The White Tiger Charity Foundation

After reading the book, The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga, I have to ask myself if I’m grateful for what I have. When I’m eating food from my fridge that’s always stocked or taking a shower with hot, running water do I even think about why I have these things and where they came from? For most people living in “our world” hot water and fresh food are a given; something that’s always there. These things to us are necessities. But to some people, people living in “other worlds”, these things are luxuries. How would I feel if I lived in one of these worlds? A world where running water is only found in streams and fresh food is something they have to pick from trees. If it were me, I’d be searching for a way out. For Balram, the main character in The White Tiger, his only way out was schooling. He would go to school every day to someday be able to leave the poverty of his world; to be able to be his own boss and not “stay a slave to the darkness forever.” (35) Unfortunately though, for Balram and many other under privileged children like him, the reality of his situation caught up to him. “The one infallible law of life in the Darkness is that good news becomes bad news- and soon.”(30) The good news was his education, but the bad news was that his education had come to an end. Like many kids before him, Balram’s obligation to help out his family had him dropping out of school to get a job. This decision left him without any opportunities to leave the status quo and have a better life.

In India, about 90% of children attend primary school each year. But only about 20% of those children go on to attend secondary school. (Kevin Watkins) This means that 80% of the children in India are not getting the schooling they need to lead successful lives. That’s a pretty big statistic, one that leaves me thinking about why nothings being done to keep India’s kids in school. I wonder, how do we expect a country to be successful and grow if they aren’t able to learn how? Maybe many people have already asked themselves this same question, maybe even come up with their own solution, one that they thought was bound to change the world. Well, I have a solution of my own, one that’s pretty simple: a charity program to help kids in school. If what the children need to get schooling and graduate is money, then why not give it to them? In America, many of us have money to spare, money that could go to a good cause. We can start a charity in The White Tigers name that would go to paying for kids schooling and also for school supplies and building more schools in India.

There are many books out in the world. Romance, action, thriller, adventure and drama are just a few of the numerous genres to pick from.  In my opinion though, there’s not one genre that’s better than the others. Whether it’s a love story between two high school sweethearts or a race around the world to find out “who done it”, it has the potential to be a great book as long as it has substance and purpose. The book The White Tiger has both of these things plus more. It’s the story of the underdog rising above his stereotype and finding a way to become what he wanted to. It also focuses a lot on the poverty issue in India. If there was a charity connected to this book, trying to solve this issue, it would earn much needed publicity. People would see the good that this foundation was doing and buy the book that started it all. Not only would this be good for the author, it would be good for the world. We’d be helping out a nation that’s stuck in the dark and at the same time selling a book that deserves to be read. For me, this is the solution that solves what Adiga wrote about in The White Tiger. He saw all of the darkness in India and tried to bring it to light by writing this book. If you had a chance to answer his call and resolve this problem, wouldn’t you take it?

Graph of world literacy rates. America is at 97% whereas India is at 60-70%.

 

For more reading on this issue visit: http://wamu.org/news/morning_edition/12/02/21/graduation_rates_increase_around_the_globe_as_us_plateaus

http://www.riazhaq.com/2011/08/pakistan-ahead-of-india-in-graduation.html