The alternative story of Indian entrepreneurship, White Tiger is the story of one man’s journey from ‘the darkness’ of rural India to the bustling life of a wealthy man in a big city. Balram is raised by a family who do not care for him, he is known as ‘Munna’ or boy and he is pulled out of school to work. However he is fortunate enough to be recruited as a chauffeur for a wealthy family transporting the landlord’s wife and Pomeranian dogs around the area, Balram (our erstwhile hero) is fortunate enough to rise through the hierarchy of the landlord’s staff but when this is not enough he turns to darker means to achieve more. The book is written as a series of seven letters sent to Wen Jiabao – the Chinese Premier – in which Balram attempts to crush the grand illusions which the Chinese Premier would be told of an economically rising India by explaining his own incriminating story of entrepreneurial success.
Balram quickly realises that to rise out of the banality the most expedient means aren’t exactly the most legal, that even in ‘the light’ of India, to achieve anything what you need most is corruption and patronage. Gambling, sexual immorality, casual racism and even murder are all used in equal measure and all eventually lead to his success. It’s the darkly sardonic way in-which the book is written that means events which would be viewed as horrendous are instead immensely entertaining.
What I loved most about White Tiger is Balram’s total disregard and disrespect for the religious and societal structure of rural life in India; he is disrespectful of religion, making numerous scathing remarks regarding it, he abandons his family choosing to spend his money on drink and prostitutes rather than sending it to them and he uses anti-Muslim prejudice to dispatch a rival driver. All because to him, the means are always justified by the means and the ends to him are chandeliers throughout his house and his own business.
Many people have compared White Tiger to Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son’ and admittedly the plot is broadly similar, but Adiga’s writing style is what ultimately sets this novel apart and is essentially what won him the 2008 Man Booker Prize. If you are an arch-defender of India’s democratic, corruption-free and evenly-prosperous system then do not read this book. However, if you are not then I can’t see how you wouldn’t enjoy this darkly humorous and seductively entertaining debut novel by Adiga. Bring on the next one!
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