The White Tiger: Balram's Dream

Balram's dream:

Around me I saw a garden full of lovely fruit trees. Apples, oranges… even cherry trees. I hadn't eaten in 5 days. Or maybe it just felt like it, but my stomach was burning of hunger and more and more liquid had accumulated in my mouth. The apples now seemed like little round pieces of treasure to me. I could already feel the glory that would overcome me when I could take a big bite into one of them. It felt like everything around me was gone… For a minute I stared at the treasonous goods in front of me.

Then I realized I was still lying on the floor. I hadn’t moved a bit. It seemed like someone had glued me to the bottom of this fruit garden. Now I tried to move but I could not get up. And the more I tried the less power I had to try one more time. The smell of the cherries started giving me hunger pains. What is going on? Why couldn't I get up? What was wrong with me? More and more men and women came to pick the fruits of the tree forest, stepping over me and tripping me on the way there. My stomach started hurting after a while since the fat men walking over me were almost 5 times the size I am. As I saw them grabbing more and more fruits I saw their eyes getting bigger. Their avarice got greater! They grabbed the apples, the oranges and the cherries while their big tummy was shaking. In this forest no one was collecting fruits together. Everyone was picking their own trees, slapping the person next to them, hitting or even biting. They didn’t even see me lying at their feet, as their carpet, ignoring my screams and the noises of my stomach. And then there were the other people, who were like me lying on the ground, with their face stunned. Our faces were full of mood. The dirty feed of the others had spread the mud all over our body. The others on the floor also looked hungry but they had given up. They had no energy and no hope! They wanted to starve. But I didn’t! I was ready to fight for a fruit. I was ready to press the energy out of my body to step up, get through and tried not to panic. Looking at the others on the forest floor, they were facing the same difficulties. But I wanted to bite, hit and slap like them. I wanted to become like them. I wanted to move my legs! I wanted to stand up! But then I looked at myself and for the first time since I woke up and I realized that I was free of limps. Yes! My legs were gone and so were my hands. I gasped and looked around. I stared at the fat collectors and us lying under them without arms and without legs. With no possibility and no prosperity!We had no limbs and therefore no chance to get up and pick fruits from the garden. We could only stare.