The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga

The underbelly of India spills from the pages as you are held, motionless, by a story that's unbelievable and a voice that is both genuine and honest. The White Tiger is the story of the life of the son of a rickshaw driver, the tale of how this rarest of creatures travels from squatting in very dust of India to lounging under his own chandelier.

It's a rare look at the lives and the minds of the poor of India; socio-political discourse is woven seamlessly into a captivating story of our protagonist. Amazingly, despite the bleak and difficult topics, the book is still upbeat, still funny; it betrays neither the subject nor the audience.



Don't think about it, don't put it on a list of things to do. Just get off your computer, right now, and go get this book.






1. The Darkness

"Please understand, Your Excellency, that India is two countries in one: an India of light and an India of darkness. The ocean brings light to my country. Every place on the map of India near the ocean is well off. But the river brings darkness to India-the black river [the Ganga].”

Our protagonist, Belram, is born in the Darkness of India: the poor areas, the back-country, the forgotten parts of India. With neither birthday nor name for the first part of his life, he shares with the audience anecdotes about the life in the Darkness, about how education or medical care are next to unreachable, about the power dynamics between the servants and the landlords (who, when betrayed by a servant, will murder and rape his family).

 2. The Chicken Coop 
  "The trustworthiness of servants is the basis of the entire Indian economy." 
As he travels through his life, moving up in station to a household servant, the audience is left wondering how it is possible that the poor of India have not started a revolution. Why do the servants not steal and run away? We hear vivid descriptions of the way people are forced to live:

"These people were building homes for the rich, but they lived in tents covered with blue tarpaulin sheets, and partitioned into lanes by lines of sewage. It was even worse than Laxmangarh. I picked my way around broken glass, wire, and shattered tube lights. The stench of feces was replaced by the stronger stench of industrial sewage. The slum ended in an open sewer - a small river of black water went sluggishly past me, bubbles sparkling in it and little circles spreading on its surface. Two children were splashing about in the black water."   

And yet, the poor do not think of changing their station through force, so ingrained is the system of social control:

"Go to Old Delhi,and look at the way they keep chickens there in the market. Hundred of pale hens and brightly colored roosters, stuffed tightly into wire-mesh cages. They see the organs of their brothers lying around them. They know they are next, yet they cannot rebel. They do not try to get out of the coop. The very same thing is done with humans in this country."  

Why do the poor allow themselves to continue to be poor? Because they are trapped in a system which is guarded from both the inside and out. As the narrative continues, we see more of the mechanisms keeping the system in place. I will leave you the pleasure of reading these yourself.




 3. The Servant 
To read Belram's story is to gaze into the relationship between himself and his masters. Like a child of an abusive parent, feelings of love and hate enmesh below an obedient surface.

"I put my hand out and wiped the vomit from his lips, and cooed soothing words to him. It squeezed my heart to see him suffer like this - but where my genuine concern for him ended and where my self-interest began, I could not tell: no servant can ever tell what the motives of his heart are...Do we loathe our masters behind a facade of love - or do we love them behind a facade of loathing?”

4.  The White Tiger
From the beginning, we know this is a story of success. Belram becomes free from the chicken coop, he becomes the master. But how? I will spare you that, but share with you why instead; it is a matter of heart, mind, and vision. To see the coop fully, and the beyond, leaves one no choice but to escape it (or perish trying).

"Iqbal, that great poet, was so right. The moment you recognize what is beautiful in this world, you stop being a slave. To hell with the Naxals and their guns shipped from China. If you taught every poor boy how to paint, that would be the end of the rich in India."  

5. Mother India

"Yes, that's right: we all live in the World's greatest democracy. What a fucking joke."

It's not a pretty story for India. Corruption flows through all levels, penetrating the very groundwater. People exist without basic human rights; all heinous acts overlooked with enough money. Without the poor, without the system keeping them in place, India would crumble. But how can India rebuild without first crumbling?

"The book of your revolution sits in the pit of your belly, young Indian. Crap it out and read. Instead of which, they're all sitting in front of color TVs and watching cricket and shampoo advertisements."