Chapter.8 "the seventh night"

Chapter 8.

page. 250-276


The seventh night

Summary: 

The 8th chapter is the last chapter of the book.
It’s about Balrams change from a hunted criminal into a solid pillar of Bangalorean city.

Balram remembers.

After Balram left Dehli he transferred from train to train,zigzagging his way down to Bangalore.
At one of the train stations he saw a police poster. It was his police poster. They were looking for him.
Balram had to find a way to fit in the city. Once again he overheard peoples conversations.
He heard people talking about American businesses and outsourcing.
He wanted to join the outsourcing movement one way or another.
The employees of these companies work at night and sleep during the day.
Walking home at night is dangerous especially for the female employees.
Balrams idea was a taxi service. He wanted a service to pick the employees up and bring them home safely.
Because there were already some taxi services in the city he counted on the police.
Balram gave one of the police officers some money and he said “ for all the going to do me,
sir.”
Balram rented some cars and got his first contracts.
His idea had grown into a big business. Nowadays Balram calls himself Ashok Sharma.

A couple of nights ago one of Balrams drivers drove a boy over. Balram took the blame.
Balram handed one of the policeofficers some money and the police didn't even report the case.
He also gave some money to the family of the boy and he offered the other son a job as a driver.

Balram thinks that the stork's family probably killed his family after he murdered Mr. Ashok but he tried not to think about them.
Dharam is the only family member he has left. He put him into an english school and feeds him.

In his last words he tells about his future plans. He’s thinking about real estate next and someday he’ll start an English school for poor kids in Bangalore.

This is the final sentence of his story:

“I’ll never say I made a mistake that night in Dehli when I slit my masters throat.
I’ll say it was a worth while to know, just for a day, just for an hour, just for a minute, what it meant no to be a servant.”

Personal Part: 

Something that is worth mentioning in this chapter is Balrams way of achieving everything he ever wanted.

He was brave enough to kill his master and to steal the money. Well now he just needed the a good idea to make a big business.
His idea was good but not a great one. It’s something other people did before he just knew how to do it better than everybody else.
A great idea is worth millions of dollars.

A good example for that is Bill Gates whofounded the internetcompany microsoft and invented the system "windows", the students who invented facebook etc. They all had a great idea which was worth a million of dollars.

Money gets to important. It turns friends into enemys.

Because Balram wanted to make the big businness and alot of money he fogott about his family and he traded their lifes for his carreer.


Links: 

This is an article about Bill Gates and his life
http://www.whoswho.de/templ/te_bio.php?PID=122&RID=1

 This is an article about the inventors of facebook.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/technology/01facebook.html

 Bill Gates

Zuckeberg inventor of facebook

Chapter.7 part.2 "the sixth night"

Chapter.7 part.2

page.219-247

the sixth night

Summary: 

Balram continues his story.

The next morning Balram was ready to make a full confession to Mr.Ashok .
Because he felt guilty for everything he had done.
Mr.Ashok wasn’t paying any attention to him. Because of his behavior Balrams feeling of guilt vanished.

One day Balram walked into a slum in Dehli. A slum even worse that Laxmangarh. The people who lived in the slum were the ones who built the malls for the rich.

When he came back he saw a young boy standing next to his bed. The boy was the son of one of Balrams sisters. His name was Dharam. They sent him to Dehli so he could become a driver like Balram.
Balram was the one who was supposed to take care of him.
The boy handed Balram a letter from Kusum.
She wanted him to sent money home to Laxmangarh. Otherwise they would tell his master about his behavior.
Besides that the called him selfish and she told him that she’ll arrange a marriage for him.
Balram took Dharam to a teashop and asked him some basic questions about what he had learned in school. Sitting in the teashop Balram noticed how black his heart has become.

One day he he drove Mr.Ashok and the Nepali girl around. He overheard a conversation between them. The Nepali girl gave Mr.Ashok the advice to fire the driver.

The great socialist got elected. From that day on Mr.Ashok had to pay even more money to the politicians.
Balram took a day off to show Dharam the zoo.
At the zoo they saw a white tiger in a cage. Balram fainted. Afterwards he wanted Dharam to write a letter to Kusum. He wanted him to write her about what happened in the zoo. He told him to write what he said after he woke up.

“ I can’t live the rest of my life in a cage, Granny. I’m sorry.”

One night he carried out his plan.
The took Mr.Ashok out to the woods.
He told him there would be a problem with one of the tires. He led him out of the car and waited for the right moment. He pulled a bottle over his head and killed Mr.Ash. Afterwards he threw him into the woods, took the red bag and left. He went and got Dharam and they flew.

Personal Part: 

National zoo in new dehli

The zoo was established in 1959.

The Delhi National Zoological Park lies near the famous Old Fort.

The zoo houses over one thousand varieties of animals, reptiles and birds.

The white tiger from Rewa, the elephant, which plays a harmonica and the leopard, are some of the highlights.

                       

The national zoo of Dehli is something I found interessting because I think the verieties of animals in Indian zoos is far more spread than in european zoos.

 I’ve never seen a white tiger but I whish I will someday. The white tiger seemes to be one of the proudest animals on this planet. The tiger is so seldom which makes him so misterious. There are also alot of other animal I would love to see.

Links:


Video of the white tiger in the cage:


http://ishare.rediff.com/video/nature-wildlife/white-tiger-at-delhi-zoo/282361

http://www.indianholiday.com/tourist-attractions/delhi/delhi-zoo/


http://www.indfy.com/places-to-see-in-delhi/central-delhi/delhi-zoo.html

http://www.bharatonline.com/delhi/tourist-attractions/zoological-park.html

Underneath i provided some pictures of the animals in the Delhi zoo

Chapter 7. part.1 "the sixth night"

Chapter 7. 

Page. 192-219

The sixth night


Summary:

„ the dreams of the rich and the dreams of the poor never overlap, do they?”

That’s how the 7th chapter starts off. 

The chapter mainly deals with Balrams hate for the riches and how his will to break out of the rooster developed more and more.

Balram remembers.
He showed vitiligo-lips the strand of the gold hair he found in the car. Balram asked him how much a girl like that costs.
The other driver thought Balram asked because his master wanted a blond girl. But Balram called himself his "own master".
Balram cheated on his master. He siphoned his petrol,He took his car to corrupt mechanic who billed him for work that was not necessary, and he picked up some paying customers.

After Balram got all the money he needed for a blond woman. 
He asked another driver to help him. He paid for a “gold-haired” woman and he got a girl with dyed blond hair.
He wanted his money back so he got into a fight with the procurer.

When he got back to his room Mr.Ashok was already waiting for him. The other driver told him that Balram went to a temple to say some prayers.
Mr. Ashok recognized the shape of Balrams room. He felt guilty and wanted Balram to get him something to eat. Something only poor people eat.

The Mongoose came back to Delhi. He told Mr.Ashok about the ministers demands for more money.
The Mongoose handed him a bag. He was supposed to use the bag everytime he handed over the money.
Balram hammered out a plan. He thought off killing Mr.Ashok, stealing the bag and leave.

At this point of the story he was still in an innerconflict. To risk a life in prison and maybe be lucky and break out off the coop or staying a driver until there is no more need for him .

One night he went to the secondhand book market of Darya Ganj.
He looked through some books and a Muslim red a poem to him.

“ you were looking for the key for years/ But the door was always open”

That poem sticked with Balram.
Balram felt guilty about his plan.

 Personal Part: 


You were looking for the keys for years/but the door was always open

That saying didn’t just stick with Balram it also sticked with me. It made me think about life and all the opportunities we have and the ones we simply don’t take.

There are so many chances in life and it’s a pity to see how we let those chances go.
Chances like education and achieving something in life, to be in love with someone who doesn’t love you in return and not seeing how other doors open. Sometimes the solution is right in front of us but we don’t see it because we’re looking for other ways and don’t just try the one which lays right in front of us. 

People think if you want to achieve something in life you have to have a great idea or a lot of luck but all you need is an education and you have to study hard and you can become whatever you want to be.
The door is open for everybody you just have to try.

Some people who are in love with someone who doesn’t love them in return think making him/her love me is going to be the key to be happy but if you just let go and look ahead you’ll see the door to happiness was always open.

Links:
These are two articels about the key to happiness


http://www.geometricvisions.com/writing/key-to-happiness/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186216,00.html

Chapter 6. "the sixth morning"

Chapter 6. 


Page. 167-189

The sixth morning 

Summary:

This chapter will mainly deal with “the sorrowful tale of how Balram was corrupted from a a sweet , innocent village fool into a citified fellow full of debauchery, depravity and wickedness”.

Balram thinks these changes happened because they happened first in Mr.Ashok.

Balram remembers.

The moment his brother left he changed.

One night he drove Mr.Ashok around. First they stopped at a disco.

Afterwards Mr.Ashok went into a hotel.

While Balram drove him around they looked at the girls on the streets.

Mr.Ashok walked out of the hotel with his hands around a girl. The girl looked like a Nepali .

They spent the night together.

The next morning Balram overheard a conversation between Mr.Ashok and the Nepali girl.

He figured out that she was his old love and not some pick up.

Another night Balram drove Mr.Ashok and the ministers assistant around.

They were drinking and the assistant kept talking about sexual needs.

He asked Mr.Ashok if he’s ever been with a white girl.

The ministers assistant called a blond girl from the Ukraine.

Mr. Ashok refused sleeping with another woman but the assistant didn’t care.

Mr.Ashok, the assistant and the girl went into a hotel for a while.

Like I mentioned before Balram also tells about his change.

One night he drove around in the car and he turned the music up.

 He also started looking through English magazines.

Balram tried more and more to break out of the rooster coop.

Personal Part: 

Sheraton hotel

Something i found particularly interesting while reading this chapter was the Sheraton hotel.
When I went to America I saw sheraton hotels almost everywhere I went.
And not just in America also in other countries I’ve been to.
I was always interested in the hotel chain so this time I took the opportunity and made some research about the Sheraton hotels.

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's largest and second oldest brand

In 1937 Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore acquired the Stonehaven hotel in Springfield Massachusetts.The chain got his name from another hotel the pair acquired.
Henderson and Moore had opened three hotels in Boston by 1939.
In 1945, it was the first hotel chain to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1949 Sheraton expanded internationally with the purchase of two Canadian hotel chains.
By 1965, the 100th Sheraton had opened its doors.

I think it’s amazing how the pair expended their business within 28 years from one hotel to 100 hotels around the world.

And still today the Sheraton chain is one of the best known.
 
 

Hotel in Bangalore