A journey from the darkness of India's social underbelly to the light that is emerging from India's economic boom is a picture that is painted well by Aravind Adiga's first novel The White Tiger.Set in India; son of a rickshaw puller, born in the Darkness , Balram Halwai tells his tale of becoming an entrepreneur within a society that struggles to break free from a destiny of servitude.
Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, Adiga's first novel pulls you directly into India's colorful lower class then drives you straight into the glitz, glamor and corruption that now plague Delhi's inner city.
"Delhi is a capital of not one but two countries-two Indias. The Light and the Darkness both flow in to Delhi."- As described by Balram Halwai, the novels main character.
I purchased this book on a whim. The first couple of pages didn't grab me but it wasn't until I began to understand Adiga's dark comedic prose that I began to understand his character.
After escaping his caste and destiny Balram becomes the driver of a wealthy man in Gurgaon, one of Delhi's growing satellite cities. The relationship with his master is severed when Balram's dark conscious emerges after his eyes are opened to the disparity of India's lower class and the significant gap in between the corrupt, undiscerning and gluttonous rich.
"What blindness you people are capable of. Here you are sitting in glass buildings and talking on the phone night after night to Americans who are thousands of miles away, but you don't have the faintest idea whats' happening to the man who's driving your car!"
Adiga's description of Delhi is best captured through small scenes that occur throughout the book. From his description of the slums outside the skeletons of Delhi's soon to be apartment complexes and shopping malls to the sweltering heat of summer in India Adiga's social commentary of contemporary India is an eye opener for anyone who has yet to visit this soon to be economic power.I recently had a trip planned to India which was canceled due to finances and circumstance. The White Tiger has not only inspired me to see the "real" India it has also given me the chance to look back at all the opportunity that has been given to me and to continue to grow. Even if I may have to murder someone along the way. (Just kidding)
Take a look at this short teaser created by Buchet-Chastel for the promotion of this book. Although the text is in French it gives you small visual of images that The White Tiger paint through Balram's narrative.
