I read the 2008 Booker Award winner, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. It’s a fast and easy read about the disconnect between the “faceless” impoverished masses and India's recent economic boom. It’s a simple story but it has ignited conversation among my friends as we synthesize the story with our individual experiences and attempt to understand this country. Adiga has also managed to outrage people by painting a damning picture of the caste system, Indian politics and the elite. He even mocks religion.
Balram, the protagonist, comes from the “Darkness,” a general term for rural areas. His family’s most valuable possession is a water buffalo that provides milk; sometimes there is enough left over to sell. Moving to the lights of Delhi, he gets a job as a driver for wealthy Ashok, a man who is liberal but corrupt nonetheless.
What I found interesting about the book is what it seems to say about democracy, and I can see why “new India” proponents are miffed. I am frequently told that India is the world’s largest democracy, but what I see in Delhi and in the world that Adiga describes looks more like a communist society than a democracy. There are more than 1 billion people living in India (that’s 1/6 of the world’s population) and nearly 40% live on the poverty line, existing on $1 per day. They are underprivileged and they’ll stay that way because there are just no tools, namely education, available to change their economic situation. The caste system does not easily accommodate interlopers.
Interestingly, voter turn-out among the poor is impressive. Although many people do not have water to drink and they cast their vote by thumbprint, they still participate in the democratic process. However, there are always reports of corruption among politicians who aren’t really interested in improving constituents’ lives—for example, the government has promised to pave a badly pot-holed section of the road from Jaipur to Delhi for 20 years. Sure, there are some exciting new politicians like Ms. Mayawati, a Dalit who leads the government of Uttar Pradesh, and increasing an number of Dalit political advocates. But India is still a long way off before democracy profoundly affects its social system.
Like a white tiger, a rare animal that only comes once a generation, Adiga’s narrator is an unusual being. He is driven to break the system that teaches master is better than servant, a system even the poor unknowingly maintain… like crabs trying to escape from a bucket, the higher one crab climbs, the harder the others claw him back down in their own desperate struggle to get out. Balram violently breaks out and becomes his own man—a rich entrepreneur.
I liked the story, but frankly Balram’s transformation can only exist in a work of fiction. Delhi may be highly entrepreneurial, but that option is reserved for the middle class with access to seed money from family and friends or personal savings. I’d like to believe it’s possible for the poor to improve their circumstances in large numbers, but it starts with education and I don’t see that the tools are there. More children are attending school, but public education remains a farce with reports of absentee teachers, shortage of materials and inadequate drinking water and electricity to name a few issues. If you can’t afford to pay for private school then there simply isn’t a way to climb out of poverty.
While this country has incredible potential, it has a long way to go before it achieves social democracy. Given the enormous population, I don’t know if this will be possible on a wide scale. Frankly, if communist countries like China and Russia can become economic powerhouses without giving a damn about democratic principles, I don't see any reason for "new India" to democratize fully in order to enjoy its largess either.
Balram, the protagonist, comes from the “Darkness,” a general term for rural areas. His family’s most valuable possession is a water buffalo that provides milk; sometimes there is enough left over to sell. Moving to the lights of Delhi, he gets a job as a driver for wealthy Ashok, a man who is liberal but corrupt nonetheless.
What I found interesting about the book is what it seems to say about democracy, and I can see why “new India” proponents are miffed. I am frequently told that India is the world’s largest democracy, but what I see in Delhi and in the world that Adiga describes looks more like a communist society than a democracy. There are more than 1 billion people living in India (that’s 1/6 of the world’s population) and nearly 40% live on the poverty line, existing on $1 per day. They are underprivileged and they’ll stay that way because there are just no tools, namely education, available to change their economic situation. The caste system does not easily accommodate interlopers.
Interestingly, voter turn-out among the poor is impressive. Although many people do not have water to drink and they cast their vote by thumbprint, they still participate in the democratic process. However, there are always reports of corruption among politicians who aren’t really interested in improving constituents’ lives—for example, the government has promised to pave a badly pot-holed section of the road from Jaipur to Delhi for 20 years. Sure, there are some exciting new politicians like Ms. Mayawati, a Dalit who leads the government of Uttar Pradesh, and increasing an number of Dalit political advocates. But India is still a long way off before democracy profoundly affects its social system.
Like a white tiger, a rare animal that only comes once a generation, Adiga’s narrator is an unusual being. He is driven to break the system that teaches master is better than servant, a system even the poor unknowingly maintain… like crabs trying to escape from a bucket, the higher one crab climbs, the harder the others claw him back down in their own desperate struggle to get out. Balram violently breaks out and becomes his own man—a rich entrepreneur.
I liked the story, but frankly Balram’s transformation can only exist in a work of fiction. Delhi may be highly entrepreneurial, but that option is reserved for the middle class with access to seed money from family and friends or personal savings. I’d like to believe it’s possible for the poor to improve their circumstances in large numbers, but it starts with education and I don’t see that the tools are there. More children are attending school, but public education remains a farce with reports of absentee teachers, shortage of materials and inadequate drinking water and electricity to name a few issues. If you can’t afford to pay for private school then there simply isn’t a way to climb out of poverty.
While this country has incredible potential, it has a long way to go before it achieves social democracy. Given the enormous population, I don’t know if this will be possible on a wide scale. Frankly, if communist countries like China and Russia can become economic powerhouses without giving a damn about democratic principles, I don't see any reason for "new India" to democratize fully in order to enjoy its largess either.
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