I have been away from the blogosphere too long. Finally found the time and inclination to write a "real" post. In between the trip to SFO, the conference and all the preparation for it, research,work and all other things that go with my mundane existance, I read "Shantaram". And I m glad I did. A good book with some real absorbing parts. Very well written and brings out the real essence of Mumbai.Lots of the parts about the Mumbai-underworld is very realistic and had me totally spellbound. The other remarkable parts are the insightful thoughts of Karla,Khaderbhai,Prabhaker....Some of these pieces are so well penned.
In particular, I liked the parts Lin reads from Karla`s journal the night he takes Tariq there.
"I dont know what frightens me more,
the power that crushes us
or our endless ability to endure it."
I happened to read another book in parallel with this one. Called "Holy Cow" - another book about India...written by a foreigner, again. A total opposite to Shantaram in all ways - right from its size to its content. A mere 100 pages when compared to a 1000 page tome of Shantaram.Holy Cow talks of a news correspondent and his wife and how they cope in Delhi. Shantaram talks about a group of foreigners, all hiding from law in Mumbai...and all of them have lost their hearts to the great Mumbai and could never live elsewhere. They are a part and parcel of the bustling city. In Delhi,however,they struggle to adjust to India and its vagaries...
But as we do see even in Holy Cow,how finally,they do lose themselves to India. Gregory David Roberts (author of Shantaram) has done a very good job painting the picture of India - both the good and the bad but has managed to bring out the soul of the country. The parts where he describes Lin`s life in the slum are most realistic.
In all,a good read. I hope this one`s NOT made into a movie. (I heard that Shantaram was going to be made into a hindi-english film).No movie ever made justice to a good book.As someone one rightly said, "Dont judge a book by its movie"!!!!!

Over and out,
Bugs