Shantaram Chapter 21 Summary

  • Mahesh teaches Lin the ways of the prison, like not to worry about the water worms that come out of the hose they use to shower and wash their dishes. (That sounds lovely.)
  • The overseers beat Lin for no reason during the roll call and he threatens them. His fellow prisoners get him to back off.
  • Later he sees Raheem, Hassaan Obikwa's driver, being tied down and having his arms broken. It's punishment for hitting one of the overseers.
  • Lin figures out that he's covered in lice to go with the other parasites.
  • Mahesh shows Lin how to clean his T-shirt of lice.
  • After a couple of weeks, Lin meets some guys who are about to be released and asks them to take a message to Khaderbhai, letting him know Lin is in the prison. They agree, and then they get the beating of their lives for trying to take a message out for Lin. From then on, he's like poison to the other prisoners.
  • Rahul, one of the overseers, hits Lin as usual, and Lin can't take it. He takes his stick and starts kicking him.
  • The others run to help Rahul, and they corner Lin. He starts punching himself on the face, which scares the overseers, understandably.
  • To try to get Lin to come out of the corner, the overseers line up ten of his fellow prisoners and beat them. When that doesn't work, they bring ten more.
  • Lin sees Mahesh in the third group, and he gives up.
  • The overseers beat Lin for about twenty minutes, smoke, and beat him some more.
  • His torture lasts for nine and a half hours.
  • A guard brings him some medicine to help him sleep.
  • The next morning he's washed up and sent to meet a senior prison official. The official asks Lin who has beaten him, but Lin refuses to tattle.
  • Lin's punishment for hitting an overseer is to wear chains on his legs.
  • One day, lying in his bed, Lin is attacked by a man who says that he's the older brother of the guy whose face he bit in the first prison.
  • Lin head butts him until he stops.
  • The overseers had set up the attack and waited to punish Lin with another beating.
  • He gets sick with fever after the injuries and is losing too much weight. The overseers tempt him with delicious food, but he will not accept it.
  • One day, as he's thinking about Karla, he is taken to see the prison official. Vikram, his old cowboy friend, is there waiting for him.
  • The official asks for $10,000 for letting Lin out. When Vikram balks at the price, they announce that they know that Lin's a fugitive from Australian prison. Lin asks for them to let out the guys who tried to help him in his dorm and who were punished for doing so. He also asks freedom for Mahesh and Raheem, the African driver whose arms were broken.
  • Once they have a price for all four of the releases, Vikram goes off to get the dough and some taxis.
  • It works—they're free.
  • Lin showers at Vikram's place, then checks out his broken body in the mirror. Vikram explains that Khader is the one who sent him. He also says that a very powerful person is the one who got Lin thrown into jail in the first place.