The White tiger test

 

There is a very simple test of how you feel about India. I call it the White tiger test. It consists of answering a simple question. Do you like the book The White tiger by Arvind Adiga?

Some people would say yes. For them India is a land of poor and the hungry. Of people who could go to any extent to get a decent standard of living. Of violence and trickery. Of exploitation and upper caste bias. These traits of India, which come out clearly in the book shout out to expose the real truth behind the veils of grandeur and hypocricy in the country. If you feel this is true you would love the book.

Some people say no. For them this is the country of unity in diversity. Of mutual love and cohabitation in difficult circumstances. Of sprinkles of success here and there. Of a functioning democracy. Of the land of merit. The India of these people is no where in the book. And if you belong to this category, then you would hate the book.

Where do I stand on this test? If I had taken this test in my 20’s I would be in latter category. I could not read the book then. I put it down. I hated it. Now after living so many years here, I love the book. I read it recently and also watched the movie. Laughed out loud at the humor and appreciated the lens the writer has put on our country. Something which is well known to everyone, yet gets concealed in the hyperbole.

The problem is not that things like these happen only in India. The recent Booker prize winning book, Shuggie Bain portrays a pretty dreary picture of the Scottish city of Glasgow. A story of a broken family with an alchoholic wife who takes multiple sex partners, a taxi driver husband who leaves her for someone else, her children who leave her one by one expect Shuggie the titular character who is gay. The book does not paint a good picture of the city with its low income parts, the banter and the violence and mental health issues. Yet it does not look like anybody is protesting.

Another book which comes to mind is the stream of consciousness Booker prize winning book Milkman from Anna Burns. An Irish woman in the book is being stalked by a man. The book paints a dreary picture of war torn Ireland and takes us into the mind of a fearful woman. If anything like this about Jammu and Kashmir is written today, I would not be surprised if it does not raise eyebrows.

Closer home we have Munshi Premchand. His books bring out the stark class and caste discrimination in his times. The story Kafan is a masterful portrayal of a man not having a shroud for his death. I guess probably those times were different. Munshi Premchand is considered one of the greatest writers in India. I wonder what would have happened to him had he been writing in today’s times.

Writers write about the bad things in the society. It is sort of their job to sweep out things so easily shrugged away below the rug. Some of the best books are about painful things in life, things that others do not want to talk about. The White Tiger brings one aspect of it beautifully and convincing manner.

Then of course, a reader has the choice to feel offended too. People have inbuilt perceptions of things around them based on their personality and experiences. A portrayal not suited to their inner worldview can bring out the worst in some of them. Who knows it better than Salman Rushdie!

Anyways do take the test. A better way to know how you feel about your country.