How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
A moment before, I had been drifting toward sleep. Suddenly I was hard awake. I plunged into memories and thoughts of my daughter, my parents, my brother; of the crimes I'd committed, and the loves I'd betrayed and lost forever. (2.9.67)
Up until this point, visiting Prabaker's village, Lin doesn't seem to think too much about what his life of crime has meant for others. He's been focused on how awful things are for him, how it's not exactly his fault because he was on drugs, and how of course he had to escape from prison because it was inhumane. Now he is seeing the effects his actions had on others.
Quote #8
It was technically illegal to sleep on the streets in Bombay. The cops enforced the regulation, but they were as pragmatic about it as they were about enforcing the laws against prostitution on the Street of Ten Thousand Whores. (2.9.71)
That little adverb, "technically," changes the meaning of the adjective "illegal." Talk about a modifier. When something is only "technically illegal" it's understood to be a victimless, unenforced crime. And poverty, in Bombay, is basically, technically, illegal. The cops realize how crazy it is to imprison people for sleeping on the streets when they've got nowhere else to go, so they are realistic about their roundups.
Quote #9
The worst thing about corruption as a system of governance, Didier once said, is that it works so well. (2.9.112)
Oh, Didier, you snarky, ironic Frenchman. Unfortunately, he's pointing out a super-widespread problem in Bombay, where everyone from the taxi drivers to the highest-ranking officials are corrupt (see the quotes above). The idea that it "works so well," seems crazy, but from Lin's description it does "work."