We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

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.