Sunil
Sunil is a young orphan who never knew her parents. Due to her inability to provide for herself well, she is a very petite little girl who has most likely permanently stunted her growth by malnutrition. She makes her living picking through heaps and heaps of garbage.
Abdul
Abdul has a family. Like his father before him, he is a garbage picker. Not very popular among the residents of Annawadi, Abdul keeps to himself whenever possible. When Fatima sets herself on fire, she tells the police that actually Abdul is to blame. He didn't in fact have anything to do with the incident, but he has made himself inconvenient and offensive to Fatima, so she took the opportunity to repay him for the trouble.
Fatima
Fatima lives alone. She's a young woman who is having a particularly difficult time. Perhaps suffering from some sort of mental disorder, she behaves erratically and cannot manage to maintain any semblance of emotional stability. Because she only has one leg, Fatima must work twice as hard to scrounge up a living. Finally, she breaks and sets herself on fire. The police intervene before she kills herself, but, when questioned, she blames Abdul and his family for the incident.
Manju
Having been raised in the environment of Annawadi, Manju is an amazingly resilient and ambitious person. She has determined to graduate from college, which would make her the first women from Annawadi to do so. Her quick wit and eager mind have led her to set her sights on leaving the system of poverty into which she was born.
Asha
Asha is Manju's mother. Most likely her ambition is what sparked her daughter's high hopes. Asha has made her goal to become a "slumlord," a sort of boss among the people of Annawadi. If she is successful, she will become one of the most powerful people in the neighborhood, but her choice has a cost. She must enmesh herself in the darkest, seediest corners of society in order to achieve this goal.
