Q & A

Prologue

Reading Check

1. Dharavi (Prologue)

2. He is a waiter. (Prologue)

3. Billy Nada (Prologue)

4. Inspector Godbole (Prologue)

5. Smita Shah (Prologue)

Short Answer

1. The show cannot afford to pay Thomas the billion rupees promised, so they bribe the police to torture him until he confesses to cheating. (Prologue)

2. Godbole says that Thomas’s name mixes up all the religions. (Prologue)

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. Armaan Ali (Chapter 1)

2. In a theater (Chapter 1)

3. A clothes bin at the Church of St. Mary (Chapter 2)

4. He was an astronomer. (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Thomas watched Armaan Ali’s movie at the theater with Salim. (Chapter 1)

2. Six days after adopting him, his adoptive parents get a divorce and give him back to the church. (Chapter 2)

3. Father Timothy, the priest at the orphanage, is approached by two men from the Hindu and Muslim religions who tell the priest Thomas should have an Indian name. Father Timothy gives Thomas a Hindu name, Ram, and a Muslim name, Muhammed, to appease them. (Chapter 2)

4. After Father Timothy confronts Father John for his drug usage and relationships, Father John shoots Father Timothy and himself. (Chapter 2)

5. Gudiya’s abusive father, Mr. Shantaram, attempts to throw boiling water at his wife but misses and accidentally dumps it on Gudiya instead. (Chapter 3)

6. Thomas overheard Mr. Shantaram (a former astronomer) talk about it in his chawl next door. (Chapter 3)

Chapters 4-7

Reading Check

1. Mr. Gupta (Chapter 4)

2. He speaks English. (Chapter 4)

3. An Australian diplomat and spy (Chapter 5)

4. She uses voodoo. (Chapter 6)

5. On the train (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. It is not actually a school. Maman has intentionally crippled the children who live there so they can earn more money for him as beggars. He intends to blind Salim and Thomas. (Chapter 4)

2. Thomas learns Surdas’s songs while singing for Maman. (Chapter 4)

3. The Foreign Office discovers that Colonel Taylor is a spy, declares him persona non grata, and asks him to leave the country. (Chapter 5)

Chapters 8-12

Reading Check

1. Soldiers Benefit Fund (Chapter 8)

2. Acting (Chapter 9)

3. Motherhood (Chapter 10)

4. She overdoses on sleeping pills. (Chapter 10)

5. Raju Sharma (Chapter 11)

6. Rabies (Chapter 11)

7. Gudiya (Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. He witnessed Balwant Singh’s claims of gallantry and the chawl neighbors’ pleas for the Soldier’s Benefit Fund to reward Singh for his service. (Chapter 8)

2. Kahn is a gambler and a contract killer. Salim realizes Kahn has been hired to kill Rizvi, the famous producer. (Chapter 9)

3. Salim learns about cricket from Kahn and tells Thomas about it. (Chapter 9)

4. Thomas uses a lifeline to call the man he gave money to at the hospital. The man knows the correct answer because he is an English professor. (Chapter 11)

5. He wants to kill Prem Kumar because he is the man who beat up Nita and Neelima Kumari. (Chapter 12)

Epilogue

Reading Check

1. Foul play/murder (Epilogue)

2. Nita (Epilogue)

Short Answer

1. Thomas knew the answer to the final question, but Prem Kumar, realizing he knew the answer, changed the question so Thomas would lose. Prem Kumar ultimately reveals the answer to Thomas to spare his own life. (Various Chapters)

2. Thomas realizes that the choices he has made have brought him to a place of prosperity. Thomas believes that honesty and moral conduct lead to happiness. (Various Chapters)