Book: The White Tiger
Author: Aravind Adiga
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 276
Read On: Paperback Edition
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life—having nothing but his own wits to help him along.
Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ("Love -- Rape -- Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.
Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.
Things I Liked:
1. This book is hardly a hidden gem, in fact it's the very opposite of it. It's the winner of the Man Booker and is very, very well known. Buzzed and hyped and then some. I had, of course, heard of it and read some amazing things about it too. But I hadn't read it till a couple of months ago, for some reason or other, I never got around to reading this book. I wasn't particularly drawn to this book and I didn't feel the need to rush and read it. I bought this book last year during a sale on Flipkart. I got it thinking 'well, I'll read it someday'. When that someday would come, I wasn't quite sure. At some point in August, I finally started reading this book and BAM! I was hooked. From the get go, I was hooked and completely engrossed in this world and it's kinda diabolical main character. I am so glad, sooooo glad I finally got to this book. It took me ages but I am glad I finally found my way to this book.
2. This book is more an in-depth character study of a man who is central to this story and this world. Balram Halwai is unlike anyone you've met before. He is loyal, almost to a fault, subservient and submissive. He loves his Master and he like millions of the working class, want to do their job to the best of their ability and make an honest living. He is defined by the place he's from, a village and the rules of engagement of this rural setting are so deeply and tragically entrenched in this very soul, it makes you roll your eyes and scoff at his blind devotion. The class and caste rules of rural India have been beautifully and succinctly brought to life in these pages. The grasp of this character's very pulse and through him the pulse of India today is perhaps this book's biggest triumph. It is the one thing I will always remember about this book. And the thing that is sadly till very much a part and parcel of our social fabric. The US vs. THEM divide.
3. The writing is also very, very good and absolutely evocative. I felt like I was there...in the dusty village in central India and then in the bustling metropolis of Delhi, with it's modern high-rises and archaic value systems. The writer does a smashing job of getting its people and its places just right.
4. The New Shining India, that we often hear about or the one that we are promised it omnipresent in these pages. The modern India, with its umpteen malls, fancy cars, skyscrapers and a million new opportunities, is here, right around the corner. But how much of this is accessible to the common man, to the ones living on the margins of our society? And how othering can this new sort of life be for so many of our fellow countrymen? The book shines a light on these harsh realities, that we are all well aware of yet...I guess it's far more palatable to ignore these things and enjoy our creature comforts. This book gets under your skin and stays there long after you've turned the last page.
5. I love reading about slightly diabolical characters. The not-so-perfect folks. The grey. The dark. Balram Halwai starts as a pretty textbook example of a loyal servant, but through the length of the book he transforms into this absolutely brilliant devious, cunning sociopath. Yet, in spite of some serious dubious choices he makes along the way, you can't help but root for him. He isn't perfect, not by a long shot. But you wish him well. Wish him a good life. Wish him a way out of his drudgery, even if the means he chooses are very, very wrong. And that might be this book's biggest win.
Rating: 5/5
Brilliant.
Cannot recommend it enough!
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