SHANTARAM AND THE STANDING BABAS
Who are the Standing Babas in the novel of Gregory David Roberts?

Shantaram and the Standing Babas

The Standing Babas While reading the novel Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, I was curious all along about the reality behind the story. Shantaram supposedly means "man of peace" and it was the name the main character of the novel which he received in an Indian village where he was immersing himself in the culture and learning Marathi. This was after he escaped from an Australian prison and moved to India. There are details that make the novel colorful. For example, there is the story of the Standing Babas who can never sit or lie down because they have taken a vow. I have never heard of anything like this in the past and when I tried to google the "Standing Babas" all I found was other people wondering about the Standing Babas and asking whether anyone knew anything about them. It seemed that the whole story was not only fictitious but also unique. But then I talked to some friends and found out that the Standing Babas really exist in Southern India. The second part that seemed somewhat incredible was their trip to Afghanistan into the middle of the war. This was back when Afghanistan was still in war with Russia and the US government was helping the Afghans. It was fun reading it but it was hard to believe that this had been for real.

Then there was the whole organized crime setup in Bombay. Working for the crime lords for years and then writing a book about it seems strange. First of all, you incriminate a lot of people, even if you do not reveal their real identities. Then, you incriminate yourself. Although the author was always careful in pointing out that he himself has never killed anyone. Which is also kind of strange, considering his involvement in organized crime and the Afghan war. Meanwhile, there was relatively little information about the reality of these events. It was hinted, rather than stated, that all this had actually happened. It almost felt that it was part of the marketing idea to keep this aspect a bit ambiguous. So I am still curious whether any of the events have actually happened. At least I know that the Standing Babas are for real. But Shantaram is a fun book, even though I was hoping for a less sentimental end. Stephen Bekes The Standing Babas - They really exist! Standing Babas - reader's comments Shantaram - the website Book Reviews - Shantaram The Da Vinci Code - the novel Books on Chinese Calligraphy: The Upright Brush