Shantaram

The book first came to my knowledge when I heard that Johnny Depp has brought rights for some book called Shantaram. I first though what would Depp would have to do with V Shantaram the Indian film maker. Then when I read more, I found out that it is about an unbelievably amazing story about an Australian Criminal finding a new way of life in Mumbai. The book is a huge 900+ page autobiographical saga, but don't get intimidated by the size of the book, I can assure you it would be one of the most enjoyable and fast paced 900 pages you have ever read. I will just give you a brief outline of the story. Gregory David Roberts (GDR), the author, once was convicted in Australia for armed robberies that he had been undertaking in order to feed his Heroin addiction. He breaks out of the highest security prison in Australia and escapes to India on a fake New Zealand Passport. He lands in Bombay, becomes associated with local people and makes lot of friends. Fate takes him through several turns in life in which he becomes (mostly by choice) a slum dweller, a 'doctor', a Cholera warrior, a Passport faker, a black market currency exchanger, a smuggler, an gun runner.. just to name a few roles. He sees the real India starting from Mumbai till a remote village in Maharshtra. He is put in an Indian jail, survives hired sassassins, survives road accidents and survives one more heroin addiction. The narrator is a man called Lindsay. Here he befriends taxi driver Prabakar, who finds him a place to live in a slum away from the eyes of the law. This slum is to be the home of Linbaba, as Lindsay is called, for the next few years. While he runs a makeshift first-aid center in the slum, he also engages in criminal activities like smuggling and counterfeiting, and eventually starts gun-running to Afghanistan. Lin's experiences in Bombay range from falling in love with the beautiful Karla, who introduces him to the world of prostitutes, to meeting the motherly Rukhmabai of Sundargaon, who christens him "Shantaram", or man of peace. Interspersed amid the numerous characters like Rukhmabai, Prabakar, Karla, and Kader are the sweat and grime, dirt and squalor, disease and fire and extreme poverty - all narrated with genuine affection, passion and generosity. This love and generosity towards the characters and circumstances is what sets Robert's work apart. What could have been a mere narrative of poor people's lives is transformed into an extraordinary piece of fiction. What makes this book special however is that it is (mostly) biographical. I would assume fiction has been used to a good extant but still most of the story really took place with the person. But going through a tough life is one thing, and putting it down as a book to which readers can relate to is other. This is exactly the place where GDR's writing career before his Heroin days in Australia comes to help. Hence there is this book that is at its best in telling a true story, in a way that stirs you. The book is also unique because it is one of the rare books in which a foreigner has taken a deep plunge into the deepest of Indian society's complexities and also done a successful job of understanding the underlying unifying theme. Of course he admires Indians for what it is but never hesitates a moment before showing things that are obviously wrong. The other aspect of this book is the details you get about the systems that operate most of the world - the police, currency, gold, drugs, prostitution etc. Yes, there are flipsides to this book. At least in my opinion it becomes too 'poetic' at places. There are several metaphors and other figures of speech that could have been done away with. Well, you may like them though. Then I think the book could have been trimmed a bit by a couple of hundred pages. Not that the book gets boring at any point of time, but a tighter editing would not have hurt.