My Date with Shantaram - Living a Novel in Mumbai

It was my last night in Mumbai. The end of a perfect holiday. But the flight wasn’t due until 3.30 in the morning. I thought of ways to while away the hours.

“Let’s go to Leopold’s,” I said to my friends and travel companions. “We need food, we need to sit down a bit.” They all agreed, and waited for me – still the experienced one – to find a way to cross the busy Colaba Causeway.

It was getting dark, traffic had slowed down, the heat was bearable. And then I saw him, on his motorbike, outside Café Leopold. I spotted him from across the street, even though my vision always fails me in the twilight. A wave of sensation surged through my body; could it really be…?

I forgot my friends, crossed the street oblivious to cars in every direction and went right up to him.

“Shantaram, is it really you?” (In retrospect, the famous quotation by Henry Morton Stanley upon locating David Livingstone in Africa; “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”now has a totally new interpretation).

David Gregory Roberts, the author of almost legendary novel and never-made-it-into-a-movie Shantaram sat astride his huge motorbike, simply said yes, leaned back and smiled at me.
Words came stumbling out although I felt completely in control. I just couldn’t believe my luck. People come to Mumbai all the time. His readers and admirers come to Mumbai all the time, and for them, “Leo” is the number one attraction even though most of them are reluctant to admit it. The café cum restaurant is full of mostly young backpackers and they all have this secret hope; to meet him in person; Shantaram. I shan’t deny it. I have been to “Leo” many a time and you tend to look around…. Because when you read the book, you really believe (although wrongly) that this is Robert’s autobiography. And that makes the 8-900 page novel even more intoxicating.

Roberts seemed perfectly at ease, he must be used to people of all kinds approaching him. He told me there were a few Scandinavians inside the café tonight, that he had been to Norway recently, to see his publisher.

I looked over my shoulders, my friends had been able to cross the street and stood gazing at me – a very enquiring look on their faces. I could feel their many questions, or maybe just one;Who on earth is he?

I turned to Roberts and asked the inevitable question; “Do you mind posing in a photo with me?”

   “Of course,” he said amiably. As in; I’m all yours. I don’t remember who took the photo, but it’s a good one. Because I look at it almost every day, a memento in my window sill.

We bade farewell. I don’t know how long the encounter lasted, I can’t remember exactly what we said, but I remember the motorbike as it swung out of the pavement and onto Colaba Causeway, and roared towards the north. The last I saw of him was his flapping, grey ponytail.

We got ourselves a table. I did my best to explain, four pairs of ears eagerly tried to grasp what I said. The noise at “Leo” is almost unbearable. And then I reached for my cellphone and sent a text message to a booklover friend in Norway; “Guess whom I just met…”.

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Meet the Author:

Courtesy - Mr. Kjetil Alsvik.

Anne-Trine Benjaminsen lives in Stavanger, Norway.She is a frequent traveller to India, and passionate about Indian literature. She works as an in-house journalist/web publisher in the Norwegian oil service industry where she has also taught cross-cultural communication.But as time permits; she tries to pursue different creative projects within writing and photography. She volunteers for the Norwegian development organization Indias Barn (Children of India) as their magazine editor.

“I fell in love with India and Mumbai from the very start. I love the city’s vibrant atmosphere, the chaos and control… the crowds and the crows, the tempting book stores, the many markets, the soothing sea breeze and of course; the magnificent Marine Drive. What more can you ask for…”

Read more about India travels and Indian literature on www.benjamuna.com or email: anne-tb@online.no