How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"She's right, Lin," Karla added. "This is not India. There are people here from every part of India, but Bombay isn't India. Bombay is an own-world, a world in itself. The real India is out there." (1.2.81)
Basically every city that's bigger than average, or that has a university, in the world gets this kind of "own-world" treatment. We can't help but wonder why everyone is so worried about authenticity, and why the experience of Bombay, for example, can't be one of many versions of India.
Quote #5
And with the seed of that resolve, born in that convulsion and portent, Prabaker's dark circuit of the city began. When we resumed our tour, he took me to a slave market not too far from Dongri, an inner suburb famous for its mosques, bazaars, and restaurants specializing in Mughlai dishes. (1.3.73)
Given the stink and crowd of the descriptions of India that Lin has already shared, the idea of a "dark" tour of Bombay is pretty terrifying. The "convulsion and portent" is the horrific car crash and resulting violent mob that Prabu and Lin experience on their way to the tour. That pain and violence show up again in the slave market, which is listed as a tourist attraction alongside marketplaces and eateries. Dark, indeed
Quote #6
Just as the contracted lanes seemed, with every twist and turn, to belong to another age, so too did the appearance of the people change as we moved deeper into the maze. I saw less and less of the western-style cotton shirts and trousers, so common everywhere else in the city, until finally those fashions disappeared from all but the youngest children. (1.3.76)
Lin leaves the regular tourist route with Prabu to go to the slave market, and he compares the experience to going into a maze. This would indicate that there is only one way out, and that only someone with special knowledge could get out. This vision of the city as full of traps and requiring a guide is a pretty good summary of Lin's experience of it so far.