WHITE TIGER, BLACK DAY

Juvenile, gimmicky, corny...Many adjectives come to mind when I think of Aravind Adiga's White Tiger. But the Man Booker judges came up with a surprising one. 'Perfect!'Apparently the novel is a perfect book in many ways. A book brimming with schoolboy sarcasm. A novel that makes you want to run for cover after the first few pages overloaded with the most obvious and sloppy conceits. Granted that Adiga's book is backed by a powerhouse publishing house. But if that is the sole criterion of perfection, this is just proof that we live in pathetic times. White Tiger's win marks a sad day for good writing. Tragic, really.