A Portrait of the Orient through the Occidental Gaze: Resuming the Journey of ‘Dark India’ with Gregory David Roberts
A Portrait of the Orient through the Occidental Gaze: Resuming the Journey of ‘Dark India’ with Gregory David Roberts

Author(s): Dipanwita PAL
Subject(s): Review, Drama
Published by: Scientia Moralitas Research Institute
Keywords: Orient; Occidental gaze; Shantaram; Bombay; Slave market;
Summary/Abstract: Shantaram is a book about a man who breaks out of a gaol in Australia and ends up in Bambay (now Mumbai). Eventually, he becomes engaged with Mumbai underworld. He falls in love with Karla, a beautiful and mysterious woman. The novel uses lots of Marathi and Hindi words that add up to the local essence of the novel. The novel is set up in Bambay in the 80s. It becomes all the more interesting as the narrator gets involved into a gun-running mission in Afghanistan and gives a vivid picture of the whole trade. Significantly, the novel has Bombay as a very important character; rather Bombay becomes an integral part of the novel. It has beautifully projected India and her people seen through the eyes of an Australian. Hence, this paper will try to bring out what are the facts that have gained more attention from the narrator and which aspects have been ignored. And while doing so, this paper would further try to analyze the factors behind such inclusions and exclusions and the politics, if any, involved in it.

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