"Shantaram"

People from Bangalore may be familiar with 'Premier Books' - a little hole in the wall book shop on Church Street, just off MG Road. It used to be my favorite haunt and I always pay a visit during every Bangalore trip. I know the owner quite well and generally ask for his recommendations (and end up walking out with an arm full of books). One of the books I got during my last visit in 2008 was Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It is story set in India and apparently was doing quite well. I started it soon after my return, but couldn't make much headway and for over a year, it just sat on my book shelf. At almost 950 pages, it is not a book that you just quickly toss off. Then, a few weeks ago I decided to give it one more go and as has happened before, the second attempt was the charm - the story grabbed my interest and kept me up several late nights trying to finish it.

Shantaram is the true story (or is at least based on one) of the author, Gregory Roberts, who spent 8 years in Bombay in the late '80s while on the run from the Australian authorities. He had been convicted for armed robbery (as a side effect of feeding his heroin habit) and had escaped from prison. He arrived in India on a stolen New Zealand passport under the name of Lindsay. He couldn't really reveal his real name and was 'Lin' or 'Lin-baba' for his entire stay.

It is a remarkable tale and mostly well told. The experiences he packed into the eight years would be sufficient for a few lifetimes. He has to hide from the authorities and inevitably gets involved with the Bombay underworld. He starts off befriending a local Bombay guide (whose mother bestows the moniker "Shantaram" on him) and that leads to him to living in a slum. Despite his white skin and Western sensibilities, he integrates well into life in the slum and gets accepted by the locals. He becomes the de facto slum doctor when he calls upon his first aid training to care for some fire victims. Simultaneously, he is also moving up the mafia ladder and soon is out of the slum, but not before spending a few brutal months in a notorious prison (Arthur Road Jail, for folks familiar with Bombay) enduring torture and near death. Along the way, he becomes a player in Bollywood and rather unexpectedly, travels to Afghanistan to bring material support to the mujahadeen in their fight against the Soviets. This part feels very immediate in its resonance with the current situation in Afghanistan.

The driving force of the narrative though, is a love story. Lin meets (the first time he steps onto the streets of Bombay, if we are to believe his version) a rather mysterious westerner (Swiss-American as we learn later) called Karla and spends most of the book trying to win her over. For reasons not fully revealed till the end (and unsatisfactorily at that), she is unable to love him back. There is a theatrical quality to the events and dialog, but this tension does keep the story moving forward. Another central figure is Khader, the erudite mafia don, whom Lin comes to see as a father figure. Significant real estate is devoted to Khader explicating his philosophy of life (which the less charitable will see as a thinly veiled rationalization of criminal acts by a deeply religious man). It is clear that establishing this take on the "meaning of life" is an important goal for the author (& no doubt, the 'Khader' figure is a composite created for this purpose), but it feels insubstantial. Thankfully, the rest of the story is strong enough to carry the novel.

This book has been something of a world-wide phenomenon and according to Gregory Roberts this is actually the second (& so far, only) book of a trilogy (or quartet according to some sources) that he is planning. A Hollywood studio picked up the movie rights and Mira Nair signed on as Director with Johnny Depp playing the lead role. They even scouted out locations, but it is unclear what the current status is.

Bombay plays a key role in the story and the city in its various moods, colors, smells, and people come to vivid life in the telling. A Bombay native will enjoy the book just for the nostalgia it is likely to evoke. The author clearly loves the city but does not shy away from presenting the city and people with all their warts. The descriptions of his prison stay are especially hard to stomach. It never feels mean, however - this is somebody who is very fond of India and Indians.

The story is gripping, but some of the writing is a bit overwrought. The author often spends several paragraphs waxing poetic about some emotion he was feeling to the point of feeling contrived and I began to skip these sections. The knowledge that this is largely a true story keeps you going and overall, the book does not disappoint.