Desicritics Comments on Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize - A Time for Introspection

Comment by kerty

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 12:13:41 EST

Good article on Adiga syndrome Looking through the glass, darkly By Premen Addy Nothing quite gets up the noses of the Herrenvolk than the sight of the lesser breeds reaching for the skies. The British media's comfort zone on India doesn't as a rule extend beyond the prescribed imperial parameters of famines, diseases known and unknown, illiteracy, fecklessness and a range of 'charming' eccentricities, heaving mobs, religious or ethnic riots (you can take your pick) and much else besides that tell of the continuing triumph of chaos over order, of abject failure over the seeming insolence of power through achievement. Read the whole article here: http://www.dailypioneer.com/132945/Looking-through-the-glass-darkly.html

Comment by kela

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:49:19 EDT

I agree with Roy. Vinod ,that world does indeed exist.Anyway its a question of perspective like in the book Shantaram the author celebrates slum life.

Comment by Vinod Joseph

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:05:28 EDT

Roy, I congratulate you on being able to imagine the country described in Adiga's book, which isn't India.

Comment by Vinod Joseph

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:04:17 EDT

Roy, I congratulate you on being able to imagine the country described in Adiga's book, which isn't India. Portillo, the Chair of the 2008 Judges has explained that The White Tiger presented 'a different aspect of India' and was a novel with 'enormous literary merit'. In this interview (http://www.themanbookerprize.com/perspective/articles/1125), Adiga has said that he wanted to write a novel about India that "would be vivid, political and funny".

Comment by Ayan Roy

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:11:09 EDT

@Vinod: "I disliked Adiga's book not because it trashed India but because it was unrealistic and, more to the point, portrayed the wrong picture at times. I don't think fiction gives the creator a right to do that." I strongly disagree! Fiction gives the creator the right to write and think WHATEVER HE WANTS. Otherwise, what's the point of fiction? Isn't that limiting creativity and adjusting your creative thoughts to match reality?? Why does fiction have to be in sync with reality?? Let writers then write non-fictional realistic documentaries if they are to be so concerned with REALITY. And, why do readers have to always try to MAP FICTION TO REALITY? This is the point what bugs me most. I think we should treat fiction as pure fantasy; a separate imaginary world by itself, created by the author. Why can't we think of the story set in an imaginary country which does not exist in the 'REAL' world, but by chance has been named "India"? All the characters, even "Wen Jiabao" are fantasy characters who have no relation to the REAL characters here on Earth. Also, why are we so concerned about whether the picture painted is "right" or "wrong"?? Why can't we just see the picture as is, WITHOUT JUDGING??? Alas, we fail to experience and prreciate the true nature of things in life because we always try to apply this "right/wrong" bias checker in our mind. 'right' and 'wrong' are not absolute, and not necessary! It is at these moments when I am reminded of the popular "Bam Bam Bole" song from Taare Zameen Par, which starts as "Dekho dekho, kya woh perh hai, chaadar odhe yaa khada koi..." Love and peace to all, Ayan

Comment by Vinod Joseph

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:20:31 EDT

Thank you for your comments. I disliked Adiga's book not because it trashed India but because it was unrealistic and, more to the point, portrayed the wrong picture at times. I don't think fiction gives the creator a right to do that. I remember a conversation I had a few years ago with a Briton of South African (and Jewish) origin. We were discussing Nadine Gordimer (who is South African & Jewish), one of my favourite writers. Whilst I raved about Gordimer, my friend raised his eye brows and said, 'In South Africa, we don't have such a high opinion of Gordimer.' I was shocked. Maybe Adiga will be one of those writers who are appreciated overseas and not in his own country. A literary version of Gorbachev, maybe.

Comment by Vinod Joseph

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:19:56 EDT

Comment by Vinod Joseph

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:17:53 EDT

Comment by commonsense

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:40:42 EDT

kela, the writer worked as journalist for quite some time...

Comment by kela

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:48:50 EDT

The impression I got reading the book was Adiga gathered some newspaper headlines for a year or two and weaved a story around it.The book was just about average .I dont think it was overtly critical of india's poverty though,don't know why Chandra would think otherwise.I could relate to most of it you just need to take a train journey across Orissa and you'll see boys sitting atop buffaloes wading in water logged paddy fields

Comment by commonsense

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:43:49 EDT

I agree with Ayan about how to enjoy a work of fiction. if we over-analyze it, double-guessing the motivation of the "brits" or whomever as to the politics of why some book was awarded the prize etc. etc. we are seriously going around in circles, trapped in our own neurosis of inferiority while claiming to be contesting something called "the west". it is a self-defeating cycle. most indian novelists who write in english appear to be afflicted by this syndrome (note, most, not all). perhaps they might want to educate themselves about those who write in urdu, bengali, oriya etc. and couldn't care less who gets recognized in the west, east or wherever.

Comment by commonsense

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:36:46 EDT

interesting read temporal. thanks for the link. not sure what to make of amitava kumar's piece though. he himself has taken advantage of the authenticity trope. and perhaps he has disclosed too much of his personal life - his rift with his family after he married a pakistani woman - not in this piece but in the book whose title i forget (Husband of a Fanatic or something like that). At the end of the day, we have to grow up and stop responding to how we think the Brits or the West are responding to us. At the end of the day, if we really care, we should not give two shakes of a rat's (or rant!) ass about who gets a prize and who does not. much like sartre who said "fuck you" when offered the nobel prize for literature on a platter. my two cents, still from a position, quite on the wagon!

Comment by Chandra

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:00:40 EDT

The Booker is decided by a set of Britts many of whom are fed up of the self-inflation in the Indian and Global media about how great India is. Of course they probably missed, the India-whine story that is going around these days. The Britts are yet to get over with the Raj, many of them still believe that thay did a better job of governing us than we do. This book is a wonderful reminder of their superiority. The worse thing is that this book was not written by strivers but by a guy who came from an elite family. Now, our liberal elite can have orgasms reading this book. Our strivers on the other hand will shrug this off and get on with bettering their lives in-spite of the hopelessness that some of these folks want them to believe in.

Comment by temporal

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:31:56 EDT

from the boston review amitava kumar writes in Authenticity and the South Asian political novel an absorbing overview of the s-a political novel for those interested here is the LINK

Comment by Ayan Roy

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:13:44 EDT

Congratulations to Adiga for the Booker!! Well done, keep it up! I have not read the book - will go and buy it soon. Negative or positive (opinions), realistic or outlandish (again opinions), it must be a piece of highly imaginative well written FICTION, to have got the Booker. Sadly some people take fiction to heart and try to over-analyze the story; they try to draw too many parallels with the real world and society, and try to decipher the writer's motive, philosophy and views - rather than sticking to the story, experiencing it and getting absorbed in it. It's a sort of mental pre-conditioning where one must have some kind of opinion or judgement for everything, rather than just experiencing things without involving the ego too much, and keeping things in proper perspective.. One more point, getting worked up and criticizing the mirror does not make ones facial scars, ugliness and blemishes go away! Love and peace to all, Ayan

Comment by kerty

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:55:02 EDT

Anish All countries have their problems. Countries try to solve them as best they can, and it often takes several generations to solve structural impediments. Just because nation solves one set of problems does not mean paradise has descended on it. Because one set of problems will replace another set of problems. At no time India or any other country will be without problems. Does that mean we have to wallow in shame, guilt, inferiority complex and put-downs in perpetuity? That we can not be proud of any achievement or progress but always look at the glass as half empty? Does that mean we have to become murderous and corrupt thugs like Halwai because India has so many problems? Should we go around the world breast beating how terrible India is? Breast-beating in India about India's problems have become a surest source of political power in India while breast-beating abroad about India's problems has become a quick source of fame and fortune abroad. It has become a cottage industry - to showcase gutters of India as its only passion. But towards what end? To solve any of those problems? Not really. It has merely amounted to exploitation of human misery, most of it inflicted by the very bankrupt ideologies who seek to empower themselves thru problems unleashed upon India by their very own ideologies. Showcasing human misery and framing them along socio-cultural fault-lines and riding on resulting defensive culture of shame, guilt, inferiority complex allows them to pose as champions and saviors rather than getting outed as perpetrators and victimizers. Like Halwai - he is not a murderer. He is a Victim! He is not an embodiment and personification of corruption, but rather a victim of corruption! Such dishonest gymnastics are bread and butter of power politics, with big rewards and prizes for those who do its bidding.

Comment by kerty

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:54:29 EDT

Anish All countries have their problems. Countries try to solve them as best they can, and it often takes several generations to solve structural impediments. Just because nation solves one set of problems does not mean paradise has descended on it. Because one set of problems will replace another set of problems. At no time India or any other country will be without problems. Does that mean we have to wallow in shame, guilt, inferiority complex and put-downs in perpetuity? That we can not be proud of any achievement or progress but always look at the glass as half empty? Does that mean we have to become murderous and corrupt thugs like Halwai because India has so many problems? Should we go around the world breast beating how terrible India is? Breast-beating in India about India's problems have become a surest source of political power in India while breast-beating abroad about India's problems has become a quick source of fame and fortune abroad. It has become a cottage industry - to showcase gutters of India as its only passion. But towards what end? To solve any of those problems? Not really. It has merely amounted to exploitation of human misery, most of it inflicted by the very bankrupt ideologies who seek to empower themselves thru problems unleashed upon India by their very own ideologies. Showcasing human misery and framing them along socio-cultural fault-lines and riding on resulting defensive culture of shame, guilt, inferiority complex allows them to pose as champions and saviors rather than getting outed as perpetrators and victimizers. Like Halwai - he is not a murderer. He is a Victim! He is not an embodiment and personification of corruption, but rather a victim of corruption! Such dishonest gymnastics are bread and butter of power politics, which big rewards and prizes for those who do its bidding.

Comment by anish

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:36:55 EDT

I think Adiga's is a sincere voice for a decent deal for every person. The White Tiger is dark and witty. It speaks the truth. Why should we feel so uncomfortable to admit the daily abuse given out to crores of people? We are an extremely prejudiced feudal society with narrow casteist outlooks. Pointing out the contradictions of the West doesn't remove the cruel inhuman conditions in our country. Where else do we find female foeticide, caste violence, religious genocides, dispossesion of tribal communities, domestic abuse, suicides of farmers on such a colossal scale? Adiga's book is positive criticism. If we can't take criticism, we are doomed to stay in the same mess. I thank him for his book and congratulate him for his achievement.

Comment by Sumanth

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:18:55 EDT

West and "new upper castes" in India love to look at only so called dark side of India. Who are these new upper castes? -Some intellectually challenged lovers of English language. These same upper castes oppose vehemently when any Indian writes anything even minor about "dark side" of western countries. I wrote an article about Cannibalism in Germany and I know how the upper caste felt about it. Too much has been said about the dark side of India since last 40 years. Our writers love it. Its only about our filthy rivers, Ghats, slums, street children, criminals etc etc. What if there is a backlash and some 200 Indians start dissecting the dark side of current American or European societies starting from teenage pregnancies, to high rate of STD in children to high school shootings? One branch of extremism breeds the other. I feel, Indians with an inclination towards west have taken an extremist stand about so called Indian darks side (real or imaginary). Whether you look at Sobhan Bantawal or this Mr.Adiga, one can clearly see how probing this "dark side" is promoted deliberately by western agencies. I do not understand how a village in UP is in a dark state. The suicide rate of UP is 1/5th of Progressive Karnataka and people in UP are much happier that people in Karnataka. I was in Banaras Hindu University and stayed at least 2 months in an Ashram on Ghats and I do not think there is any think dark about "UP". How can people who are in the dark side be happier that the people in big cities? Now the eternal question: Who is in dark side? Who is under delusion? The urban brats? The english speaking upper castes? The selfish western populations selling arms? 100 years back, half of Europe was as poor as UP. So, what is so shocking to Europeans about India? The "Dark Side" of India is also used to collect funds for "religious activities" in India. Imagine, some meditation Guru collecting funds in India to convert the Americans by talking about the STD, the teenage pregnancy and high crime rate in US. A backlash is in waiting..... When so called civilised behave like crooks and indulge in hypocrisy and half truths, people will take law into their hands and bash up the ones talking about the "dark side".

Comment by Rohan Venkat

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:54:52 EDT

I think it's partly to do with writing a believable character. The book seems reasonably funny and fresh at first and would have made a decent blog post or even long satirical article. But the further you go into it, the less you believe that the person writing is the same as the character being described. You're able to see the author at work, trying to be that dark-side-of-the-country 'other Indian'. And whenever the author is apparent as separate to the character he's attempting to portray, it's bad news for a work. It's like noticing an unintended camera in a movie, it's not believable anymore. Personally I can see Adiga's style working, only with a character that more represents his background, or that he can relate to more. This seems like an obvious fictional stretch. And maybe that distance is more palpable to Indians, and it's harder for others not to recognize that difference between what a genuine 'other Indian' would sound or write like.

Comment by Chandra

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:01:57 EDT

The problem is with the Britts. Many of them are yet to overcome the fact that India is no more the India of the old. Rewarding such books and the ECB's conflict with the BCCI are two examples of holding onto this old perception. Any Indian living their will vouch for the subtle 'superiority' complex that an average Britt displays. Good luck to them

Comment by kerty

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:00:20 EDT

Ajay Truth has to have redeeming value, it must offer a way. I do not think class politics can offer any of that. Neither does Halwai, Aravind's anti-hero. They merely exploit and compound the problems for cheap thrills of power, fame and fortune. I would much rather prefer Booker prize for home truths that show us light and a way.

Comment by ajay

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:39:04 EDT

A little bit of home truth about India's grinding poverty will not do any harm to the desi millionaires and India-shining proponents.

Comment by kerty

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:20:14 EDT

I have not read The White Tiger, but its reviews did not inspire me to rush to have a peek at it. I thought it as one more gutter inspector looking for cheap fame and fortune in the west by paddling underbelly of India - there is a large constituency in the west that needs its regular fix of trash and burn side of India. But Booker prize for heap of trash? I thought they would have realized by now that brat Arundhati Roy, a Halwai in real life, was an honest mistake. And now Booker for Halwai? Booker Prize must be into style over substance or cheap thrills these days. People at the helm of Booker Prize need to do some serious introspection.

Comment by Sid

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:00:50 EDT

I don't know why Ghosh wasn't considered a possible winner by Indians -- he was actually the UK bookie's favorite to win the prize.