India Book Club #2: White Tiger

"In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India," says Balram. "These days there are two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies."
This quote comes to life on the streets in Mussoorie or Dehradun. Very interesting...

I had heard a lot about this book since coming to India, and had the chance to read it recently. This book is Aravind Adiga's first book, and is unlike any other book I've ever read. It's written from the perspective of Balram, an Indian man born to a lower-middle caste of no importance...born in a family with few chances for education or meaningful opportunities. He's quite a bright boy, however, and his family makes sure he knows their expectations of him: to make something of himself! He has one goal: to wear a smart-looking uniform. He achieves the goal, and continues to set higher and higher goals for himself...eventually achieving them all.

The most interesting thing about this book is that it's all written in the form of a letter from Balram to an official in China. He slowly unfolds the story of his life, ALL in narrative-story form. I loved it, because it seemed to give a really strong voice to the perspective of the lower-caste Hindu working man in India.

The caste-system is EXTREMELY oppressive. Since Hinduism teaches reincarnation, there is a belief in self-worth determined by birth. At it's core, it depends on hierarchies of worth, and therefore perpetuates harmful cycles of social oppression and inequalities. Since the narrator was born into a lower caste, his opportunities were very limited. The story unfolds his journey to break free of the constraints placed on him from birth.

Balram ends up doing some horrible things to break free of his social bondage, and ends the book as a millionaire with a very successful taxi company. It's interesting, though, to see how he had to do so many WRONG things to get there...the frustrating thing is that you almost feel like he was justified in doing them! The author paints a very clear picture of the hopeless struggle that much of India finds themselves in.