Asian Noire : "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

When "Renaissance Man" Michael Portillo became Chairman of the Man Booker Prize committee last year, I had expectations that the 2008 winning novel might just be rather more interesting than the usual stable of winners, and in the "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga I have not been disappointed.

The fact that the choice of this first-time novel clearly upset the sensibilities of a few white middle class journalists of "The Guardian" genre only added to its appeal. For whilst India may be "The Great Brown* Hope" of many in the West, I remind convinced that a combination of democracy and good quality urban planning are the high watermarks of civilisation and development, and, arguably, this combination can only be found in parts of Northern and Western Europe : I stress parts !

Returning to "The White Tiger", whilst this is very much a "fusion" novel, I don't think that its author should be called an "outsider" in his own country (as one Guardian reviewer did), as he was born in Madras and currently lives in Mumbai (or Bombay as they still call it there). However, Mr Adiga - still only in his mid-thirties - is undoubtedly a man of this world (he has travelled widely) and of literature.

Thus "The White Tiger" owes its bite not just to an extraordinarily vivid account of modern India, but also to a much wider literary heritage. Nevertheless, whilst Aravind Adiga has been compared to both the Victorian Charles Dickens and the modern American writer Tom Wolfe, we should also look to Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground" for both narrative style and points of reference.

Indeed, a memorable episode involves the narrator - and driver/servant- of an Americanised Asian living in Delhi, taking his boss and a corrupt Indian government official to a blond Russian prostitute who speaks a modest amount of Hindi and looks like the Hollywood actress Kim Bassinger. Later, when the narrator seeks out a similar "blond" for himself, he discovers she is a Ukrainian with dyed hair whose circumstances are even more desperate than his own.

Although the hero ultimately triumphs over adversity - through a brutal and criminal act - and sets up a successful enterprise in Bangalore on the back of the city's world-renowned technology/call-centre "cluster", both he and we are left to wonder whether democracy really has a future in India, or whether the country's profound socio-economic failings have sunk it into the irredeemable terriory of pre-Soviet Russia, or China before the coming of communism.

The following passage from towards the end of the book may remind readers of "news management" and international pre-occupations closer to home, including those of our former and current prime ministers :

"The health minister today announced a plan to eliminate malaria in Bangalore by the end of the year...

....In other news, the chief minister of state announced a plan to eliminate malnutrition in Bangalore in six months. He declared that there would be not one hungry child in the city by the end of the year..."

However, the narrator addresses himself not to the Good and Great of the West, but throughout his story, to "His Excellency Wen Jiabao, The Premier's Office, Beijing, Capital of the Freedom-Loving Nation of China", or "Our Great Yellow* Hope".

*The term's "brown" and "yelllow" are used here as they by the narrator of "The White Tiger".

Tackling the Legacy of Phony Tony

I found Michael Parkinson's attack on Jade Goody shortly after her death not only in rather bad taste, but demonstrating a callous lack of concern for people close to her. Although I didn't follow Jade's story closely - and I'm proud to say have never watched an episode of Big Brother - both are ultimately the creations of media people like Mr Parkinson, for whom I've never had much time anyway. Indeed, I can't recollect a memorable incident involving him, save for his recent comments on Ms Goody which did bring him a lot of media attention.

In fact, "Parky" has always struck me as something of a "Phony". I'm using this word as it first came to my attention in the film "American Beauty", when the central character describes her friend's mother as "such as phony", and promptly sets about disrupting the domestic scene. From my recollection, the "Mom" works in the real estate business and conducts her family life in what might be described as "Scenes from a Show Home". In short, she is a shallow but also smart (in the sense recently used by Michelle Obama ie intelligent and elegant) and plausible lady.

Now whilst none of these descriptions could fairly be applied to Jade Goody, they could with the exception of "lady" and, possibly, "intelligent" be applied to Tony Blair, with Cherie providing the missing qualities. However, Mr Blair does seem to share some qualities with Jade Goody, namely a certain opportunism, ability to create significant problems in international relations, love of celebrity status and its rewards, and religious consolation in distress, all of which qualities he shares with his wife, who, over time, appears to have aspired to be more and more like Jade.

So before venting their spleen on the sadly deceased Ms Goody, I would suggest that people like Michael Parkinson look more closely at the political and media castes in this country. I use the term caste rather than just class, because many people in Britain now feel that the barriers to social mobility go beyond those that existed before the advent of New Labour. Moreover, unlike Michelle Obama, many people over here also suspect that "being smart" may not get them very far, but "being phony" might just get them somewhere, even if it's over there.

Learning from the Lessons of Unpaid Labour

All independent professionals should reflect seriously upon the latest downfall from grace of Derek Draper, who has apparently lost his unpaid advisory role with New Labour. Providing one's services free of charge to certain types of client can have serious consequences for one's professional reputation if things go wrong, and relationships turn sour. The "People Professions", of which Mr Draper is a member - as psychotherapist and political "spin doctor" - are, of course, particularly prone to relationship problems. However, all of us should adopt a cautionary approach to the provision of free advice, as should those who seek to procure it.

A Message from the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to Gordon Bown

Dear Prime Minister

Just in case you were preoccupied with the matter of "certain emails" over the Easter period, I would like to remind you of your predecessor's new venture, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, from whose website the following message is taken :

"The Easter story tells of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and reminds Christians of the eternal life, the new life, that is offered to all who believe in Him. We celebrate the freedom from past failures which Christ offers us and the hope which his resurrection holds out.

I trust that this festival of new life can be a symbol of hope to others too - Christians and non- Christians alike. It reminds us that out of darkness can come light, out of death can come new and better life, out of defeat can come victory..."

...and spin doctors can not only be reborn as psychotherapists, as in the case of Derek Draper, but then return to spin and combine therapeutic practice with running a prurient political website.

We do indeed live in an Age of Charlatans and Fake Healers !

Einstein on "Unmanageable Complexity"

For all those who haved encountered "IT", I like this article from "Einstein's Corner" back in 2004 :

www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=4515

For those who can't remember the 1970s.....

For those who can't remember the 1970s, although they were there (and for those that weren't), this was also a time of global recession. Please consult the following link : http://nytimes.com/2009/02/28/business/economy/28charts.html

My guess is that the 2000's recession (as it is now being called) is a compound of early 1990s and 1970s recessionary ingredients, including the inevitable squeeze on public finances, but with rather more uncertainty about causal factors, including "media" and, therefore, remedial action.

With regard to our own country, some may remember that the 1970s was a time of the so-called "British Disease" : a general malaise of which one measure was low economic productivity. This, of course, begs the question : is there a "New British Disease" ?

Many people, I suspect, would agree that there is a "New British Disease" which might be summed up thus : "I/We have a (personal, domestic, social etc) problem, therefore I/We am/are...". The question is do we need another Mrs Thatcher to put ourselves together again ?

G20 Gathering : Corporate "Away Day" or School Trip ?

Watching the recent G20 gathering in the media, I was reminded of the so-called "Away Days" enjoyed by the corporate sector, when I counted myself amongst its ranks in the early 1990s. There's nothing like a couple of days' rest from the problems of real world to set things right ! Some of the photos, however, reminded me more of my school trips in the 1970s. So is this recession going to be more 1970s than 1990s, I wonder ?