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By Tharunikaa Koneru
I. Introduction
“Even in death, he was resisting his fate. Resisting to die, be reborn, and die again, all for nothing. I understood in this moment, how hard it is for a man to win his freedom in India” says Balram,[1] the protagonist when his father passes away at the beginning of the film ‘The White Tiger’. This dialogue above helps us understand the theme of the movie, i.e., how Balram, a servant hailing from Laxmangarh, transforms into a self-made entrepreneur. The movie addresses some burning questions, such as poverty, the caste system, inequality, and corruption. This paper aims to discuss the various social issues addressed in the movie while also taking references from various scholarly works such as Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial’, B.R. Ambedkar’s ‘Annihilation of Caste’, and several others.
II. Background
The White Tiger novel by Aravind Adiga was published in 2008. The White Tiger was the author’s debut novel, and he was later endowed with the Booker Prize for his work. Ramin Bahrani consequently adapted the book into a movie, which was released in 2021. The story depicts a poor but shrewd driver who escapes the clutches of caste subjugation to become a successful entrepreneur. Balram was smart and ambitious, but due to the passing of his father, he had to quit his studies to work at their family’s tea stand. Spotting an opportunity, he learns to drive, masters the flattery that members of the affluent class anticipate from their servants, and lands himself a job as a driver for Ashok (the Stork’s son). Balram expresses complete allegiance to his masters, but this is long forgotten when he is betrayed by them. Balram talks about being part of a rooster coop, where the rooster knows that it is going to be slaughtered, but they never rebel, much like the poor and oppressed in our society. Generations worth of suppressed anger flare up, making him rebel against the rigged and unequal system to rise and change his fate, thereby escaping the rooster coop.[2]
III. Definition and Origin of Caste
“Caste is a form of social stratification involving a mode of hierarchically arranged, closed, and endogamous strata, membership to which is ascribed by descent,” hence it is assigned by birth and cannot be changed.[3] The Indian caste system is divided into four varnas. This is the hierarchical segmentation of individuals based on their professions: the Brahmins (priestly caste), the Kshatriyas (the warriors/fighting caste), the Vaishyas (business and trading caste), and the Shudras (working class).[4] The beginning of caste-based discrimination is still unknown, but it is said to have started between 600 and 200 BCE. India’s caste system remains the longest-surviving social hierarchy. Despite constitutional guarantees, such discriminatory practices continue to exist in India. This article will discuss the multiplicity of such discriminatory practices while referring to various instances from the movie and the readings.
IV. Analysis
“Back in the day, there were over 1000 castes in India but in contemporary India, there are only two: men with big bellies and men with small bellies; those born to be masters and those to be servants; those who eat and those who are eaten,”[5] says the narrator in the movie. This signifies how the caste system continues to exist in our society. According to our reading about caste, the manifestation of caste within the diaspora is dependent on the position occupied by the dispersed groups in the hierarchical system which is the Varna system[6]. People of the Dalit and tribal communities are excluded from the Varna system and are categorised as ‘Avarnas’ or ‘outcasts’. In the movie, Balram belongs to the Halwai caste, who are traditionally sweet makers as prescribed by the Varna system. When Balram decided to learn to drive, he was discriminated against by his instructor for not being ‘aggressive’. These qualities were further attributed to the Sikhs, Muslims, and Rajputs.
This caste and religion-based discrimination can be distinguished in various parts of the movie. This is discerned when the driver at the Stork house who was originally Muslim, had to change his name and religion to be able to be a servant for his master. This elucidates how caste-based discrimination is still very prevalent in our society. A question of Balram’s faith was posed to him before his employment. He was also questioned if he bathed regularly. Dalits were considered impure and untouchable, hence the origin of the word ‘Dalit’ which means broken. They were denied access to ‘pure’ environments such as schools or temples, and even clean drinking water.[7] Any sort of contact with such persons, such as their sight, even their shadow was seen as polluting by the upper caste persons.[8]
The instances portrayed in the film explain how discrimination based on caste and religion still persists in society. “There cannot be a more degrading system of social organization than the caste system,” said B.R. Ambedkar.[9] According to the book Annihilation of Caste, unlike racial discrimination, caste-based discrimination is not colour-coded, hence it cannot be seen.[10] Caste-based discrimination is manifested in everyday practices including eating habits and clothing choices, among other things.[11] For instance, India was so deeply rooted in the caste system that Filter Coffee, a beverage that is enjoyed by everyone, was once a drink that was only enjoyed by the Elite Brahmin Class.[12] Later, coffee was democratised, but this explains how a simple cup of coffee blurred the lines of caste discrimination.[13] While filter coffee was mostly restricted to the upper-class social circles among Brahmins, tea was seen as a workman’s beverage and was marketed as an energy stimulant for the workers engaging in labour-intensive work. This is also seen in the casteist notion of purity that is embedded in the Indian “pure veg” culture.[14] Ambedkar believed that this was how the caste system got its authority.[15]
Elements like corruption and bribery are portrayed in the movie in specific scenes, especially in scenes when Ashok bribes the members of the executive branch of the government to evade taxes. Corruption not only increases but also perpetuates income inequality, thereby preventing the elimination of such socio-economic inequalities that people like Balram undergo. As seen in the movie, bribery has been a perennial problem in our nation. Witnessing the commission of such crimes that essentially promote, propagate, and perpetuate structural inequalities among the already disadvantaged, the need for effective machinery is required. Thus, the already established mechanisms that operate on making accessibility to justice easier, play a very pivotal role in providing a platform for people like Balram to secure justice and initiate that very step towards the elimination of inequalities. In addition, concepts like separation of powers and judicial review that are crucial to the safeguarding of people’s rights are seen to be put to the test in this movie.
In the doctrine of separation of powers, the legislative, executive, and judiciary are the three functions of the government. Power is distributed amongst these organs of the government, each with its own responsibilities.[16] Such separation intends to ensure that there is no concentration of unchecked power and to ensure checks and balances, which prevents abuse of power.[17] Judicial review ensures that the judiciary reviews the lawfulness of a decision made by a public authority.[18] These authorities include government departments and ministers, police forces, etc.[19] When such processes are followed in their strict sense, there will be a reduction in cases where Dalits and the underprivileged, like Balram, are forced to falsely confess to the crimes they didn’t commit. The disruptions caused to such systems by corruption are a serious problem that needs to be looked into. This is because, the active performance of corrupt activities renders the judicial wing inefficient in granting accurate justice. For instance, Balram was forced to take up the liability for a crime he didn’t commit, coupled with the commission of bribery by privileged people like Ashok, who, as stated earlier, is pretty well off, which facilitates the diminishing accuracy of justice provided by court systems.
The difficulty of seeking justice both within the judicial system and outside would undoubtedly diminish one’s standards of living. The need for adjudicatory mechanisms, public awareness of their rights, and a speedy trial are all considered important parts of justice. Dalits are unable to seek justice and find it difficult to defend themselves due to their lack of resources. Justice seems too far-fetched to them. In Noida, a 22-year-old Dalit student was brutally trashed by the police and was made to consume urine after being arrested in a “fake” extortion case.[20] A random sampling of headlines in any mainstream Indian newspaper shall include articles such as “Dalit ‘witch’ paraded naked in Bihar.” In 2018, “the Congress condemned the police action against Dalits and demanded the immediate release of those who had been charged falsely.”[21] Such instances of illegal detention and caste-based abuses continue to persist in India. According to the NCRB, the proportion of SCs and STs in prisons is much higher than their proportionate population in the country as a whole. The reason why Dalits and Adivasis make up a large population in jails is due to deliberate delays in police investigations. Many of these people remain in jail without any clue of a police case against them. The abovementioned establishes how inaccessibility to justice and lack of knowledge regarding remedies result in the exploitation of the vulnerable sections of our country. Similar to how Balram was framed for a crime he did not commit, he had no choice but to succumb to the Storks family's threats due to his inaccessibility to justice and lack of knowledge regarding the justice system. The above references can be inferred from The Trial by Franz Kafka, where the author describes a society that is full of oppression, slavery, and corruption, which is very similar to the themes mentioned in The White Tiger. In the book, the existing law is inaccessible, and a man from the country tries to reach the law, but the doorkeeper denies such access. Ironically, the doorkeeper claims the door belongs to the citizens, and it is always open, but nobody gets through it.[22] This exemplifies how corruption further hinders the oppressed from accessing justice.
V. Conclusion
This movie helps us understand the implications of caste-based oppression and how oftentimes many people contribute to perpetuating such discrimination. Balram says that there are only two ways for the poor to get to the top: by using politics and crime. By reverting and killing Ashok and stealing money, Balram was able to start a business called ‘The White Tiger Drivers’. Reeling back to the scene where Balram is called The White Tiger, someone born only once in a century. Symbolically, he escaped the rooster coop and switched sides. Towards the end, all the employees who work for Balram are shown, thereby signifying that they are still stuck in the rooster coop while Balram has broken out of that very same rooster coop. This signifies how the only escape from the rooster coop is to switch sides.
References
[1]The White Tiger, directed by Ramin Bahrani, Netflix (2021).
[2]'The White Tiger review - Gripping Adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s Class Parable' (The Guardian, 23 January 2021) https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/23/the-white-tiger-review-ramin-bahrani-aravind-adiga accessed 1st November 2023.
[3] Human Rights Watch, 'Untouchability and Segregation' (2001), accessed 1st November 2023.
[4] The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders and India’s Hidden Apartheid (Navayana, 2019), Chapter 1.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Supra note 1.
[8] Ibid.
[9] B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: An undelivered speech (Arnold Publishers, 1990).
[10] Ibid.
[11]Venkatachalapathy, 'In Those Days There was No Coffee: Coffee-drinking and Middle-Class Culture in Colonial Tamilnadu' (Sage Journals, 2002).
[12] Sneha Madusoodhan, 'Caste in a cup of coffee' (Medium, 2023) https://medium.com/@snehaspeaks97/caste-in-a-cup-of-coffee-967faf063a32 accessed 2nd November 2023.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Singh, https://www.theswaddle.com/iit-bombay-approves-vegetarian-food-only-space accessed 2nd November 2023.
[15] Supra 13.
[16] Will Kenton, 'Separation of Powers: Definition and Examples' (Investopedia, 2021) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/separation-powers.asp accessed 5th November 2023.
[17] Ibid.
[18] 'The British Institute of Human Rights', https://www.bihr.org.uk/get-informed/legislation/what-is-judicial-review accessed 5th November 2023.
[19] Ibid.
[20] The Indian Express, 'Mishra, "Dalit man accuses police of framing him in false case, forcing to ‘drink urine’"', (5 November 2023) https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dalit-man-accuses-police-of-framing-him-in-false-case-forcing-him-to-drink-urine-8649432/.
[21] Times of India, '"Withdraw false cases, release arrested Dalits"', (2018) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/withdraw-false-cases-release-arrested-dalits-congress-on-police-action/articleshow/63615886.cms accessed 2nd November 2023.
[22] Kafka, F, The Trial (1st edn, Verlag Die Schmiede, Berlin 1925).
Tharunikaa Koneru is a first-year student at Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University. Her areas of interest are International Law and Public Policy.
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