Balram Halwai

Balram is the novel’s central character, its protagonist and narrator. He describes himself, quite proudly and frequently, as an entrepreneur, saying at one point that he is the most successful entrepreneur in India. Given that an entrepreneur is, by definition, a salesman, there is the sense right from the novel’s opening words that Balram is selling himself – to the ostensible reader of his story (i.e. Chinese premier Jiabao) and, in doing so, is presenting himself in the best possible light. This is not to say that Balram is a liar; there is the clear sense throughout the narrative that he is, to a significant degree confessing and/or revealing the truth. There is, nevertheless, in both Balram’s story and the telling of it, an apparent determination to put a positive spin on some fairly negative things.

Born into a life of poverty and...