This is one of the best books by an Indian author I have read till date. The story revolves around the life of a common man: a driver: a man without the means to survive in this treacherous world and how he manages to escape the rooster coop that limits the numerous opportunities that abound elsewhere.
It can be said to be a tale of two Indias. The old rural one and the newer urban one. The book has been well written, after extensive research. Everything in the book, . every detail seems to be perfect to the story-line. The setting of the story- in a rural village Laxmangarh, a symbol of desolation and then the urban Delhi, a symbol of the new India and then onto Bangalore, just adds to the charm of the story.
The book is narrated in the form of a series of letters that the protagonist of the story is writing to the Chinese Premier when he hears that the latter is to visit India, and deals with various issues such as poverty, caste, religion and corruption, which is very much abundant in the daily lives of an average Indian.
The book is so well written, that I found it hard to believe that this was Aravind Adiga’s debut novel, which won the 40th Man Booker Prize in 2008, the year it was published.
This book is a must read for everyone as it presents the true picture of India, an India we don’t realize exists amidst the chants of’India Shining’.