"If you aren't part of the solution, are you part of the problem?"
Being part of the solution means fixing the problem, but the problem doesn't have to be revolved around you or what you are doing for you to help the situation. People all over the world are trying to find the answer to cancer or to huge problems that are occurring around them, and yes- They could be part of the problem, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are. "Being the solution" also doesn't entitle that you were part of the problem. The situation changes this though. If you are in a scenario where you are somewhere, but you can't leave, and that is the issue, then there is nothing they can do.
Lakshmi has been forced to be in the Happiness House and she has no say in leaving. Although she is part of the problem, she couldn't leave the hell house to be part of the solution. Girls being sold into prostitution is the issue. Lakshmi wanted to help the situation and not be a part of it, and she did so for as long as she could by not listening to Mumtaz and refusing to take part in the horrid acts she was demanded to follow through with. After many hours of being drugged into being part of the problem, she started to become friends with all the other girls who were there under the strict rules of Mumtaz, and she started to loose track of the days. Another part of the novel, Sold, that was a problem that Lakshmi doesn't try to fix is that when Pushpa was sick and being forced to continue with "work." There is no care for any of the girls who are there, and Lakshmi says nothing to Mumtaz about this, but this also doesn't make her part of the problem, because she has no real say in it, or she will be beaten or thrown out. Being part of the solution means fixing the problem, so would she still part of the solution if she tried?
You are totally right, because the fact that Lakshmi is drugged up before every customer makes it a little harder to say she is not trying to be a part of the solution. Prostitution itself is the problem. She just wants to support her family, and she will do what it takes. She even says "The lassi has made my brain too hazy to keep track of how many men have been here" (130). If is so drugged up that she can't even understand what is going on, how should she be expected to help fight the problem?
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