I was appalled by the sheer level of grimy detail Aarvind Adiga has got into to describe the underbelly of India. It is right to the core – the dilapidated house, the unkempt street, the roaming buffalo, the chirping tea-shop, the overcrowded bus, the unscrupulous landlord, the hapless rickshaw-puller …. The list goes on. Actually I can’t list them all; the whole book is full of these.
Aah! This, the depiction of the under-stratum India, is the first thing that strikes everyone, Indian and non-Indian alike. But what should I say more? I lived my childhood in the same district, Gaya, which he is talking about. I can’t refute even a single thing that he has written. It makes it worse.
Balram Halwai is the ubiquitous Indian. Simple, gullible, moral … and then the converted cunning, opportunist, immoral. The story of a fallible Indian in the current scenario. He starts in his world, full of sloth and poverty, and wonders from there how the other rich and supposedly good world has gone bereft of scruples of life. He ultimately gives up his ideals too and mingles with the rest. There are many twists and turns depicted in the whole story to bring forth this transformation. His method of narrating story to Mr Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China, through a series of letters is unique. The portrayal of Stork, Mongoose, Ashok – his landlords, is right to the point. Even the subject of his crime, Mr Ashok, is brought out in full contradictory terms. He is not the villain; in fact, he is the only guy who reasons, but ultimately subsides before the society without putting into practice that reason. Mr Ashok is each one of us, and hence the culprit.
Aadiga has thus likewise brought out many subtle things in his novel. There is definitely an Orwellian touch to it. None more appreciating is his simplicity in the complexity of words or number of pages chosen to deliver the message. It can’t match the linguistic magic of ‘Enchantress of Florence’- one of its competitor in Man Booker Prize 2008 competition, but it has a more powerful setting, and hence the winner for me too. In short, leave aside the dark pessimism it grows about India, just consider it a revelation or reminder about us and surroundings, and you will find it a masterpiece. Simply unputdownable.
