Castaway Mountain

Love and Loss Among the Wastepickers of Mumbai

By: Saumya Roy

Narrated by: Jeed Saddy

All of Mumbai's possessions and memories come to die at the Deonar garbage mountains. Towering at the outskirts of the city, the mountains are covered in a faint smog from trash fires. Over time, as wealth brought Bollywood knock offs, fast food, and plastics to Mumbaikars, a small, forgotten community of migrants and rag-pickers came to live at the mountains' edge, making a living by reusing, recycling, and reselling.

Among them is Farzana Ali Shaikh, a tall, adventurous girl who soon becomes one of the best pickers in her community. Over time, her family starts to fret about Farzana's obsessive relationship to the garbage. Like so many in her community, Farzana, made increasingly sick by the trash mountains, is caught up in the thrill of discovery - because among the broken glass, crushed cans, or even the occasional dead baby, there's a lingering chance that she will find a treasure to lift her family's fortunes.

As Farzana enters adulthood, her way of life becomes more precarious. Mumbai is pitched as a modern city, emblematic of the future of India, forcing officials to reckon with closing the dumping grounds, which would leave the waste pickers more vulnerable than ever.

©2021 Saumya Roy (P)2021 Tantor

Dove into the world of Mumbai’s trash pickers

An informative book by an author who knows her subject matter well through years of first hand experience. I am professionally interested in economic development and the recycling sector in India so this book was in my wheelhouse. I learned more about India’s layered recycling supply chain through personal stories and through the history of Mumbai’s largest trash township. The subject matter is specific but if you are interested in this topic then I highly recommend this book.