Sunil is introduced in this next section and we hear about his adventures and misadventures in the scrap foraging business. There is more depth about tragic happenings in Annawadi; one story in particular stuck with me about Zehrunisa, Abdul’s mother. Boo tells us about how she constantly yells at her children and calls them names because she thinks it’s good for them. This brings me to think about many of the differences between western life and life in India, a lot of which are mentioned in “Behind the Beautiful Forevers”. Abusive parents in the west are frowned upon and even punished, even for verbal abuse. But abusive parents in Annawadi don’t seem to even get more than a little neighborhood gossip.
Boo talks about many more differences between the two cultures as well. She talks about how western people will visit an area in India and basically only see what they want to see. If they are driving past a slum, they look away, if they see a homeless man, they ignore his pleads for food. As a part of the western civilization, I believe that we are conditioned to be this way. We are taught that people are trying to scam us and if we are lucky, we live in a world without poverty. This especially pertains to the types of people who can afford taking a luxurious vacation to Mumbai. But what Boo forgets to credit, are the people who do what she does. The people who go to India to be fully emerged in the culture and lifestyle of a typical Indian person. To be a well-rounded person, one needs to experience these kinds of things and realize they are not rare.
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