This is a story of an Indian village boy “Munna”, born in the typically deprived environment but having his own rules for the life.
The village, not having the basic amenities fortunately has a school but it is also no more than the dried-taps and electricity-less poles. The teachers, awaiting there salaries from years grab all the students incentives sent by government. Munna, having an inclination to learn and grow is given the name “White Tiger” by a school-inspector describing him being the only royal creature in this jungle of students and teachers.
He has to leave his school to earn money for the family- a combined family with all extended uncles-aunts, mostly fighting with each other. The family is big enough but it is only his father which shares a bond of affection with him. His mother is no more.
Though he has been out of the school, his tendency to learn remains and he starts learning the lessons of life while working at a tea shop, his all earnings going to the grand-mother, who is the self-imposed head of the joint-family.
After some years, he persuades his grand-mother to allow him to take the driving classes and promises to give all his better earnings in turn.
He learns driving and somehow manages a job with an affluent family. The family is from his village and is very powerful in terms of money, social status and squeezing out the lesser ones.
The family has 2 sons and the driver is required for the younger one –Ashok, recently foreign returned.
Ashok is very kind to Munna, though his family is just opposite to the servants. Munna is loyal to the family, for he knows his single mistake may bring all his family to ruin. The author has very appropriately compared this condition with a rooster-coop. The roosters are compacted in the coop; butcher is sitting on their head, killing them one by one. They can see there own brothers getting slaughtered, but it is there destiny to live such life and wait for there own turn.
Because of another political party coming to power, the family is in risk of getting caught for some tax issues. The family manages to send Ashok to Delhi to bribe the party members and keep the issue closed.
Ashok is accompanied by his wife “Pinki” who wants to return to US, and Munna as servant.
Initially Ashok hates the routine visits and bribing the ministers. Pinki always cribs of the faulted systems and insists him to return to US, but he is reluctant and makes all his effort to make Pinki happy in other ways.
Munna is aghast to see the city life, though being a country boy he is loyal to his master, unlikely to the other drivers.
One day during the late night, drunk Pinki asks to drive and crashes a street-child to death. Munna, being a loyal servant acts very intelligently to remove every trace of this accident.
The next day, the family arrives and takes Munna’s signature on a note which specifies Munna as the only responsible person for the accident, in case the accident is registered with police.
Munna is in panic to imagine the life in jail and then he comes to know that the case has not been registered with police. He is relieved but he has virtually experienced what it is being given a killer’s name.
Soon after this incident, Pinki abandons Ashok. This makes Ashok emotionally helpless.
After Pinki’s departure, Ashok starts turning to a typical city smart boy and henceforth Munna follows his foot-steps.
Munna, basically being an ambitious boy starts thinking about his future. He knows, being a white tiger, he cannot live a servant’s life for long. Here, Ashok though gradually getting in tune with the city’s dark side is emotionally weak, and Munna is aware of this fact.
Munna, already being experienced getting a killer’s name plans about finishing Ashok and taking the ransom which he usually delivers. Anyway the amount was to be given to the government as tax which ultimately would have come to people like him, so he wouldn’t be actually stealing the money but would be seizing money destined for him.
But this means, his whole family in the village will be ruined by the master.
Juggling between the two thoughts, finally he decides for his own life. The family is anyway not living a life of human beings, and living like a servant is worse than dying.
One day, he commits the crime and moves to another part of country. Already well acquainted with the loop-holes of system and how to tackle with them, he starts his own cab agency.
Today Ashok Sharma (Munna) is a successful entrepreneur, keeping his employees happy, keeping the customers, police and the system happy, and finally keeping himself happy.
Now he is his own master, flying high in the sky without any forced bonds of family and society.
But still he keeps an eye on the ground for he knows when the loop-holes may turn against him and he has to fall down