It's largely inspired by the amazing life story of the author.
I'll try it this way to avoid walls of text:
- he's an Australian felon convicted of armed robberies he committed to support a heroin addiction he suffered after a broken marriage costed him his daughter
- he escapes from a maximum security prison in broad daylight between 2 gun towers
- he flees to Asia/Africa/Europe for the next 10 years
- most of that time is spent in Bombay, India, where he sets up free clinics for slum dwellers, works in the Bollywood Film Industry, and.........serves as a gun-runner, smuggler, counterfeiter, and soldier of the Bombay Mafia @_@
- after finally getting caught in Europe [iirc], he writes
Shantaram during the remainder of his 19 year sentence [only to have it confiscated, forcing him to rewrite it, btw XD]
- the novel is inspired by his time spent in Bombay.
so anytime i need some inspiration then i listen to anis mojgani at grand slam and i think of toasty
specifically his face when watching dr pp vs lucky set
@ p4
:D
LOL oh dear...I can't even imagine how I must have looked to everyone...oh, right, like a crazy person. hehehe