"In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with big bellies, and men with small bellies. And only two destinies: eat or get eaten up."
"The darkness will not be silent. There is no water in our taps, and what do you people in Delhi give us? you give us cell phones. Can a man drink a phone when he is thirsty?"
"Go to Old Delhi,and look at the way they keep chickens there in the market. Hundred of pale hens and brightly colored roosters, stuffed tightly into wire-mesh cages. They see the organs of their brothers lying around them.They know they are next, yet they cannot rebel. They do not try to get out of the coop. The very same thing is done with humans in this country."
If you ask Aravind Adiga, he wouldn't go so far as to say that democracy is a dirty word, but its clear from his searing first novel that its quite far from a panacea. The book speaks from the point of view of Balram Halwai, a member of India's poor, who serve largely as a servant class for the few, but highly powerful elite. Through Balram's eyes we see how the rapid concentration of wealth into India's upper crust allows them to enter into a corrupt bargain with the politicians in India; the wealthy use their resources to keep politicians on power; the politicians permit the continued inequality of wealth distribution. The net effect of this is that the resources that are generated from India's economic growth (aka, cell phones, laptops, etc.) are useless in uplifting the majority of India that lacks basic irrigation or sanitation. Adiga doesn't spare his wrath or disdain for the majority of Indians in "the darkness" who accept their fate (see his comparison of the citizenry to chickens in the coop watching their brothers be slaughtered), which is reflected in the persona of Halwai, a boy driven so crazy by his station in life that he commits murder in order to obtain true freedom. It is surprising in a country in the majority of the citizenry are held captive by the concentrated power of the few and wealthy that generally nonviolent farmers have been captivated by the promise of freedom and equality from fringe groups such as the Naxalites?
1 comment:
I've yet to read this book -but I've read so many reviews, I dont know if I really should!
Many Indians have a different view on the matter: one has to do with 'foreigners' making too many comments without actually living there ;-)
But the other is basic statistics: India had close to 1 billion people in poverty a decade ago - now it has 700+ million (despite growth in population to 1.2 billion)
The massive reduction in poverty population has always come when socialist or communist power is 'minimal' (like it has been for last 5 years).
'Growth' has to start somewhere - and in this case, it started in 'urban' India as it is the 'easiest' place to kickstart overall (economic) growth (which includes standard of living).
Even the current gov't admits there's 'much more' to be done in rural India. The gov't is now diverting bulk of the gov't revenue towards rural programs; the same revenue which by the way grew significantly in the past half-decade due to urban-growth (partially fueled by consumerism - like cell phones and taxes associated!).
Naxalites are Nay-sayers ... they complain (like the GOP) but dont give solutions.
i.e. What's that famous quote by Kennedy: Socialists and Communists in general tend to write a lot but 'do' very little! (compared to Capitalists!)
Don't believe the hype - India today is not perfect but is much better than where it was years past and even as early as 1990 on verge of national bankruptcy!
Your brother with the flip-side p.o.v!!
S Sharma
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