Shantaram - A novel

I was online with a friend when we mentioned about reading a book. He was reading a novel then and i mentioned to him that i would be interested in reading what he was reading if he wouldn't mind sharing it. I received the story in pdf form. I must admit my early reluctance to complete reading it due to my non-interest the story was implying on. I am more on the detective and adventure stories especially the "Perry Mason novel" series. Gradually, i managed to grasp the storyline but i must admit that I skipped certain paragraph with detailed description. I did learned few words that the author used in this novel and since it's also the life events of the author, i must say i learned a bit about the country where the story was written. So all crackpot friends, I recommend you to read it.

A big thank you to my crackpot friend (Cyber friend), Mr Pson of Pune, India for sharing the story.

Shantaram is the fictionalized account of the real life adventures of author Gregory David Roberts. The narrator is a man called Lin, escaped from an Australian jail and arriving in Bombay, India with a fake New Zealand passport. He immediately meets a taxi driver named Prabaker who gives him tours of the city and a hut in the local slum. Lin starts a free clinic for the people in the slum, and to provide for his own income, he sells drugs to tourists. This gets him the attention of the local gangsters, and he's increasingly pulled into their world of crime, from counterfeiting to gun running to passport schemes. Lin falls in love, nearly dies in an Indian prison, and survives a continuing series of adventures. More than just an account of drugs and crime, Shantaram is the story of a man who, even in a life of violence, genuinely loves those in his life and the city that became his home, Bombay. "Shantaram is an exuberant, swashbuckling story of derring-do, told with reckless gusto and obvious affection, you'd have to be a snob not to admit to enjoying yourself."