Glad that the first year of my post graduation is done with, I started my summer vacation by picking up this awesome piece of work by Gregory David Roberts – “Shantaram”. The beauty of this book lies not only in its adventures but in the fine thread with which all those adventures have been woven into this lovely blanket of a novel. Being a pseudo mumbaikar myself who never really liked this city,I was made to feel that I really missed something that this place offers to so many. Hmmm!!! Never-the-less it was sort of a Mumbai darshan for me with an expert guide in Roberts.

Before picking it up all I knew was this was a story about this guy who was part of the Mumbai under world, fought alongside the Taliban etc. , in short a dark storyline . The novel surely does have its share of darkness but what’s remarkable is the tint of brightness that each chapter ends with. Having read “City of Joy”, I felt it would be the same description of helplessness of the slum dwellers that would be portrayed in the part where the hero lands up in a slum. I was in for a surprise. Never once in the entire novel will u feel a sense of pity, all you feel is the exhilaration of a bystander on the victory of a fictitious friend slogging it out.

The factor the strikes the chord with the Indian reader is the lingo used. Very Indian ,very mumbaiya and very apt. The language used really makes u connect with the character and see with him the picture that he wants you to see. Though the width of this 1000 page epic might scare the reader, esp. if he/she is as thin as I…here’s my advice…give in to your crazy side and you will be part of this amazing journey that Roberts has charted for you.

Bon Voyage!!!