I just finished reading the White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and here is what I felt about it. The book revolves around Balram, who hails from a typical rural set-up and is a classic story of one who rose from rags to riches. During one of his school inspections, he is labeled as a white tiger, a rarest creature in the jungle, only coming along once in every generation. He was labeled so, as he was one of the only students who could read and write. He enjoyed studying but his family borrows money from one of the landlords to pay for a cousin's dowry resulting which he has to leave school and start working in teahouses. However, he takes this also as an opportunity to learn which opens another avenue for him. He takes on the driving after convincing his grandmother to pay Rs 600 for his driving lessons. From then on begins new journey for his destiny with each chapter unfolding newer experiences that take him a step closer to a prosperous future. When Balram moves into Delhi with his master he becomes the silent spectator who witnesses ghastly picture of bribery and what it takes to sustain a fully running business. But more importantly he understands what it is to be poor. He is shown to accept humiliation after humiliation and is also expected to go the jail on behalf of his master’s wife, who kills a child when driving drunk. But in the end the ‘Sirf paisa bolta hai’ twist is added where he can kill his master to gain access to a huge sum of money. So our Mr.Balram’s journey from a harsh rural life to running a successful IT firm is enjoyable to read.
What I liked about this book was the narrative, how Balram writes his story in the form of letters to premier of China. Also the writer has done enough justice on describing the rural story of India and effectively painted a very disheartening picture. But overall when I closed the book, I didn’t have a very pleasant feeling, in fact was a little annoyed with it. One primary reason I picked this book of the shelf was that it won the 2008 Booker Prize and I was really looking forward to read something totally elating. But alas this was nothing more than another India bashing story. I think with this book winning the Booker prize, I can comfortably pen down the recipe for winning something international awards –portray the darker side of India in the most ghastly manner that you could. This concept sells like hot cakes in the western world especially in the US & UK. It works, as somehow even today the western world still relates to India as a land of snake charmers. But the truth is that despite this huge gap between the rich and poor, the metros and villages,India has progressed by leaps and bounds. Honestly, I am so fed of such books that talk of India in such a poor light under the cover of portraying the reality. The reality aspect of this book was the ‘zugadi’ nature of Indians, entrepreneurship that runs in the blood and how despite any situation, despite how much of a deep s*** the system is in, we still manage to run the show and we run it well!!!!It’s these league of men who have risen from rags understand the true worth of money and such stories that have taken India to where it is today. We need to stop singing about how harsh and sad the Indian system as its just one side of the story, why leave behind the happy side of our Bharat Mata ?
Comments
Post a Comment