HeadsUp Newsletter - Vol 4:04: April 2007

Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts, is a semi-autobiographical depiction of a portion of the life of a truly remarkable man. Roberts escaped from high security prison in Australia where he had landed after his life cratered, sending him into the often repeated problems associated with drugs. Fleeing from the law, his travels take him to Bombay, India.  The book focuses on Roberts’ time in an Indian shantytown where he starts a free medical clinic for the slum dwellers, his move into the Indian mafia, his time in a Bombay prison, his return to heroin addiction and his painful recovery, his role in a trip to Afghanistan to deliver medical supplies and arms to the men fighting to free their country from the Russians, and the friendships he forges throughout in a city he clearly loves.  The story is compelling, the philosophy he presents deeply thought provoking, but the literature itself takes your breath away.  Rather than spend time reading this review, run, don’t walk, to the nearest library or book store and start immersing yourself in Shantaram.