THE WHITE TIGER-ARAVIND ADIGA(REVIEW by CHAITHANYA SIVANANDH)

                               
                                                             
                               


              The White Tiger,the first novel by Aravind Adiga is the life story of Balram Halwai,a man who wrote his destiny by his decisions.Its the journey of the hero from the darkness of the village life to the light of entrepreneurial success.The novel is presented in the form of of a letter written in course of 7 days and night by the protagonist to the Chinese Premier who is about to visit the nation.

               Born in a remote village,in the dark heart of India,being the son of a rikshaw puller,he is taken out of school in his early childhood and put to work in a teashop.Even as a child,he had many dreams on his life.He wanted to earn a better living.As he crushes the coal and wipes the table,he nurses a dream to escape from the banks of Mother Ganga,which had seeped the former generations into its black sluggish mud.The turning point of his life is when he is hired as a chauffeur for a rich landlord's son,Mr.Ashok. Balram seems to be the most loyal driver come servant one could ever become.

               The city Delhi is a revelation for him.As he explores to the deep heart core of the city,he re educates himself. Balram,the White tiger,always thinks how to break the "rooster coop",how to free himself from the cage of inequalities and discrimination in our society.

               At some point,he is seen saturated with his servility to his masters and the devil starts raising its beak inside him.Starting from small misdeeds and finally reaching at a point where he has nothing for his master except hatred.And one rainy night,he breaks the skull of his employee,steels his red bag full of cash and escapes to Bangalore with his little helper from village,Dharam.And in Bangalore,he sets up a new career in taxi business,which was meant for transporting call centre workers to and from their jobs.He never forgets to make the police happy with occasional bribes,which would clear the obstacles on his way.

            Balram Halwai is not just an entrepreneur,but a criminal with remarkable capacity of self justification.In the concluding line of the novel,he says that he would never say the made a mistake by killing his master,instead he would say that it was worthwhile to know what it meant not to be a servant.

          The White tiger is a strong blow on our nation's social and economical degradation.It points at the inequalities and sufferings faced by the lower class in our country despite of its new prosperity.It is a brave attempt on the part of the author in portraying a developing nation with all its vices and less virtues exposed.