Introduction:
People who’re fond of literature might have a lot to say about Aravind Adiga’s novel - known to garner mixed reactions. While some have dissed it, calling it cheap selling of India’s poverty and the glaring class divide, some have appreciated it. Finally getting it for my book shelves last Saturday, I finished reading it some time ago. I have good things to say about it, though can somewhat understand the negative opinions surrounding it
Plot:
For starters, the story talks of the journey of a man born into a poor family in Laxmangarh, a small-town in rural India. He’s a rebel who was never meant to rise from the rags for doing anything substantial, but carved a place for himself in the society – a society wherein the fate of a poor man is dependent upon the blessings of the rich - through manipulation and hard work, and then proceeds to do something unimaginable and contrasting to his persona.
Analysis:
Halfway through the book, there was a portion where the two Indias Mr Adiga keeps referring to, cease to exist when the then loyal servant Balram, and his master - the drunk, broody Mr Ashok, devastated after having separated from his wife - succumb their inhibitions to each other. Balram, still somewhat scrupulous in his duties, lets go of his sceptical thoughts for the sake of loyalty and genuine affection for his master, and as a reader, it’s difficult to miss out on the earnestness his character exudes.
As Balram attempts to uplift the spirits of Ashok out of despondency, citing examples and instances from the Gita and sharing real and made-up anecdotes from his village, you sense the rich-poor divide dissolving and the barrier being broken. That’s when Aravind Adiga’s raging piece of fiction becomes most optimistic about life. Neither the portions preceding this part of the narrative – involving the hardships initially faced by the protagonist in search for a job and subsequently being exploited by the landlords he services – nor the ones following it prove to be anything less than disturbing. He showcases an India you were already much aware of through dailies and news channels, but chose to be oblivious to and shun owing to insensitive media reporting and other crucial tasks to take care of.
What Adiga does for anyone who believes in the ‘India Shining’ propaganda is taking him respectfully by his hand and letting him confront the actual one, and it’s disturbing simply to think that we’re a part of it. It might probably not make you imagine it in the same way you did before – whether it’s a Delhi or a Bangalore, or a small town you might want to go to in an effort to escape the big-city-chaos. After you finish reading it, you might want to explore more of the actual story behind the façade of pomp and splendour of the malls, or what goes inside the bureucrats’ homes once you go past Ashoka Road or Copernicus Marg.
Apart from obsessing about the attention to detail in motive and characterizations and coming up with a hollow picture of Delhi, Aravind Adiga does something that calls for an ovation – coming up with a fictional work that stays afresh in your minds hours after you’re through with it. At the end of it, you’re left wondering about your actual feelings towards the lead character in question – is it affection and sympathy for his sufferings and dilemmas; or an intense dislike for the terrible things he did? That, in my humble opinion, says a lot about the efforts poured in by the author to come up with a character as memorable as Balram Halwai.
Final words:
Adiga wasn’t a known name in the Literature circles prior to 2008 but won the Man Booker Prize with his very first novel ‘The White Tiger’ – a satisfying journey while it lasts, yet uncompromising on the entertainment it offers owing to a finely paced narrative structure.
A must read in the truest sense!