Balram Halwai was born in the “Darkness”. He grew up in one of the depressed and marginalized areas of India – so poor that the average number of children in a family is more than 10 and all of them are either called boy or girl. Before he became Balram, he was just “boy” – Munna.
This is the story of how Balram moved out of the Darkness – from being a son of a common rickshaw puller to being the driver of one of India’s wealthiest man; from being a murderer to being one of India’s most successful yet unwritten entrepreneur; from having no name to being the White Tiger.
I admit that after reading Life of Pi, I got interested to the other ManBooker Prize Winners. Pi’s story manipulated my imagination well and tickled my heart to silent bouts of laughter. I wondered if all Booker winners are as great.
The White Tiger is a highly recommendable book. It is the 2008 ManBooker Prize winner. If you enjoyed Pi’s story of childhood, spirituality, and struggles, you would also find Balram’s story amusing. The White Tiger is a story of success, albeit a morbid one. It is a picture reflective of the life in the slums of India – a long narrative of living in the Darkness.
Balram’s destiny was to be a slave from birth to death. This was because of India’s caste system, and his was never wealthy. Balram faced life’s obstacles carrying nothing but his wits and ambition.
Aravind Adiga described how it is to live in the slums of India nowadays. Aside from the caste system, India’s poverty is not far from ours. I guess we could really say that Poverty, be it in any given place, has only one face, but of multiple dimensions. Corruption is also very much apparent in our country, just like in India. It wasn’t hard for me to understand what the author was trying to tell when he talked about vote buying and bribing.
I love a good humor in a story. As you read this book, you would find yourself smiling or even laughing at some lines. I admire the author’s ability in creating a light tone on a socially-relevant story. The mood shifted to a darker one though when the murder happened. The story was serious on the parts emphasizing how the rich treated India’s poor.
Balram became rich. In my opinion, the transformation made him like the other wealthy persons of India. He forgot about his family. He also bribed people. He worked like a bigtime Mafia honcho. He became the persons he despised when he was still living in the Darkness.
I guess money really changes people’s character. Read it and you be the judge. I rate the book 4 of 5 stars.
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I am on a mission of reading Man Booker Winners from the 1990s to present.
My book is an advanced reader’s copy I found at BookSale.
