Book Review: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

When I saw Shantaram on the bookshelves of a leisure store a few years back when it was launched, I did pickup the book and read the synopsis. It said.. "The story of a fugitive from Australia who sneaks into Mumbai and ends up in the slum and joins the mafia and goes on to fight with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan  against the Russians. "
I dismissed it as a yet another attempt to write a cliched book on India and its miseries. I never thought about the book again though the unusual name for the 900 + pages tome stuck in my mind. Fast forward 2011. When I chanced upon the book again. This time I did not read the synopsis. I already knew it. How strange! I opened and read the first page.
"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn't sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it's all you've got, that freedom is a universe of possibility. And the choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.

In my case, it's a long story, and a crowded one. I was a revolutionary who lost his ideals in heroin, a philosopher who lost his integrity in crime, and a poet who lost his soul in a maximum-security prison. "

What a start! I was intrigued and I picked up the book. It took me a well interrupted 3 weeks to finish it and am not proud of it. But I must say this. The three weeks were perhaps one of the best three weeks of reading in my entire reading life. This book will go right up there as one of my top 10 favourites.

So what makes the book click? To start with there is the simple and yet astoundingly lovely prose. Personally I for one never give much thought to prose in books as long as they read nice. This book simply floored me with the simplicity of the lovely prose.

Then there are metaphors. We can perhaps compile a book of metaphors from Shantaram. That is the strength and the weakness of the book. GDR uses the to a great effect. 

"Kavita hugged me. It was the hug of a woman who trusts you completely. The hug of a woman who knows your heart belongs to another woman". 

The way GDR describes every aspect of every scene to its minute details in his powerful and simple prose literally transports the reader to the middle of the scene and inside the body of Linbaba a.k.a Lindsay a.k.a Shantaram a.k.a anonymous. The lead characters original name is never revealed through the book. Since the book has been written from a first hand perspective, one is led to believe that this is an autobiography of the author, which he claims it is not and has however said that it uses many incidents from his life.

So, what is the story? the all important plot that is the lifeline of any work of fiction. I must say that there isn't one. Before you jump out of your seat. Let me add, that there isn't one story. There are many. The book begins with the arrival of Lindsay who is later rechristened as Linbaba by Prabhakar. Lin is intrigued at first by the happiness he sees in the many shanties in Mumbai. He begins touring Mumbai with the help of Prabhakar and is slowly swept into the cosmopolitan circle of Leopolds where he meets many expats who have settled down in Mumbai. Each one has a story of their own that they do not wish to share. Lin understands. Losing his money and other possessions in a theft, Lin is left with no choice but to shift to the slum Zhopadpatti. He is soon enamoured by the camaraderie and kinship of the entire society which leads a poor but principled life. Living peacefully in the slums, Lin soon meets with Kadher Khan, the good bad guy of Mumbai! and so the story goes, money, mafia wars, crime syndicates inter-vine with the personal ups and downs of lin . 

By now, the reader has barely touched 300 pages. The story is more of what Lin sees , does and experiences in his life in the sprawling city of Mumbai, his life as a criminal, his life as a Mujahideen, his life as a fugitive. 

The book is full of several interesting takes on religion, science, war and crime. Finally what makes this book an epic is its positive outlook on even the corrupt and negative aspects of Indian culture. I can go on and on, but its a book that must not be read. It must be experienced. If you have not read it, do yourself a favor pick it up and you'll definitely find some good in it.

India after Gandhi : Ramachandra Guha

This book is a must read for anyone interested in India's progress since its freedom. As the author points out, Indian educational system and a vast majority of historians have dedicated an enormous quantum of effort in documenting the centuries that run up to the 15th of August 1947.
After this, India attained its freedom and then time stood still! literally! if one were to go by historians!
Fortunately, the ilk of Ramachandra Guha have taken it upon themselves to remedy the situation and boy they do a fantastic job.

The book begins with a India attaining its Independence and Nehru's famous "Tryst with destiny" and covers every decade until the late 2000s. The book itself has been narrated in a wavy manner where the reader is constantly transported through the several years of a decade as the author picks a topic, say the Naga struggle and narrates the turn of events that happened over the years since its beginning and final culmination of the struggle.
The book is full of names, anecdotes and quotes from various authors with genuine references that we can re-read this book several times over and still feel charmed about the country that we call India!

The generation of youngsters today remember stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru only for his philandering ways and blame him for the mistakes he made. This book enlightens us of all the good he did along with his faults. It makes one appreciate the man that was Nehru better. This is just one example, the book covers many such great men and women who paved way for what India is today.
The book covers the formative years of the Constitution and how it was hotly debated and how Dr.B.R.Ambedkar who was an employee with the  British government went on to became a mass leader that became the face of the lower caste of this country.
The book talks about all the British officials who stood by India through one crisis after the other that dogged India through the century! The book talks about all the naysayers who wrote thesis after thesis writing off the very concept of India pooh pooing the will of the masses as being too immature to hold such a vast country together.
We see through the author's eyes, India's integrity being tested in each decade by different forces within and without and how India has stood testament to the word 'Democracy'.
We see how our great leaders achieved great things and made even greater mistakes such as Rajiv Gandhi in his capitulation of the Shah Banno case or forcing the reopening of Babri Masjid for Hindu prayers.
We see Nehru, refusing to believe that his country was under fire, like Nero and his daughter on the other hand forced the war on East Pakistan to end the menace on the eastern front.
Overall, the reader becomes prouder for what this country stands for and realizes what pains our forefathers have gone through to give us the life we live today.
I will recommend this book to every Indian. As with any history book, there will be another author who would contest some of this book's writings, as Mr. Guha would agree, if this book brings out more such historians, then this Author's mission is deemed complete