Price: INR 299
Pages: 318
ISBN: 1416562591
Language: English
‘The White Tiger‘ is a book on the reality of life, the shortest route to reach success and the foolishness of man to boast about his shortcomings – a feature one can debate is found in every fifth Indian; Arvind Adiga presents the life of one such Indian. The book won the Man Booker prize in the year 2008.
The White Tiger is a rag to riches story of a regular Indian who calls himself the White Tiger and turns into a successful entrepreneur. He makes his own destiny in a country whose economic growth has been outstanding due to technological upswing in recent years. But this rag to riches story is not unlike other ones in which protagonist works hard relentlessly day and night to achieve his goals, but is the one in which he taken the shortest path of crime and corruption. The protagonist is the narrator itself and the book is in fact a letter written to the Chinese Premier explaining him about ‘entrepreneurs’ of who are absent in China. He sits in his 150 sq feet office and shamelessly elucidates how he has murdered his previous master whom he also considers his mentor. This might seem hideous on a protagonist’s part but as the story unfolds the picture becomes more and more clear.
Though the writing style is appreciable but one gets lost in descriptions. :The book is written in the form letters written by the protagonist, Balram, to a Chinese ambassador. The life guiding principles of Balram are depicted through a course of incidents and never seem didactic. The book is fast paced and offers a whole lot of virulent criticism of India. The humor is black. The language raw.
Personally I did not enjoy the book. I thought it depicts a hap-hazard India. It is unclear what Adiga is referring to. True, there is a lot of scope for social, cultural and economic improvement in Indian villages, but I believe, in the same villages one would still find some positive outlook, school masters that children can learn from, doctors who would help the poor. Adiga, your story is sensational and may sell, but I don’t think it is plausible. I believe there is hope in the Indian Darkness.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
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Jai is a vital combination of bones, blood and brains haunts this earth with a pen and camera capturing the various dimensions prevailing on this planet. With flare for sarcasm he writes for politically correct reasons. When he gets time from gym, discussing, networking and reading he also participates in writing and composing songs. His ambition is to become the head of United Nations and BTL is his way.