A Fine Balance: Characters

4 Characters: Dina, Ishvar, Om, Maneck. Ishvar is Om's nephew. Dina is widowed. Maneck college student. Dina Shroff, who was raised by her strict brother after her father died she meets Rustom Dalal. The couple fall in love and marry, but on their third wedding anniversary Rustom is killed in a bicycle accident, leaving Dina alone. Rustom’s aunt teaches Dina to sew her eyesight begins to fail, so she is forced to find another way to make money Her friend Zenobia introduces her to Mrs Gupta, who offers her some tailoring piece work She hires Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash, originally from a small village, to do the work. Ishvar’s father wanted a better life for his sons and so sent them to a neighbouring town to learn to be tailors They became the apprentices of Muslim tailor Ashraf Ishvar was seventeen, racial hatred of Muslims reached boiling point and any homes or shops belonging to Muslims were burnt to the ground Ishvar and his brother Narayan saved Ashraf’s shop by claiming it belonged to them, leaving Ashraf forever in their debt. Narayan returned to the village and set up a successful tailor business for lower caste people He married and had a son His business was very successful and it gave him enough money to build a proper house All was going well until Narayan discovered that the elections were being fixed by Thakur Dharamsi, a powerful land owner Narayan confronted Thakur, who had him tortured Not satisfied with just killing Narayan, Thakur decided to punish his whole family. Narayan’s wife, daughters and parents were tied up and burnt alive in their home. Omprakesh and Ishvar were the only ones to escape they continued working in their tailor shop, but were forced out of business when a ready-made clothing shop opened in the town. Maneck. He grew up in a mountain village, where his father was the proud owner of the local village store and