Book Review: The White Tiger

Author: Aravind Adiga

He is an Indian writer and journalist. This debut novel of his won the Man Booker Prize 2008.

Number of pages: 276

Date of publication: 2008

Summary: This story is a dark satire which describes the social, economical and political condition of the biggest democracy in the world ie. India. It is a powerful tale of ambition, corruption and survival in India.

The protagonist of the story is a village guy named Balram Halwai who is the son of a rickshwallah. He writes a letter to the Chinese premier, who would be visiting India shortly, for seven nights. So, this book is divide into seven chapters, one chapter for each night. He calls himself a rising and successful entrepreneur from Bangalore and urges him to listen to his life story to get the real picture of survival and struggles of poor in India. He also declares that he is a murderer which he is not proud of but that was the only way to rise to break his barriers and rise to the top.

Blaram Halwai calls himself a ‘White Tiger’ because a person like him is rare and different. He was given this title by the school inspector because he was the smartest person in the class. Although he never got a chance to complete his schooling because of extreme poverty but that didn’t deter his ambition to rise one day above all odds. He took a questionable path to attain his success but he justifies himself in the story by declaring that the only path left for him.

Balram Halwai’s story is an interesting read. It gives an insight into the life of extremely poor people in India which we might not be aware of. The in-depth description of their life, their day to day struggles and the discrimination and oppression that they face in an eye opener. It is a must read!

Quotes:

• The moment you realize what is beautiful in this world, you stop being a slave.
• I was looking for the key for years, but the door was always open.
• See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of?? Losing weight and looking like the poor.
• It’s amazing. The moment you show cash, everyone knows your language.

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