Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

‘The contours of virtues are shaped by human adversity’

An Epic of staggering wisdom. This book is written with such poetic and masterly command that I could almost taste Bombay in my mouth. I could almost smell the sweat and spices of the clamorous streets, hear the rich timbre of Marathi and Hindi speakers as they stumble in a lyrical English. Each page pours out an in-depth depiction of life and its intricacies. From the first page to the last with not a flicker of failure, Roberts sustains an enrapturing rendering of the dark and twisted underworld of beautiful Bombay. A life of love, fear, pain, joy, betrayal and absolutely every human emotion possible. The characters are tearfully brought to life and are dancing, smoking, eating, killing, laughing in the room around you. Prabaker’s smile is etched into my heart like the words of Kaderbhai’s wisdom is etched into my mind. The color green now belongs to Karla’s eyes alone, just like the art of drinking whiskey belongs to only the wild and clever Didier. Shantaram lives within me like no book ever has. It has shaped my philosophy, both spiritual and cosmological. Roberts through his humility, integrity and remarkable journey has gifted us with a literary masterpiece.

What I learnt from this book.

1. God is within us, not around us.

We often seek for truth with our eyes— but our eyes lie to us. When we question the existence of God, we look for what we can see. Yet can we see sorrow or love walking in the flesh? No. Love is neither tangible nor dissectible. But when we close our eyes, we can feel it in our hearts. And that is how we can understand God. As something within us, something waiting to be known.

2. What true power is.

‘The power that truly matters is the power to do good.’ I was moved when I read this. This world is led by the blind. The blind who see only with their eyes and ravage for a power so pathetically mortal in its materialisticness, that their souls begin to leave them in the process. These are the killers that kill for the pure sake of it. The mafias who wage territorial wars for nothing other than to expand their empire. The ministers that sit fat at the head of board meetings while the country beneath them starves. There is no power in that. Only weakness. And there are so many weak men and women in power. The choice to do good for the mere sake of goodness is a permeating theme in this novel. The India seen through Lin’s eyes and Lin himself will always be an inspiring literary hero and setting for me. India evokes a love so deep in Lin, that he’s influenced to live by it, to spread it, to give into it. “In India, the heart is King.” I felt that. When Vikram says that with tears in his eyes, I felt that with a pain and warmth that both filled and emptied me. The more we have the less we want to give. In the wretched slums and poorest village lives the happiest people who share their meals with their neighbor, who dress each other’s wounds, who suffer the other’s beatings. There is true power in this. A moving force and energy that gives meaning to humanity. Without this goodness, there is no meaning.

3. Our bodies are only vessels for what truly matters

There was a profound moment in the book, that could have been passed as trivial. Scorpio, a junkie who makes his living on the street luring foreigners for black-market deals sits among the crew and begins the meal with a prayer. An almost laughable one as he prays for success in a cocaine deal, until he says the words, ‘God, you’ve cast souls on Earth to be cared for by myself and…’ Then he goes on to list all the names of the men seated around him. This is such a raw and uncontrived way to reveal the truth of our existence. A truth we often fail to see—bear with me, if you are a matter-and-material kind of person (I believe this gives you even more of a reason to read this book): we are caretakers of souls. And that’s the true treasure—what lies within us, sent from a higher inexplicable power. We get lost in the body, in the matter and in turn we lose what truly matters, what we should truly aim to reflect and nurture.

4. The Tendency towards Complexity

This is what defines good and evil in the most objective way. This is what defines God without the use of religion. This is what merges science, philosophy and spirituality in the purest, simplest and most universal light. If I read Shantaram for only one reason— it was for this piece of knowledge. I will not share it. I will leave the pages of the book to reveal this to you.