rupees per day, "he reamins hungry."
 * Life in the chawls**

-**is a 17 year old from the Bhind district in Madhya Pradesh. The community's tradition is for one girl from each family to serve as a communal prostitute called the Bedni. The girl earns money for her family while the men spend their time drinking and playing cards. "is dark and beautiful, with lovely kohl-lined eyes, luscious painted lips and long black hair plaited with fragrant white flowers. She wears excessive make up and her arms and neck are bedecked with jewellery." -when asked why she is a prostitute she says."Because my beauty became a bane. My mother had the right to decide which of her two daughters would marry and which one would become a prostitute. She chose me to become the Bedni. Perhaps if i had been plain looking like my sister I would not have been sent here. This is the price i have to pay for beauty so don't call me beautiful." We get a glimpse at her predestined future. "Who will marry a prostitute? We are supposed to work till our bodies start to sag or till we die of disease, whichever is sooner." Again the poor have no choices -she says "it is better to die of disease tomorrow than hunger today.." when Ram asks her about her fear of getting a disease. "look, this is a profession for me, not a hobby. it gives me enough to feed me and my entire family.If I was not doing this, my family would have died from hunger long ago." -her brother Shyam acts as her pimp but will not release her and lose her earning potential. He has condoned her injuries as he allowed Prem Kumar to see her for 5000 rupees. As a result "she has cigarette burns all over her chest looking like ugly pock marks." She has "deep welt marks on her back as if someone has used a horse whip." -her recovery requires even more money so entering the contest W3B Who Wants To Win a Billion is Ram's only chance of earning it; her injuries become his motivation.
 * Nita -Insight into tribal life

Poverty estimates
The [|World Bank] estimates that 456 million Indians (42% of the total Indian population) now live under the global poverty line of $1.25 per day (PPP). This means that a third of the global poor now reside in India. However, this also represents a significant decline in poverty from 60 percent in 1981 to 42 percent in 2005, although the rupee has decreased in value since then, while the official standard of 538/356 rupees per month has remained the same.[|[4]][|[5]] [|Income inequality] in India ([|Gini coefficient]: 32.5 in year 1999- 2000)[|[6]] is increasing. On the other hand, the [|Planning Commission] of India uses its own criteria and has estimated that 27.5% of the population was living below the [|poverty line] in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994[|[7]]. The source for this was the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the criterion used was monthly per capita consumption expenditure below Rs. 356.35 for rural areas and Rs. 538.60 for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are [|daily wagers], self-employed householders and landless labourers. Although Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.[|[3]] Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for [|Gujarat] (8.8%), [|Haryana] (8.7%), or [|Delhi] (7.4%) were much higher than for [|Bihar] (5.1%), [|Uttar Pradesh] (4.4%), or [|Madhya Pradesh] (3.5%).[|[8]] Poverty rates in rural [|Orissa] (43%) and rural [|Bihar] (41%) are among the world's most extreme.[|[9]] The [|India State Hunger Index] 2008 by the [|International Food Policy Research Institute]. [|Punjab] has the best nutritional situation, whereas malnutrition in [|Madhya Pradesh] is worse than in [|Ethiopia] or [|Sudan]. India has a higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three (46% in year 2007) than any other country in the world.[|[3]][|[10]] Despite significant economic progress, 1/4 of the nation's population earns less than the government-specified [|poverty threshold] of 12 rupees per day (approximately USD $0.25). Official figures estimate that 27.5%[|[11]] of Indians lived below the national poverty line in 2004-2005.[|[12]] A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees (approximately USD $0.50 nominal; $2 PPP) per day.[|[13]] As per the 2001 census, 35.5% of Indian households availed of banking services, 35.1% owned a radio or transistor, 31.6% a television, 9.1% a phone, 43.7% a bicycle, 11.7% a scooter, motorcycle or a moped, and 2.5% a car, jeep or van; 34.5% of the households had none of these assets.[|[14]] Comparison with NZ**
 * 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] hide] * [|1] [|Liberal Government reforms] 
 * Social welfare** has long been an important part of [|New Zealand] society and a significant political issue. It is concerned with the provision by the state of benefits and services. Together with [|fiscal welfare] and [|occupational welfare], it goes to make up [|social policy] of New Zealand.
 * ==Contents==
 * [|2] [|State housing]
 * [|3] [|Unemployment benefit]
 * [|3.1] [|Unemployment Act 1930]
 * [|3.2] [|Social Security Act 1938]
 * [|3.3] [|Unemployment Benefit today]
 * [|4] [|Universal superannuation]
 * [|5] [|Family benefit]
 * [|6] [|Domestic Purposes Benefit]
 * [|7] [|Health benefits (Sickness Benefit and Invalid's Benefit)]
 * [|7.1] [|Social Security Act 1938]
 * [|7.2] [|Controversies]
 * [|8] [|Minimum Wage]
 * [|9] [|Major Changes to Social Welfare in New Zealand]
 * [|9.1] [|Cutbacks of the 1990s]
 * [|9.2] [|Working for Families]
 * [|9.3] [|Working New Zealand: Work Focused Support]
 * [|10] [|External websites]
 * [|11] [|See also]
 * [|11.1] [|Comparisons]
 * [|12] [|References] ||

[[|edit]] Liberal Government reforms
Among the early forms of social welfare in [|New Zealand] was the old age [|pension], introduced by the [|First Liberal Government] in 1898. The scheme was introduced to avoid what MP [|William Pember Reeves] described as the "worst social evils and miseries" referring to the [|British] [|workhouses] where the elderly lived in spartan institutional circumstances. The pension scheme was non-contributory and was available only to the "deserving poor"; men and women who had become destitute though no fault of their own. A decade later a widows' pension was introduced for women with children who had lost their husbands. The Liberals also passed the [|Workers Dwellings Act] in 1905 allowing the government to buy land, build houses, and rent them to workers and their families. The small-scale scheme that resulted from this legislation can be seen as a precursor to the much larger state housing introduced by the first [|Labour] government in the 1930s.[|[1]] 

[[|edit]] State housing
Main article: [|State housing] The government provides State housing to those in need. The number of houses owned by the State has varied over the years and between different governments. Currently the level of rent paid in state hosuing is related to the level of income of the people living in the house (income-related rents) so that those on low incomes pay below market rents. Where a household's income is relatively high the rents are set at the market rate. In addition to the provision of State housing the government also provides an Accommodation Supplement. This is payable as a contribution to rent, board or mortgage payments for qualifying people. However, you cannot receive an Accommodation Supplement if you are paying income-related rents in a State house. In some instances a person may also qualify for a rates rebate to help with the cost of local government rates. 

[[|edit]] Unemployment Act 1930
In 1930, while Prime Minister [|George Forbes] was in [|London] for the [|1930 Imperial Conference], the [|United] Government passed the Unemployment Act, promising relief payments to those who registered as [|unemployed]. Upon his return to New Zealand in January 1931, Forbes announced there would be no payments made without work, meaning those registered would have to participate in government 'make work' schemes such as building roads and working on farms or in forestry projects. When the register was opened in February, 23,000 people put their names down; by June the number of registered unemployed had risen to 51,000 as the [|Great Depression] worsened. The register did not include women, [|Māori], or boys under 16. In 1933 (by which time the number of unemployed had reached 80,000), MP [|Gordon Coates] introduced the Small Farms (Relief of Unemployment) Bill to help turn unemployed workers into small farmers.[|[1]] 

[[|edit]] Social Security Act 1938
After winning the [|1935 election] the newly elected Labour government immediately issued a [|Christmas] bonus to the unemployed.[|[1]] However, a regular [|unemployment benefit] was not introduced until the passing of the [|Social Security Act] in 1938; that benefit was "payable to a person 16 years of age and over who has been in New Zealand for at least 12 months and is unemployed, is capable of and willing to undertake suitable work, and has taken reasonable steps to secure employment"[|[2]] 

[[|edit]] Unemployment Benefit today
The criteria for receiving an [|unemployment benefit] remain similar to the original 1938 legislation, the main differences being that the applicant must now be over 18 years of age and have lived in New Zealand for two years. The requirement for the applicant to take reasonable steps to find employment is more enforced though a "Job Seeker Agreement", a contract between the applicant and [|Work and Income New Zealand]. Current benefit levels are between $115.94 and $249.10 a week depending on the applicant's age and living situation.[|[3]] From September 2007 there has been a number of changes to the delivery of unemployment benefits, the changes focus mainly on youth with a goal of having all 15-year-olds to 19-year-olds engaged in employment, training, or education. People applying for the unemployment benefit will be required to undertake work or training-related activities in the period between their first contact with Work and Income and their benefit commencing. They will also be required to look for and accept any offer of suitable work during that time.[|[4]] Similar new measures will also apply to people on [|Sickness Benefit and Invalid's Benefit], and the Domestic Purposes Benefit. Beneficiaries could have their benefits cut by up to 50% if they fail to comply. These new measures have been criticised by the DPA (formerly Disabled Persons Assembly) a spokesperson told the [|New Zealand Herald] "Disabled people have been telling Social Welfare for years that we want to work, but we want the appropriate kind of work,"[|[5]] 

[[|edit]] Universal superannuation
The 1938 Social Security Act introduced a means-tested old age [|pension] at age 60 and universal superannuation at age 65. In the 1970s the [|third National government] created a superannuation scheme that paid 80% of the average wage to married people over 60.[|[1]] Currently superannuation is paid to all aged 65 and over--provided they have lived in New Zealand for at least 5 years after age 50--and is taxable. The amount depends on the superannuitant's household situation. For a married couple the net of tax amount is set by legislation to be no less than 65% of the net average wage, although the current government has increased payments to ensure it is no less than 66% of net average wage. Rates are also payable for people living alone and for single people in shared accommodation. 
 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Wiki_letter_w.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w.svg.png width="20" height="20" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w.svg"]] || This section requires [|expansion]. ||

[[|edit]] Family benefit
The 1911 Widow's pension provided to some extent for families without other means of support, but it was subject to means testing. A family allowance was introduced in 1926, payable at two shillings a week for each child over two years old, but still subject to means testing. The Social Security Act of 1938 extended and modified existing pension arrangements, and added a social security tax to pay for them [|[6]]. On [|1 April] [|1946], the family benefit was increased to 10 shillings a week and the means test was dropped. The social security tax was raised but this was compensated for by the dropping of the national security (war) tax. This increased family benefit was payable for all children up to the age of sixteen, or up to the end of the year when the child turned eighteen if they were in full-time education or unable to earn a living due to incapacitation [|[7]]. Since the benefit was normally paid to the mother, many women gained their first ever independent source of household income.[|[8]] The family benefit was increased to 15 shillings per week per child in 1958-9, and was able to be capitalized up to a maximum of £1000 when buying, altering, or paying off a home from 1959-60.[|[9]] Family benefits were abolished on [|1 April] [|1991] .[|[10]] In effect, they were partly replaced by more targeted allowances for low-income families. On [|1 April] [|2005], the [|Working for Families] package was introduced. The package provides, among other things, tax-credits for working families with children, and aims to reduce [|child poverty in New Zealand]. 
 * < **“** || A woman with two children received the equivalent of at least a full day's pay for a labourer as benefits, unlike wages, were not taxed. Most women received more as the average number of children born to mothers in the 1950s was 3.4. ||> **”** ||
 * —Ann Beaglehole, Benefiting Women: Income Support for Women, 1893-1993, p 10 ||

[[|edit]] Domestic Purposes Benefit
Main article: [|Domestic Purposes Benefit] The **Domestic Purposes Benefit** (**DPB**) was first introduced in [|New Zealand] in 1974. It provides State financial support primarily for single mothers, irrespective of whether the father was contributing to maintenance payments (a feature of earlier legislation). There is a small number of fathers on DPB. While there is a Widow's Benefit for women with children whose partner has died, this is not available to men. There are three forms of Domestic Purposes Benefit: The rate of payment of a DPB is greater than the rate paid for the Unemployment Benefit and the Sickness Benefit. The rate of payment for the DPB: Care for the Sick or Infirm is the same as for the Invalid's Benefit. For people with a child collecting the DPB: Sole Parent benefit they are encouraged to name the other partner and to seek [|Child support] payments. There is a financial penalty for Sole Parents (section 70A of the Social Security Act 1964) who do not seek child support without sufficient reason. Any child support payments are generally used to offset the State cost of the DPB payment, with any excess going to the sole parent. 
 * DPB: Sole Parent
 * DPB: Care for the Sick or Infirm
 * DPB: Woman Alone

[[|edit]] Social Security Act 1938
Two types of health benefits were introduced with the 1938 legislation, the **Invalid's Benefit** and the **Sickness Benefit**. The Invalid's Benefit is paid to those permanently incapacited or totally blind (excluding those already receiving an age benefit). Applicant must have been at least 16 years of age and residentially qualified. The applicant was residentially qualified when their incapacity arose in New Zealand or they were resident in New Zealand on [|4 September] [|1936] and had lived in New Zealand for at least 10 years immediately before applying for the benefit. In 2007 the residence requirement was set at two years. The Sickness Benefit is payable to those who are temporarily incapacited from working through sickness or accident, excluding the first seven days of incapacity. In order to qualify, an applicant must have suffered a loss of salary, wages, or other earnings, and have resided in New Zealand for at least 12 months. The rate of benefit at the time it was introduced could not exceed the loss of earnings through incapacity. The rate now is currently the same as the Unemployment Benefit. As with other benefits introduced in 1938, the applicant had to be over 16 years of age.[|[2]] 

[[|edit]] Controversies
In recent years the government has been accused of exaggerating drops in unemployment by transferring people to Sickness Benefits[|[11]], welfare commentator Lindsay Mitchell wrote in an October 2006 press release "There is a constant flow between benefits. Taking this into account the net gain from the unemployment benefit to the sickness benefit over the five years to April 2005 was 20,870. Over the same period the net gain from the Sickness Benefit to Invalid's Benefit was 26,302, bearing in mind the same beneficiary may have been transferred more than once."[|[12]] Ruth Dyson, Minister for Social Development and Employment, reported, "...the main reason for people leaving the unemployment benefit is to enter paid work. In the last 8 years, 8.8 percent of all unemployment benefit cancellations were the result of a transfer to the sickness benefit, and less than one-third of 1 percent of all unemployment benefit cancellations were the result of a transfer to the invalids benefit. Those figures should finally put to rest the accusation that the Opposition spokesperson on social welfare consistently makes that these outstanding figures for the reduction in those on the unemployment benefit are as a result of a transfer to another benefit. That is not true; they are the result of people moving into paid work."[|[13]] On [|October 26], [|2006] the government announced a number of changes to the welfare system. Then Minister for Social Development and Employment [|David Benson-Pope] later stated that, when implemented, the reforms will move between 3,000 and 6,000 people off the Sickness Benefit.[|[14]] 

[[|edit]] Minimum Wage

 * [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Wiki_letter_w.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w.svg.png width="20" height="20" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w.svg"]] || This section requires [|expansion]. ||

[[|edit]] Cutbacks of the 1990s
Main article: [|Ruthanasia] In the early 1990s the [|fourth National government] embarked on a [|free market] programme aimed at reducing state spending and 'dependence on the state'. Welfare benefits were drastically cut, and 'user-pays' charges were introduced for many formerly free public services. These policies were widely known as '[|Ruthanasia]' after [|Finance Minister] [|Ruth Richardson], although the welfare portfolio was managed by Social Welfare Minister [|Jenny Shipley]. The impact of these changes was particularly pronounced as the unemployment rate was high due to the [|1987 stockmarket crash] and the cost-cutting programmes of the previous [|fourth Labour government], which had reduced the staff of many state services such as [|New Zealand Rail]. The cutbacks have been partially reversed by the [|fifth Labour government], but inflation means that in real terms benefits are still lower than before the cuts. 

[[|edit]] Working for Families
In 2004 the [|New Zealand] [|Labour]-led coalition government introduced the **[|Working for Families]** package as part of the 2004 Budget. The package, which commenced operating on [|1 April] [|2005], has three primary aims: to make work pay; to ensure income adequacy; and to support people into work. The **Working for Families** package includes several components: Because parts of the package use tax credits it is also delivered by the [|Inland Revenue Department]. The package is thought to cover approximately 75% of all families with dependent children. It was progressively implemented between October 2004 and April 2007.
 * Main article: [|Working for Families]
 * Working for Families [|Tax credits]
 * increases in Childcare Assistance
 * increases in Accommodation Supplement payments
 * changes to some benefit rules



-the idea of reaping what you sow, getting what you deserve, karma, is relevant to the stories of many characters, both Ram and the minor characters -one can argue whether it is fate or the subtle hand of Ram that assists the natural sense of justice we see when those who do evil and exploit others, are punished, often by an unrelated agent. -this adds to the fairytale, morality tale or the universality of the story where the “good” guys win.
 * 1) **What goes round comes round**

Case Studies: suggests. As commentators have indicated, he represents the modern India –a fusion of Hindu, Moslem and Christian influences. -interestingly instead of resenting his orphan status and the fact that he was abandoned at a church, Ram has an idealised or romantic view of his mother as a good woman in distress. She is a tall and graceful young woman wearing a white sari…long black hair blows across her face…With tears streaming from her eyes, she smothers the baby’s face with kisses. She places him in a bin… She takes one final look at the baby, averts her eyes and then, running away from the camera, disappears into the night… -he has fused this scene with scenes from Bollywood movies also -the significant thing is that Ram becomes a chivalric hero himself who has a strong code of honour and rescues damsels in distress (see note on motif and character notes) -see timeline for chronology of his life - things do not come right for him until the very end of the novel, but there is a sense that this hero deserves his prize –the money, girl and reputation at the end
 * Ram** is an everyman character as his name Ram Mohammod Thomas

-every chapter illustrates this idea too. In each experience in his life, often tragic he is often not only the agent of justice but it is from his experiences that he literally learns facts and lessons that enable him to answer all the questions correctly.

Refer to your homework fishbone summary and timeline of his life to link his experience with the question and answer.


 * Experience || Action Ram took || Question || Answer || Rupee Value ||

- he is brought up by Father Timothy and innocently confesses that he “peeped inside Father John’s room though the keyhole …and looked at some of his things without his permission.-he later reports “Father John is doing something bad to Ian.” -the next morning Father John has murdered Father Timothy and killed himself

-gives us an insight into Bollywood and the issues of celebrities”they live in a fish bowl. First they hate it, then, as adulation grows, they start loving it. And when people no longer shower attention on them, they just shrivel up and die” -probably based on the Bollywood actress Meena Kumari Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] Kumari gained a reputation for playing grief-stricken and tragic roles, and her performances have been praised and reminisced throughout the years. Like one of her best-known roles, Chhoti Bahu, in //[|Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam]// (1962), Kumari became addicted to alcohol. Her life and prosperous career were marred by heavy drinking, troubled relationships, an ensuing deteriorating health, and her death from [|liver cirrhosis] in 1972. Kumari is often cited by media and literary sources as "The Tragedy Queen", both for her frequent portrayal of sorrowful and dramatic roles in her films and her real-life story.[|[1]][|[2]]Neelima is a symbol or example for the confusion of what is real and what is Bollywood –appearance and reality -Neelima gives Ram a job as a servant after he and Salim escape the clutches of Maman –with his pay he is able to live with Salim in a chawl -her bedroom is a shrine to her achievements with the glass shelves which line the walls all “loaded with trophies and awards of all kinds. There is another glass case full of old film magazines. All of them have Neelima Kumari on the cover.” She has 114 casettes of the films in which she starred and although the tragedy queen of India says to Ram ”I feel I have yet to play the greatest role of my life” -Has an”air of melancholy” about her; has “an obsession about beauty” has lotions and potions for everything as “we get so used to seeing ourselves in make up that we no longer have the courage to look in the mirror and see our real faces. Remember, an actor must be an actor for life. Films may end but the show must go on” -ironic that the man who had came to rob her ends up having cups of tea ”just because he has seen a few of her films she feeds him biscuits and tea” -has a relationship with a man who is vaguely familiar who abuses her –she has a black eye, bruises on her face and cigarette burns on her arm; she has also given him cigarettes, whisky and money –she justifies the treatment by saying ”you have to feel pain, experience it, live it in your daily life before you can become a tragedy queen” ”Sometimes I feel if pain can be this sweet, how exquisitely pleasurable death will be” –almost invokes/ welcomes death with this twisted logic -recalls her role in a film called Woman with the lines ”Oh life, how fickle you are, it is death which is my real lover, my constant companion. Come death, take me in your arms, whisper the sweet sound of silence in my ears and waft me away to the land of eternal love” -later her injuries are more serious –swollen cheek, cut above eyebrow and “cigarette burn marks all over her chest” –in her sorrow draws Ram to her “for the first time I felt that I was not an orphan anymore. That I had a real mother, one whose face I could see, one whose flesh I could touch”p265/6 “It is the destiny of a woman to suffer in silence” but she later decides to stop taking all the preservative creams and treatments and commits suicide -sadly ironic that the “real tragedy” is not a film but how she was reported when her body was found. Ram had run away out of fear and the authorities discover her body after a month “a rotting corpse… the face and body have decomposed beyond recognition” -expresses the wish to also “want to die young” -cannot accept change in roles offered and her haughty reaction makes Ram quip”I am unable to figure out whether this is a comedy, a drama or a tragedy” -Father John treats Ram in a disparaging way calling him “idiot boy.” -he seems a bikie who wears leathers and is a homosexual possibly involved with pornography too Ram is brought up by Father Timothy and innocently confesses that he “peeped inside Father John’s room though the keyhole …and looked at some of his things without his permission.-he later reports “Father John is doing something bad to Ian.” -the next morning Father John has murdered Father Timothy and killed himself when his activities with Ian are brought to light
 * Neelima Kumar**
 * Meena Kumari** or **Mahjabeen Bano** (August 1, 1932 - March 31, 1972), was an Indian movie actress and poetess. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of [|Hindi Cinema]. During a career spanning 30 years from her childhood to her death, she starred in more than ninety films, many of which have achieved classic and cult status today.
 * Father John**

Preys on the most vulnerable in society –orphan children - takes boys form the Juvenile Homes, teaches them to sing eg songs from Surdas a blind poet, maims them eg burning their eyes out so they can evoke the most sympathy and earn him money –a modern day Fagin from Oliver Twist - p108 “ one by one the children start trickling in and challenge our definition of hell. I see boys with no eyes; boys with bent and misshapen limbs, dragging themselves to the table; boys with two gnarled stumps for lesgs, walking on crutches; boys with grotesque mouths and twisted fingers, eating bread between their elbows.” The listing makes it more horrific - -they learn more from the boys themselves – - Ashok –a 13 year old with a deformed arm says of Maman ”he is no angel but at least he gives us two square meals a day” - Raju a blind ten year old tells them “you don’t get food. You sleep hungry” if you don’t earn 100 rupees a day - Radhey “an eleven year old with a leg missing” tells them about the kindness of Neelima and her need for servant help - Moolay says there is no point escaping as “you need to have connections even to sleep in a sewage pipe” Sikanda a “rat child” also Jitu the glue sniffer reinforce the despair of the boys there - Ram only finds out plan “to do them tonight” by accident but it reinforces his previous unease and he has the wit to plan an escape - Later when Salim is launching his film career and coincidently takes a photo of Maman and gives it to Ahmed Khan in an envelope which gets him assassinated, the reader feels that justice has been done
 * Maman**

-Shantaram abuses his wife and daughter, physically, sexually and verbally -he introduces himself as ‘a scientist, an astronomer” and we are initially sympathetic towards him as a colleague has stolen his idea and claimed the glory; his descent in fortune mirrors his failure to control his anger and alcoholism to the point where the family has to live in a chawl -as his alcoholism and despair increase, so does his violence –he threatens violence “You will receive a hiding with my leather belt.” One night he exceeds all limits and throws a piping hot cup of tea at his wife” Then “The next night Shantaram again comes home in a drunken stupor and tries to molest Gudiya” -at the end of the chapter he ends up spread-eagled at the bottom of a stairwell after being pushed down by Ram through the rickety railing which the manager had not bothered to fix despite requests. Ram panics”Only when I see Shantatam’s limp body on the ground do I realise what I have done.” NB Later we discover that he is only injured not killed and Gudiya changes her name and intended study and becomes a lawyer who in turn rescues Ram -
 * Shantaram**

- a contract killer “licensed to kill” - makes money on betting on cricket matches - shows us an insight into match fixing and the huge black market involved in India that has implicated many well known players eg Chris Cairns - he saved Salim on a bus which was attacked by Hindus in a sectarian round of violence - Salim lives comfortably there as a servant and gets a contract with Abbas Rizvi as a junior artisit in Bollywood films –similar to being used as an extra - When he discovers that Rizvi is to be a target ‘I immediately went to Rizvi and told him about the contract on him” - In return Salim is promised a big part in his next film and “he is funding my acting course” - Salim uses his initiative and implements his own justice when he changes the photo of Abbas Rizvi with the photo he took of Mr Babu Pillau and Maman’s address - Salim “got licence to kill by proxy and he chose the perfect target” - in the end, Khan loses a lot of money when a cricket bet backfires and he was shot by police in a shhotout.
 * Ahmed Khan**

-we are first introduced to him when he and his wife buy off “these bloody Indians ‘ with alcohol so servants don’t have to fill in the census. “Give them a bottle of whisky and they’ll do anything.” –through this we also see the corruption and systematic breakdown of govt - is the Australian Defence Attache and inside his home is known as “the man who knows.” -he is able to solve every mystery and knows who has stolen, had forbidden relationships etc –gives them only “one chance” -his detective work parallels the van with the flashing red light but we later find it is because of his surveillance - We presume it is Ram who has informed the police, with an Australian twang to “go to the India Gaite tonight at aite”as he has practised it as a joke -Ram has a sense of patriotism and is affronted that Colonel Taylor is getting “sensitive and top secret documents” from a clerk in the Ministry of Defence -he also wants to even up the score as Colonel Taylor abused his wife because of her affair with the High Commisioner -note that Ram voluntarily brings his comfortable and secure job to an end by acting on this matter of principle –but does get the 50,000 rupee question and pay.
 * Colonel Taylor**

-a B grade actor who holds a 29% share in the Indian subsidiary of New age Telemedia so has a huge financial investment in the show "Who Wants to Win a Biilion?" -earlier when ram sees him leaving Neelima's place he describes him"Tall with a decent face but his bloodshot eyes and scruffy hair spoilt the looks. He is clad in blue jeans and a white shirt.He holds a sheaf of currency notes and a lghted cigarette in his left hand and twirls some car keys in his fingers. He seems vaguely familiar" -he seems to be paid for having sex with Neelima and that seems to feed hisv arrogance and lack of respect for her. He abuses her physically with bruises, burning her with cigarette butts and later punches her "I see the cigarette marks all over her chest,looking like little black craters" - later he pays Nita as a prostitute and abuses her too. She has "deep red welt marks on herv slim back,as if someone has used a horse whip." -as a wealthy celibrity he abuses his power and thinks he can inflict harm and cruelty without any consideration; he exploits the women as they are poor and vulonerable -Neelima because she is weak and dependent emotionjally and Nita because her earnings help her family and her brother ensures she keeps going. _to Ram who is the saviour of the vulnerable and had loved Nellima as a mother and Nita as a husband to be, this is intolerable. "I have seen this before. I will kill him." -enters the quiz` show for the purpose of revenge and to win the money and free Nita -Prem Kumar confesses what he did. -when Ram's credibilty is proven and Smita forces the police to free him and the producers to pay up, Prem Kumar dies of CO2 poisoning when he shuts himself in the car. It is suspected he was killed by W3B people in revenge for their huge financial loss."the thugs financing the show probably took their revenge on him."
 * Prem Kumar**