Ulla and her unscrupulous friends, gypsy Modena and pimp Maurizio. Lisa Carter, an ex-junkie turned Bollywood casting company manager. Vikram who is madly in love with Letitia. He mingles with characters from the Leopold bar i.e. Didier, the French man.
He is also in love with Karla but never seem to understand her. He gets acquainted with Lord Abdel Khader Khan and his friends from weekly meetings of debate and his henchman Abdullah, Khader, Majeed, Abdul Ghani (who specialise in their areas of criminal activities). His best friend is Prabaker, where Lin spent 3 months staying in his village learning to speak Marathi.
He operates a health clinic which obtain medical supplies from the black market runs by the lepers. The first phase was his time spent dedicating his time to adjust to Mumbai and as a slum dweller. There are basically 4 phases of his life in the book:
Amidst narratives of Bollywood, romance, mafia wars, counterfeiting and cold blooded murders, the novel pays a befitting tribute to the large heartedness of the ordinary Indian. Roberts has succeeded in eloquently capturing the soul of India, particularly the undying spirit of the people of Mumbai.
I have read many books on India, from “The God of Small Things” to “White Tiger” but I have not come across another writer who has been able to capture the world of Mumbai and India in words so vividly and soulfully. Then in case anyone thought he was slacking, he acted in Bollywood and fought with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. He found time to learn Hindi and Marathi, fall in love with Karla Saranaan, and spend time being worked over in an Indian jail. There, he established a free health clinic (with him providing the basic health services) and also joined the mafia, led by the all powerful Abdel Khader Khan and henchmen Abdullah, Abdel Ghani (passport), Majed (Gold smuggling) working as a money launderer, forger and street soldier. In the early 80’s, Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict, escaped from an Australian maximum security prison to India, where he lived in a Bombay slum.
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