BOOK RESOURCE: https://b-ok.cc/book/1259789/b4df11

We read and discussed Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers this week. The author shows us another “side” of prosperous Bombay (Mumbai). The book, based on years of interviewing and travel, vividly carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds.

Use the book as your primary source, build an argument and narrative to discuss myths and realities in contemporary India. This is an open-up question. You are not going to write a book review, but presenting some specific and in-depth analysis. Be sure to narrow down your focus, and select one or two themes discussed by Hessler. Below please find a list of themes that we discussed in class.

1. Class/Caste

2. Survival Tactics

3. Women and Gender

4. Social Mobility for the Poor

5. Democracy/ Corruption/ Election

6. Religion

7. Slum and its formation/Urban Poor

8. Other themes of your choice