Shantaram

I picked up Shantaram, during the last month of my pregnancy. It was a very good pre-labor pregnancy stress reliever. It helped me relax and kept my anxiety at bay.

Well, Shantaram is an awe-inspiring novel of epic proportions. It’s an adventurous journey of an international fugitive, ignorantly seeking inner peace, after wronging his wife, daughter and the society. Semi-autobiographical in nature, one has to appreciate the perseverance of the author, Gregory Roberts, in writing this book. He first wrote the book in prison, which was destroyed. A subsequent one was also destroyed in jail. He wrote the book, once again, when he got out of prison

Most of the story is set in Bombay, India, thus showing Bombay in a new light. I promised myself to visit Bombay on my next Vacation. I’ll definitely drop by Leopold for a pint of beer. Who knows, I might bump into author himself. I read he still spends some time in Bombay and when he’s in Bombay he comes to Leopold.

The protagonist, Shataram, escapes from a maximum-security prison in New Zealand and comes to Bombay with a fake passport. He spends some time in a remote village, where he gets the name “Shantaram”. Running short of cash, he successfully procures some space in a slum, with the help of his friend Prabhakar. He treats the slum residents for minor illness with his first aid skills, while using the medical supplies obtained from the leper’s colony. He builds quiet a reputation in the slum,which kinda helps him stay in Bombay without proper Visa. He works day and night during the cholera outbreak which brings him closer to his girl friend. The cholera episode seems to me like an honest,but fruitless effort to redeem himself.

After a short stint in Arthur rd prison, he comes in close contact with bombay’s underground mafia don, Khader bhai, who he see’s as a father figure and eventually starts working for him. As the story unfolds he’s tricked by his American girlfriend and Khader bhai, to embark on a dangerous journey to war torn Afghanistan. It’s amazing how he comes out alive from that hell-hole.

It’s evident throughout the novel that Shataram has a flair for inviting trouble. Quiet a paradox to his given name “Shantaram”
The novel ,sometimes gets philosophical. It has lot of interesting quotes some of which are on Ashok Karnia’s blog.

The book is being made into a movie and is directed by Mira Nair with Johnny Depp playing the lead role and Amithab Bachan is cast as the Mafia Don.