I bought ‘Shantaram’ twenty years in a dusty hidden bookshop up a dark alley in Rishikesh in the foothills of the Himalayas. I was excited to read this famous story of Lin Baba’s epic adventure in the Bombay slums and onwards but sadly, despite my passion for everything Indian, I just didn’t connect to the written word.
A friend pointed me in the direction of the Audible version – what a reader and what a triumph!! It’s a 40+ hour listen but I am close to the end now and have reveled in every spoken word. It’s full of adventure, intimacy and wisdom and this is a particularly powerful passage.
“The soul has no culture, no nation, no colour, accent or way of life. The soul is forever. The soul is one. And when the heart has its moment of truth and sorrow, the soul can’t be stilled.
One of the reasons why we crave love and seek it so desperately is that love is the only cure for loneliness, shame and sorrow. But some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths about yourself are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. And some things are just SO sad that only your soul can do the crying for you.”
