This podcast is about the White Tiger, a murder mystery of sorts set in modern day India as told by the murder himself through a series of memos. Our last reading covered a very action packed section of the book (listen to find out what happened!) and we analysed the events using the marxist lens. India's caste system, while technically abolished, still controls much of the population, including the narrator who is a servant, which makes it easy to find marxist elements in everything. Click the link below to explore the life of one of India's many servants and entrepreneurs as he gets closer and closer to the murder he's been hanging over our heads.
The article's primary focus is on a remark made by prominent Indian intellectual Ashis Nandy. He was referring to new-found positions of power within the lower castes - specifically, that they seemed more corrupt because, unlike the elites, they could not easily cover up their corruption. This got pulled wildly out of context, and published in a very sensationalizing manner: "Within moments, Nandy’s remark about most corrupt Indians being from traditionally oppressed and marginalized lower castes and tribes was tweeted without its context. Television channels and wire services ran the headline: 'SC/ST/OBCs [lowest Indian groups] most corrupt: Ashis Nandy.'" This prompted rage and hatred from multiple prominent lower-class groups, and Nandy being put on trial for attacking the state and encouraging casteist attacks. It's really insightful as to free speech as it relates to India, as well as how India handles caste-based issues. Evidently, there's power within every caste (and corruption).
Polgreen, Lydia. “Entrepreneurs Rise in Ashes of India's Caste System.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 10 Sept. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/world/asia/11caste.html.
This article provides insight on the way the caste system and its “fall” have affected politics and entrepreneurs in northern and southern India. In the North, outlawing the caste system lead to many lower caste people jumping into politics, using their caste as a way to motivate voters and gain political power. In the South, the lower castes were mobilizing around economic mobility and opportunity before the removal of the system, making it much easier to join and expand the job market after removal. These polarizing approaches have lead to huge entrepreneurial gain for the South with lots of political divisions in the North. The White Tiger follows a character that moves from the North to the South to follow these economic opportunities and to escape the political polarisation of the North where he recalls never actually voting himself because others had done it for him. The article even goes so far as to say that many in the North “don’t cast their vote; they vote their caste.” This shows the priorities of the North vs the South and of the narrator who prioritizes material gain over ideas and politics, following the Marxist definition.
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