Shantaram Chapter 8 Summary

  • Karla, Prabaker, and Lin go to the Standing Babas' hash den. Karla is thrilled to finally get to go into the weird religious cult-drug ring.
  • They smoke.
  • A strange man with a sword comes in and screams, charging at Lin.
  • A man trips the attacker, saving Lin's life.
  • The man introduces himself as Adullah Taheri.
  • They leave the hash den and go to Leopold's.
  • Lin won't go in, and tells Karla he won't be coming around much anymore because he's beginning his slum adventure.
  • Prabaker leads Lin past the super-stinky latrines and to his new home.
  • Everyone comes out of their huts to look at the new arrival.
  • Lin's new home is a black plastic sheet for a roof held up by bamboo poles. The walls are made of woven reeds and the floor is bare earth. He does have a door: a piece of plywood.
  • He settles in and meets his neighbors: Anand, Rafiq, Jeetendra, and Radha.
  • Anand casually remarks that there is a fire and, sure enough, smoke and flames engulf the slum.
  • Lin runs away, then realizes that he looks like a coward. He changes course and runs toward the fire.
  • Qasim Ali Hussein, the head man of the slum, directs the fire-fighting efforts.
  • When the fire finally burns itself out, the people look for survivors and count up the bodies.
  • Prabaker says that they are lucky because only twelve people died, including Raju.
  • A woman brings a badly burned baby girl to the gathering and Lin decides to help with his first-aid kit.
  • He continues working as the doctor, treating the victims of the fire until he collapses from exhaustion.
  • When he wakes up, all of the neighbors are gathered around listening to him snore and watching him sleep.
  • He has a line of patients waiting for him, and he gets to work at his new role in the slum: doctor.