Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
Shantaram is based on the story of the author’s life, and what part of the story is fact and what is fiction is debatable. Some of it is on record, such as his imprisonment and escape from prison, and some are impossible to verify. The book begins with his arrival in Mumbai with a fake passport - a wanted man on the run after escaping from the Australian prison where he was jailed for robbing to finance his heroin habit. Leaving his friends, family and past behind, he makes Mumbai his home, serving as an unofficial doctor in the slums, making his living by guiding foreign tourists to the best sources of hash, and eventually joining the Mumbai mafia. He becomes fluent in Hindi & Marathi, spends 6 months in a remote Maharashtrian village, learns the ropes of all the black markets thriving in Mumbai, makes friends in the expat community, falls in love, and even fights in Afghanistan. Yet this book is about so much more than the story. There are fascinating descriptions of