Arvind Adiga's Last Man In Tower

You may be forgiven if, after reading  Arvind Adiga's latest novel, Last man in Tower (HarperCollins India Hardcover), you come to the conclusion that behind the decent facade of civility , human beings are essentially evil and that it needs just a slight trigger to reveal their true nature.The trigger in the story is provided by the  "can't be refused' offer made by a builder -Dharmen Shah and all  hell breaks loose.Shah ,a man who has built an immense construction empire from a scratch, wishes to consolidate it further by constructing a fancy complex at a plot of land  which, at the time the story begins, is occupied by a co-operative group housing society, namely, the Vishram Group Housing Society ,Vakola, Mumbai..Although there are two Towers of the Society-Tower A and Tower B , the story is confined mainly to the residents of Tower A. The residents of this Tower are simple middle-class people, not rich but by and large happy with their lot,notwithstanding many unfulfilled desires  and unabated sorrows.They have  a pleasant togetherness and an  inclination to help one another in meeting their puny aspirations.There is Ibrahim Kudwa the internet cafe owener and his family.Then there  are the Puris,the Ajwanis,the Pintos,the Nagpals, Mrs. Rego and some others including Yogesh Murthy ,a retired school teacher who lives alone having lost his wife not many months ago.Murthy ,known in the society as Masterji had lost a daughter much earlier and his son Gaurav,with his own family, stays away in another ,more prosperous part of Mumbai  itself. Cat is thrown amongst pigeons when Shah's man makes an offer to buy their flats at Rs.20000/ per square foot when the going  market rate is much much less.Most of the residents jump at the offer.A few people are sceptical initially but gradually they too give in when they are assured that the builder would indeed give the money and would not hoodwink them.There is ,however, one gentleman--Masterji who is not willing to sell his dwelling unit,not because the money offered is not adequate,but because it is a matter of principle.The problem is that the building can not be sold unless every member of the society has expressed his willingness to sell his unit.The members of the society ,thereafter start coaxing and cajoling Masterji into agreeing to sell his flat.When that does not work they enlist the help of Gaurav,-Masterji's son.When that too, does not work they apply pressure tactics--resolving in the meeting of the society to abrogate his membership and disconnecting water and electricity supply to his flat ,sending street vagabonds to beat him at night and all that.So much so ,Masterji's priest of long acquaintance also refuses to officiate in performing the first anniversary "shraadh" of  his deceased wife.They (the residents) start a campaign that Masterji has gone mad. The Masterji still does not yield.What happens then is something that the reader should himself find out by reading the book. It is a hard-hitting commentary on   changing mores of the Indian society just as Adiga's earlier novel was. How one builder's ego and ambition can transform the conduct and behaviour of hundreds of other human beings by playing on one of their baser instincts i.e. greed has been brought out in a lurid detail. Greed transforms simple law-abiding friendly middle-class residents into demons is what the novel seems to be telling us.But then what is new in this?Do we not already know this?Have not our religious books been shouting this truth throughout the ages?Then what is new? The novelty is that though the theme is old, the presentation is   more than modern.. It does not say in so many words but the feeling is inescapable that the author is not comfortable with neo-liberal India that we have been witness to since 1991, when the economy was thrown open unleashing the demons of  I, me and myself , self-centredness and greed ,when Greed became not only good but also  God. The other significant feature of the novel is  a liberal sprinkling of similes and metaphors, at least in the initial parts reminding one of The Ramcharitmanas of the great Tulsidas  of which it was said that there could no doubt be a chaupai which is without  a simile or a metaphor but there can be no page which is bereft of these figures of speech.
Protagonists in the novel, though unreal,never look anything but lifelike.The book is readable and it stirs too but perhaps, is not disturbing enough.Perhaps, it was not meant to be.