The White Tiger, Indeed

All of India rejoiced when Aravind Adiga`s book, "The White Tiger", won the Booker a couple of weeks back. As is the case when in the grip of patriotic euphoria, all the copies of the book, that used to grace the bookshelves of all the stores, gathering dust, were snapped up in a matter of days. That`s a pity actually, because it is a genuinely good book, and Booker or no Booker, Mr.Adiga has come up with an authentic page-turner, that grabs you from the very first page and will not let you off the hook, till you flip the last page.

The protagonist, is a spirited young man, who grows up in one of the many villages that dot the banks of the Ganges. So uneventful is his life, that he starts of not knowing his name(and just being called Munna), or age, just because his parents are too busy working, in order to provide their children, with two square meals a day. Seeing his mother`s body being cremated on the banks of the river and the ashes being blown into the Ganges, proves to be a profound life-changing experience for Munna who vows that he will get out of the clutches of an over-bearing grandmother, and a well-meaning but timid brother, so as to not be relegated to the same fate as her. His journey to make it big, is not without pitfalls, as he is forced to quit school, so that he can work at the local tea-shop, and be yet another bread-winner for a family, that demands more and more from him. That Munna, who is christened Balram Halwai, by a teacher, is able to make this experience into an enlightening one, is a tribute to his undying spirit and his ability to assimilate knowledge from all quarters. Indeed, as he himself says, "The best enterpreneur is the one, who is self-taught".

Adiga narrates, in his own irrepressible style, how Balram faces hardships at the hands of the local Zamindars,always transforming a situation that would have threatened to engulf him, into one from which he emerges a person, better equipped to face the rigors of a life, that is hell-bent on being hard on him. It is not a goody-goody book, that talks about only the humane aspect of the human psyche. What makes the book so believable, is the moral dilemna that faces Balram, whenever he is faced with a decision to make, and even though, you get to see his Dark side, his justification for his behaviour, only increases your respect for the man, who dares to rise against the destiny that life had planned for him, and make it big. Essentially, it is a story about every Indian, who faces countless obstacles in his quest to eke out a better living, for himself and his family, and how one in a million, chooses a path, different from the rest. That redeeming trait, is the one that gives birth to 'THE WHITE TIGER'.

The book, is a glowing tribute to the never-say-die attitude of not just a Balram Halwai, but the several anonymous Balram Halwais, who manage to be successful, battling the bureaucratic red-tape, that one is forced to encounter on his path to redemption. It blows into smithereens, the perception, that the country is on its way to achieving glory, and forces us to confront the stark realities, that stand in the way between us and greatness. For painting a picture of an India, that not many are willing to acknowledge exists, Adiga deserves all the accolades being heaped on him. For once, I have to grudgingly agree, the Booker committee, has got it right.