The Seventh Night

In his final night, Balram explains that after commiting the murder, he decided to travel by train in order to reach Bangalore with his nephew, Dharam. He gets away with a police poster with his image by telling a man that most of the men in India look like the person in the image and  lives in fear for the first four weeks in Bangalore. Overcoming his anxiety, he bribes a police to get rid of other taxi service companies and establishes his own company, White Tiger Drivers. He celebrates his success through various means and claims that “White men will be finished within [his] lifetime,” and “yellow men and brown men [will] rule the whole world.” (305) Apologizing to the family who lost its son by Balram’s driver when the victim was riding his bicycle, Balram gave 25000 rupees to the family and a job for the surviving son. Lastly, he states that  “[He’ll] never say [he] made a mistake that night in Delhi when [he] slit [his] master’s throat.“ (320)

The book reflects the negative aspects of India: corruption, murder, unacceptable conditions of work and stagnation. As Balram tries to warn all the faults of the nation to the Premier, it gives a horrible impression on India. Despite all the pessimistic facets of the country, the positive and optimistic features ,such as the preservation of cultures and traditions and hospitality of people, cover the defects. Balram underwent great hardship and experienced extreme cases; nevertheless, he stays confident and employs his past experiences to become a successful entrepreneur. In addition, his reference to the fact that yellow and brown people will dominate the world is true as Chinese and Indian economy is drastically improving. With development in multitude fields, globalization will aid the country to thrive. 

The Sixth Night

In Delhi, Balram decides to cheat on Mr. Ashok by getting extra cash by using the several techniques to steal money. With the money, he went to meet a blonde prostitute in Vitiligo-Lips; however, realizing that she was not blonde, Balram slapped her and was ejected from the hotel. Angrily, he encounters Mr. Ashok dissatisfied with his life and is forced to have dinner with his boss. As Balram observes all the actions that take place and the more he thinks about his life, he becomes more miserable and struggles to stay focused in his life. Hence, he takes action. One day, he takes Mr. Ashok to the banks as he gets money and fills it in his red bag. Pretending that the wheel broke down, he grabs a glass bottle and “[rammed] it three times into the crown of his skull.” (284) He did it to “[get his] revenge in advance.” (285) After hiding the body in the bushes, he picks up Dharam, his nephew, and leaves.

Balram was confident and knew what was the right thing to do in order to gain his freedom and his desired fulfillments. He knows that getting rid of Mr. Ashoka was a desperate need and taking Dharam with him was necessary to achieve happiness for himself. His determination to commit crimes in such risky situations show his extreme wants of independence and wealth. Such unpleasant incidents and corrupt actions depict the life of a nation that he is living in; however, the defects aren’t all that it contains. It comprises of pleasant and acceptable traits that people admire. 

The Fifth Night and Sixth Morning

In the fifth chapter, Balram compares the Rooster coop to the situation that the servants are in. In the Rooster coop, chickens dont try to escape, although they know that they are in terrible condition; And “the very same thing is done with human beings in [the] country.” (174)

Balram was nervous and anxious about going to jail. Fortunately, nobody reported the accident and he did not have to go to prison. Guilty about the incident, Pinky Madam was the one who informed him with the news. Then, she decides to leave the place and when Mr. Ashok finds out that his wife left, he blames Balram. Even though he considers the opportunity to be intimate with his master, not because of his concern but for his own sake of money, the feeling disappears as soon as the Mongoose arrives. He then suddenly stops writing the letter due to an “emergency.” In the sixth morning, he explains that there has been an accident and the victim has been killed. Looking at the Murder Weekly with other drivers, he talks about his wish. Then, he finds Mr.Ashoka with Ms. Uma, who was Mr. Ashoka’s old lover. Later that evening, Mr.Ashok goes to get a blonde prostitue from Ukraine. As Balram drives back home, he finds a strand of hair and keeps it with him.

The comparison of the Rooster coop to the servants is precisely done: both contain a myriad of victims who know that they will have unpleasant outcomes, but who do not dare to betray or leave. These chapters show how the servants are subservient to their masters and they are expected to respect as well as laud them no matter what. The “human beings” (174) ought to be freed or at least granted with fundamental rights and necessities that they require. Although the servants feel worried about their masters, they are not recognized and the disrespect towards servants create rage or schemes that they make for revenge. 

The Fourth Morning and Night

In the fourth morning, Balram goes on to explain that democracy in India is the reason why he got his birth and remembers the time he got to vote at the legal age, 18. Also recounts how a Great Socialist visited the company and he eavesdropped the Stork and his sons talking about the Great Socialist. As he was working as the secondary driver, he got to disclose a big secret about the primary driver, Ram Persad. Balram figured out that Ram Persad was a Muslim and he decided to threaten him with it. Anxious and conscious, Ram Persad leaves the place and Balram gets promoted to the primary position. He then drives Mr. Ashok, the Mongoose and Pinky Madam to Delhi. In the next chapter, Balram is used to the customs and atmosphere of Delhi. One night, he drives with Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madam who are drunk. Then, Pinky Madam stubbbornly gets the handle and starts driving the car. Unfortunately, she hits a boy riding his bicycle and kills him. After removing all the traces and driving back home, Balram is obliged to sign a paper that says he is guilty for the death.

The votes received are all by the darkness of the government; this clearly shows the corruption that is present in India. Also it exhibits the cruel treatment that the servants in India are receiving. As explained in the book, “ drivers who are there behind bars because they are taking the blame for their good, solid middle-class masters” (169) struggle. No Basic rights or any authority to live independently and properly. We can relate to real-life servants or drivers who are not granted with basic necessities or any freedom. This chapter depicts the negative aspect of India’s government despite being called the world’s largest democracy. 

The First and Second Night

In the first night, Balram writes to Wen Jiabao, the Premier, who wants to visit Bangalore in search of entrepreneurship culture. Balram writes in order to give some background of India, and he conveys his own experiences that led to success. Explaining how he got the nickname “The White Tiger”, he describes his life how he worked for Mr. Ashok and how he is “half-baked” because he was not educated properly and did not go to a proper school. It delves more into his struggles in his childhood. In the second night, admitting his murder of Mr. Ashok by saying that  “[he is] not just any murderer, but one who killed his own employer,” (45) Balram goes on to how his life as a servant was terrible. First working in a tea shop, he eavesdrops customers that drivers make high salary. He eventually learns how to drive and gets hired as the secondary driver by the Stork. There he meets Mr. Ashok and he elaborates on the difficulties he faced.

Balram’s thorough description of his life and the way Balram vividly reflects into his past show how memorable his experiences were and how essential it is to him. Also he conveys his feelings expressively on how much he hated to be treated badly by his boss. It depicts the harsh conditions he had to face and undergo as a servant. These hardships and cruel situations condemn the current conditions and status of the country. Living in India, I have seen many people working in tea shops and earning an extremely low wage and drivers who hate to be looked down by others. 

What in the World (22/4)

Questions:
1) http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/22/world/asia/south-korea-ship-sinking/index.html?hpt=wo_c1
- Who got arrested from the survivors of the sunken ferry and why weren't most of the people able to be rescued?

2) http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/20/world/asia/pakistan-unicef-staff-missing/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
- Who went missing in Pakistan?

3) http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/21/world/asia/nepal-everest-avalanche/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
- Why are expeditions for Mount Everest getting cancelled and which deadly accident occurred recently?

Article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/21/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nigerian-parents-say-234-schoolgirls-kidnapped-by-extremists/

- Last week on Monday, heavily armed militants went to a girls dormitory in the middle of the night and kidnapped 230 of them. Currently 190 are still missing and no one knows where they are. More surprisingly, the people are not worried, concerned or shocked by this news. Unlike Barack Obama who visited Boston after the bombings and three met their demise, the Nigerian president did not appear or visit any of the regions. The Boko Haram have caused numerous disastrous attacks and violence on the country; nevertheless, even the military is not taking action and they are not preventing these incidents. Luckily, 28 students escaped the the scene and 16 were day scholars, who returned home before the attack. The fate of the 190 kids that have been kidnapped is uncertain.

What in the world (15/4)

Articles:

• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/10/world/un-world-murder-rates/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
• http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/10/uk-latam-crime-idUKBREA390IK20140410

Honduras has world's highest murder rate. 
There are 90.4 homicides per 100,000 people in Honduras. Homicide rates in Honduras have been five to eight times higher than in Europe or Asia since mid 1950's.  This phenomenon was said to be " the legacy of decades of political and crime-related violence." The weapons that they use to commit crimes are mostly firearms and sharp objects. Nearly 40 percent of the 437,000 murders that happened in 2013 took place in the Americas, mostly in Central and South America. With a long history of gang violence, drug issues and public discrimination, stricter laws are being enforced and introduced to the countries, especially Honduras.

• http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/13/world/americas/chile-wildfire-homes-destroyed/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
• http://www.50report.com/2014/04/14/12-dead-in-chile-wildfire-2000-homes-consumed/#

Chinese wildfire leaves 12 people killed, 2000 homes destroyed. 
After the fire consumed about 2000 homes, 8000 people have been left homeless. More than 1200 fire-fighters worked to get rid of the fire and many say that it was one of the worst fires in history. People that live in the area where the fire occurred are fleeing and seeking for a home to stay. 17 aircraft and additional police were called for help. However, the fire is still igniting and the officials are doing their best to put out the fire.