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Rahul Waghekar
The Corporator (political representative) of the Shiv Sena party in Annawadi’s ward. He pretends to be low-caste so that he can run in elections meant to help low-caste people earn a voice in government. The actual low-caste people of Annawadi know that Subhash lies, but they support him anyway because Subhash spends a small portion of government funds on real improvements in Annawadi. Subhash is an example of the ways that government programs meant to end discrimination against low-caste people rarely actually help those in need.
Subhash Sawant Quotes in Behind the Beautiful Forevers
The Behind the Beautiful Forevers quotes below are all either spoken by Subhash Sawant or refer to Subhash Sawant. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4 Quotes
They understood Subhash Sawant to be corrupt. They assumed he'd faked his caste certificate. "But he alone comes here, shows his face," Annawadians said. Before each election, he'd used city money or tapped the largesse of a prominent American Christian charity, World Vision, to give Annawadi an amenity: a public toilet; a flag- pole; gutters; a concrete platform by the sewage lake, where he usually stood when he came.
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Subhash Sawant Character Timeline in Behind the Beautiful Forevers
The timeline below shows where the character Subhash Sawant appears in Behind the Beautiful Forevers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Asha
...capital) to Annawadi. Yet now, northern immigrants outnumber the Maharashtrians, and the Shiv Sena Corporator, Subhash Sawant, is angry enough with Robert’s apathy about this that he is looking for a...
(full context)
Chapter 4: Manju
...or dengue fever again. Her mother, Asha, is also looking stressed these days, as Corporator Subhash Sawant has been accused of electoral fraud for impersonating a low-caste person to win the...
(full context)
...leave their children, who are supposed to be studying for school exams, for the night. Subhash himself appears at sundown and approves of the food and decorations that Asha has planned...
(full context)
...they could be using to clean or wait in line for water. At 11 pm, Subhash still hasn’t arrived. Asha tells Manju to give the people the food they had prepared....
(full context)
...the eve of his college graduation exams. But Asha is overjoyed at the noise when Subhash finally calls to say he won’t be coming and he thinks that the din is...
(full context)
...She specifically cultivates gentle behavior, hoping to distance herself from her mother. The afternoon after Subhash’s failed rally, she complains to Rahul about all the work she has to do, but...
(full context)
Chapter 12: Nine Nights of Dance
...skips ahead to late September 2008. Asha has become slumlord of Annawadi, promoted by Corporator Subhash Sawant for helping delay the trial for his faked caste documents. However, this success has...
(full context)
Chapter 16: Black and White
...the policemen she sleeps with finds a new mistress, and even her connection to Corporator Subhash Sawant goes sour once Subhash is dismissed from his post when a judge finds him...
(full context)
