“The White Tiger”

Last week I completed “The White Tiger” novel written by Aravind Adiga. It is my seventh read of this year. Not bad!!!

The story revolves around Balram who is the son of a rickshaw puller and lives in a small Indian village. He narrates his entire life journey as a letter addressing to Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier. When I first started reading this book, I felt little bored as I was unable to correlate the dictum of the letter with the initial incidents mentioned in the book. But gradually I developed an interest and now I can say that it is a good book and must read for all the book lovers who like reading socio-political stuff!!

This book is all about the transformation of Balram from a small Indian village boy to a successful entrepreneur.  It also depicts the disparity between the fast paced city and village life and highlights the inequalities that persist in modern India.

The main character of the book, “Balram” is a too complex man. His world is a made up of bribery, corruption, high-headedness, traffic jams, emptiness, theft, and murder. While reading the book, many times I got confused by his split personality. He is a servant, philosopher, entrepreneur and murderer in this book.

Overall this book displays an incomplete portrait of India and its people struggling with the uncertainties of modernity....