One of my GR friends once commented that he has veered away from novels with India as a setting because they are always about being destitute and poor. That no matter what we go through in life, there is still hope that awaits us at the end of each tumultuous journey. However, Desai’s storytelling is more engaging as she has this rare ability to take you in a roller-coaster ride: you’ll be in enthralled by her playful verses, in deep thoughts by her heartfelt message, in gratitude by being in a better state in life than her characters, in aversion to any form of racial discrimination by following the sad fate of Biju hopping from one job to another as an illegal alien in the USA and yet, in the end, you will feel cheering for her characters as you are able to identify yourself with them. It may not be as current as Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger although it is also about the changing landscape of a small Indian town. I think this is what made me appreciate Desai’s over Roy’s: that her characters have choices, despite the fact that those options are limited because of the harsh environment that they happened to live in. However, it is more realistic with the characters finding themselves in the situations that were not imposed to them but mostly of their own choices. It may not be as tear-jerking and bewildering as Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things although it is also about Indian families trying to survive the Third-World realities of life. After all, India has one of the oldest civilizations in the world. The true Indian identity that was an amalgam of the nation’s own culture and tradition spawning several centuries when they were still free of foreign influences. However, it is more exact with its urgent message: the loss of the nation’s true identity due to western influences. It may not be as comprehensive as Salman Rusdie’s Midnight’s Children although it is also about India that used to be under the British empire. Almost all the characters seem to be alive and the imageries that the scenes create seem like imprints that will stay in your mind for a long time. Although the verses are oftentimes playful, the storytelling is concise. Most countries in Asia were once colonies of European or American countries and their influences will forever stay no matter how many centuries have passed. So far, this is the Man Booker Prize winner that is most relevant to me as an Asian.

Hullabaloo by kiran desai