The White LIAR.

I suppose it took a over-hyped book to get me all riled up,and shook me outta the self-imposed hibernation.A year later,I begin with a new tirade.A 'Hate Post' would be a good way to liven things up!Besides,nothing gets more publicity than a good ol' fashioned ranting.Good to be back....

During a trip to the library,a book with glossy white cover,and comical font on the face proclaiming "The White Tiger,Aravind Adiga".Aaahhhh,the book that won the Booker Prize.It must definitely be a good read.....sadly it wasn't.Far from it.Page after page it just got a little bit worse.The consistency in its decline as a book is the only commendable aspect.And I am being polite here.

I feel I am one of the lucky ones who picked this up at a library.It pains me that it won a prize.As for the price,Rs.395 is totally unjustified.Pick up this book at a roadside,only if you are cataloguing different ways of losing precious time you cannot get back.

Now,readers,you all know I am open minded person and I enjoy a good roast.I'm not too sensitive about opinions on India,especially when presented in a humorous way.But A.Adiga just can't get it right.

He sets out,i believe,to write a satirical expose of the Indian Culture.Instead the result is a banal and overly cliched view of the Indian way.The end result is a book whose insight into what it means to be a Indian is as authentic as Pamela Anderson's endowments...nice to look at,but obviously fake.Journalist Andrew Holgate says "......not a swiff of saffron or swish of saree anywhere".I say "Those are the only two cliches he has missed!!"(I chose to exclude the profanities,as this blog caters to children too,u dumba**{except for that one} ).

I wonder how the book won the Man Booker prize,especially since his predecessors include Salman Rushdie,Arundhati Roy,Kiran Desai,V.S Naipaul.Did you use the oh-so-Indian virtue of bribing some official in the deciding committee??..

I did some extensive research(read wikipedia,Ok so not a very extensive..).He lived in Madras till he was 16 yrs old.Moved to Australia due to his father's posting there.My theory is the children there must have made fun of him,probably mocked his accent.And poor lil Adiga blamed India,and chose to distance himself from all that is Indian.He had to fit in,but with his colour it would have been a little hard.So,he sets off to write about India,from what is,obviously, a foreigner's point of view.At the same time trying(but failing) not to offend the Indian audience(probably because he knew Indian demographic shows the population laps up Indian/Indian origin authors and thus more $$$ for him)

Mr.Adiga,you say the writings of authors like Dickens,helped England and France become better societies.Ummm are you really comparing your attempt with Dickens??

"At a time when India is going through great changes and, with China, is likely to inherit the world from the West, it is important that writers like me try to highlight the brutal injustices of society (Indian). That's what I'm trying to do -- it is not an attack on the country, it's about the greater process of self-examination."Adiga says.

I doubt this process of self-examination you talk about is acheived through exaggerating all the perceptions the foreigners have of India and presenting them to that audience.

Mr. Adiga, I know you topped your SSLC examination.You also have a degree from Columbia State University.Now,I admit i am a layman,when compared to you.I cannot compete with your vocabulary,and most of my writings are salvaged by the ever faithful(sometimes infuriating) SPELLCHECK.But,Mr. Adiga,I love reading.I love how my mind gets amazed when something new is revealed to it.As a Indian,I know you couldn't paint a completely rosy picture of India.I know the picture would be incomplete without a mention of the corruption and the pollution.And i know sarcasm would be a great way to package your opinion.But your take on this doesn't come off as self deprecating but rather a snobbish overview of the country.Layman I may be,but it is US laymen that are buying your books, from the roadside seller or the library.We may not be discussing your book at book clubs or over a bottle of wine...but we ARE reading it.Not just because your book won some prize,but because we are proud when a Indian gets international acclaim.And we hoped that you had written a honest rendition of what it means to be Indian.Instead you succeed in taking a dig at India,writing a novel which can only appeal to foreigners,whose knowledge of India consists of spices,elephants and the Indian Rope trick performing sadhus.