I must confess that before I read the book I sort of already disliked it. I had heard a lot of negative reviews about it and those had clouded my mind. I needed to find out for myself. So when I found a copy of it nestled in my friends bookshelf I grabbed it. At first Aravind Adiga annoyed me with all those clichés about India and ‘Darkness’. I’ve had it up to my ears really with NRI’s who sit somewhere in the oh-so-perfect Western world and distribute their wise opinion as freely as falling autumn leaves. But somehow I was determined to plough on….and I’m glad I did.
The story is about the protagonist’s journey from ‘Darkness’ to the murky dimly lit avenues of the big city. From innocence to slick city smartness. From a smart kitten to a sly white tiger. From a driver to an entrepreneur. From a determined to rise slave to a considerate employer.
Somewhere along this journey he loses sense of what is right and wrong. He only knows that he needs to rise and keep rising. His aspirations keep growing and his selfish motives bourgeon to cloud all else...including his sense of morality.
I love the style of narration. The entire novel is a letter that the protagonist Balram Halwai writes to the Chinese Premier who is about to visit India. Now why he chooses to open his heart out to a Chinese…is something I did not understand. I’m sure there is some sarcasm out there which has escaped me. Is it that China is India’s biggest competitor and threat?
The novel touches upon various inherent evils in the Indian society. The caste system, corruption, the zamindars and the slave mentality of the people – who accept their way of life meekly, without questioning. The corrupt political system which like a crab does not allow anyone to rise. The exploitation of labour – where daily wage earners pays protection money to the village big wig (for what joy??), where a driver doubles up as a washer of dogs, a cook and what not!
Then there is the other world. The murky world of drivers in Delhi. A fierce tribe who find slimy ways to cheat upon their equally slimy bosses!
What is it that corrupts Balram? Is it circumstances? The people around him? His considerate boss – who fails to win Balram’s respect? Pinky madam who strangely leaves him 4, 700 Rs when she goes away? The other drivers with their crooked ways? His father – the rikshaw puller who died of TB? His meek brother who was helplessly following his father’s footsteps? Is it the politicians that his boss meets and bribes amidst the grand political pillars of the capital?
This is a novel which sets you thinking without actually being preachy. Slightly tiring to read…but nonetheless a must-read. The prose is simple but the depth is bewildering! Those many issues that this novel deals with they come and torture you just like how a tiger toys with its prey...ouch... and those claws hurt!
Do I think it deserved a Booker Prize – I honestly don’t know!