The white tiger - Aravind Adiga

The book needs no introduction. White tiger has won the booker prize and it had to face some serious allegations just the same way slumdog millionaire did.

The story begins as the author being a rich businessman in Bangalore. He descries his story to Mr. Jibao and that's how the dark incidents unfolds.

His name was Balram Halwai, and he belonged to a rural village near to Gaya. According to the author, feudalism still remains in those parts of the country. The lords live, torturing and exploiting the lower caste people. And the people who belong to the lower castes all are destined to be loyal servants, till their death. Their families in the village were used as a means to keep them under threat. The families of all those who showed disobedience got murdered. The lords had enough money to bribe police and politicians were all their friends.

Balram, somehow, manages to be a driver though people of his caste are usually sweet makers. He remains as a very loyal servant to his master, Ashok, who runs coal business. Ashok walks through corrupted ways to run his business and to get maximum profit out of it. Being his driver, balram was a witness to all of these.

One day, Balram gets tired of being a servant. He splits Ashok's head open with a liquor bottle and runs away with a whole lot of money. No one identified him even though police distributed a wanted poster with his face on it. Author tells that in India, such posters are printed with a photo which would be so vague that it could be any one of half the people in India.

Balram ran to Bangalore and started a cab service for bringing people to and from call centers. He used all the corrupt ways that he oberved and learned from his master. The story ends Balram being a highly successful entreprenuer in Banglore.

Adiga criticizes a lot of traditions and practices that we still have in country. In India, especially in the north, servants are treated very badly. Balram, once had to face a murder charge when his master's wife hit and killed a child while driving. Even though we brag about all the development, author reminds us that there are certain fundamental things to be changed. Our political system is to be entirely transformed. One of the reasons which holds our country back is our corrupt political system. The first step should be the development of rural areas and ensuring minimum standard of living even to the poor people. The educational system in India creates only half baked people, and they all become good for nothings.

I liked the book very much, especially the humor blended with the criticisms. What ever Aravind Adiga has written is true, according to me also. It is such a book which will inspire people to change the current situation of our country.