Globalisation has had its tremendous impact on increasing the overall prosperity of the country by giving more opportunities to the people for progress, but, among its many blessings, it has also aggravated some of the age old problems plaguing the nation ever since its recorded history. Many of its ardent supporters had hoped that economic liberalisation would address these issues and social upliftment would naturally follow economic prosperity. However, instead of eradicating these issues, globalisation seems to have only hardened them. Adiga was born into and had been brought up in an inward looking socialist India, which remains permanently etched in his mindscape. By the time he finished his foreign education and returned to his homeland, …show more content…
The novel harshly captures the ruthless and unpalatable reality of existence in the patches of darkness that continue to exist within globalised India. The defiantly unglamorous portrait of India’s economic miracle has elicited mixed responses from the Indian reading public. It has also offended some sensibilities that have responded by raising doubts and questions regarding the young author’s loyalty to his motherland, which is always called into question by critics and reviewers whenever they grow suspicious of an author’s intentions. While a segment of the readers termed The White Tiger a brilliant effort by a first time novelist, his detractors quickly branded him as another India-basher, beating the well-worn path to instant recognition and popularity in the West. Even Western reviewers like Sir Simon Jenkins, former Chairman of the Booker prize jury, had become wary of Adiga’s motives and shared his anxiety about Indian writers in English, in general, because, according to him, they face a peculiar problem as they must write about India for readers residing mostly in other countries, and because of “this paradox they create an image of India that is exotic and doesn’t show the real India” (Saxena par. 4). At least in Adiga’s case, all such concerns have been completely laid to rest following the publications of Between the Assassinations and Last Man in Tower, which enabled his readers to gain a better perspective on his objectives as a