I’ve just finished reading Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts.
Shantaram is a true story about a former heroin-booting, armed-robbing, prison-breaking Australian expatriate who escapes to 1980’s Bombay to become a slum doctor, who falls in love and becomes a broker on the black currency market. He then goes back to prison, makes it out and finds revenge, works in Bollywood, fights with the mujaheddin in Afghanistan, and joins the Indian mob. Did I mention this is a true story?
Shantaram is Hindu for “Man of Peace.” I find this ironic seeing as how many people Roberts punches, gouges and stabs throughout the book. He’s certainly extraordinary: Roberts speaks Hindu, Marathi and Urdu, beats heroin (twice), and rewrote the book three times in prison because the guards destroyed it. Did I mention this is a true story?
Nevertheless, Shantaram, like India, is huge. At over 900 pages, there are around one hundred well-crafted, quirky characters who all have something to teach Roberts, and through him, us. While I disagreed with a lot of the character’s beliefs (especially the mobsters) I could relate to Robert’s as a westerner in India. Here are a few of his keen observations:
- The famous “Indian head wiggle.” I dated a girl in high school who used to do this. Just move your head around making figure 8’s with your chin. Most people will tell you that it means yes and equate it with the American “up-and-down” head nod: “I’d also discerned the subtler senses of I agree with you, and Yes, I would like that. What I learned… was that a universal message attached to the gesture, when it was used as a greeting, which made it uniquely useful.” (107)
- The doctrine of necessity. Yes, India is poor, but what is more difficult to see is how the people tolerate their conditions with dignity. The doctrine of necessity explains the prevalence of cows in traffic, beggars on the street, garbage in the river and the density of the slums. If all the Americans and all the Indians traded countries for a day, I think India would implode.
- The paradox of waste. Roberts learns not to feel guilty littering or wasting water, because its someone’s job to refill the tank or pick up his garbage. I don’t know if I agree with this.
Anyway, incredible book, Johnny Depp wants to play him in the movie, so what else do you need to know?
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