Mumbai is the largest city in India, with a population of over 12 million people living within the city proper and over 20 million living in the broader metropolitan area. It is located on the western coast of the country and is the capital of the state of Maharashtra. Despite being the epicenter of some of the country’s largest industries—including Bollywood—socioeconomic disparity remains one of Mumbai’s most pressing social issues. The second-largest slum in Asia, Dharavi, is located just north of the city center and houses roughly one million people. The people living in Dharavi typically belong to the most socioeconomically challenged castes in India, including a large percentage of Kolis—an agricultural and fishing caste—on the western side of the slum who are descended from the area’s original settlers. Despite extensive criticism of the caste system in modern India, ethnographic hierarchy still plays a key role in determining the quality of life for much of the country’s population and is manifest in the inequalities experienced by those living in Mumbai’s poorest neighborhoods.

In Thirst, Bajaj alludes to the influence of the caste system rather than discussing it in explicit terms (Minni’s caste is only mentioned a total of four times).