BOOK REVIEW-The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I came across this book during one of my desperate hunts at the college library. I was holding onto a huge book by Amitav Ghosh, which I had trouble placing back on the shelf, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to finish it before I leave for my hometown in a week. So the only way to get that book from me was to replace it with another book, which I might be able to finish reading in a week. The search thus began.

It must be fairly obvious from the picture above that one of the aspects of the book "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga that caught my attention is the bold white font and eye-catching illustration. Adding to that, the title of the book was familiar to me from my preparations for the CUET-PG entrance exam and that sparked enough curiosity in me to keep my Ghosh back (for now) and meet this new brother.

The book was first published in 2007, and the copy I am holding is the paperback edition that was published in Great Britain in 2009 by Atlantic Books. The book received the Man Booker Prize in 2008, and that was about all I knew of the book before reading it.

Written in the form of a letter to the visiting Premier from China, Wen Jiabao, the novel narrates the journey of the protagonist, 'The White Tiger', from the regions of Darkness in India to the regions of Light as a servant-turned-murderer to an entrepreneur. And quite an insightful journey it was!

The novel critiqued the hypocrisy of the idea of a progressive, democratic India that politicians and businessmen painted while the majority of its citizens were caught in what the narrator called "the Rooster Coop", where the poor people watched each other being slaughtered by the powerful and wealthy while they helplessly watched. About the Rooster Coop, the narrator says,

“The Rooster Coop was doing its work. Servants have to keep other servants from becoming innovators, experimenters, or entrepreneurs. Yes, that’s the sad truth, Mr. Premier. The coop is guarded from the inside.”

The value of education is also emphasised in this novel, where, despite being taken out of school to work at a teashop, the protagonist continued to learn by listening to everything that was talked around him and reading every piece of writing that came his way, including newspaper clippings that were used to pack snacks. This idea of an active education that took place outside of classrooms, driven by genuine curiosity and need, could be considered as what is called being street-smart, I guess. Two of my favourite quotes from the novel in this regard are given below:

“Many of my best ideas are, in fact, borrowed from my ex-employer or his brother or someone else whom I was driving about. (I confess, Mr. Premier: I am not an original thinker—but I am an original listener.)”

“I absorbed everything—that’s the amazing thing about entrepreneurs. We are like sponges—we absorb and grow.”

In conclusion, I find this novel an amazing read that presents reality without any filters, critiques it without any reservation, and serves as a clarion call to people, insisting that they take charge of their lives and save themselves instead of waiting for others to do it for them.