Opium

Opium is the drug of choice in Bombay in the 1970s and early 1980s, and symbolizes the corrosion of Indian society. Opium is highly addictive, and nearly every character in the novel is addicted to opium at some point. The quest to get high leads opium addicts to kill, brutalize, steal, manipulate, lie, and debase themselves in any possible way all for a high. Opium is ultimately crowded out by cocaine.

Strychnine

Strychnine is rat poison, and symbolizes just how low people are willing to go to get high and to make money. When cocaine begins pushing opium and other drugs out, dealers like Salim begin adding strychnine to their drugs to give them an extra kick to increase addiction and desire. The use of strychnine by both dealer and users demonstrates just how desperate and horrific they have become that they would get high and...