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They say, 'Bad choices make good stories,' and it's true to some extent. The whole premise of this novel starts with bad choices, and because of that, this one's a truly great story, a divine story, the story of a man named Shantaram, and paradoxically, the story of Mumbai's underworld!

At first, I had second thoughts about buying this book because it's a big one and then I stumbled upon a quote in Goodreads from Shantaram:

"Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears."

And I was like, f*ck it, I'm buying this one. I don't know why, but those words really went deep within my soul, and if your heart shuddered when you read those lines, I highly recommend this book to you. And whenever I pick up this book to read, Chris Martin sings "Hymn for the Weekend" in my mind. It's like flowers, the ocean and sunlight. You'll understand that when you start reading it;)

The characters in this book have some of the best-written arcs I've ever read. Be it Kadherbhai, Abdullah, Prabhakar or Karla. You'll feel that all of them have a living, beating heart just like you do. And like Kadherbhai says "Every human heartbeat is a universe of possibilities."

Overall, this is kind of like the Indian version of Mario Puzo's The Godfather(book), that's it.

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A world full of diamonds and gold, where greed reigns with its green sceptre.

Souls cold as shards of ice, clouded spirits flickering in falsehood,

Flowers of kindness withered in the storm of iniquity, Powerless wails of lost souls echoed through the red soil.

In this age of madness, where even the air is wicked, demons of the void walk in daylight.

- Voices from the void

(Joel Anto Johnson)

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Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

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Just read it!

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“I crave space. It charges my batteries. It helps me breathe. Being around people can be so exhausting, because most of them love to take and barely know how to give. Except for a rare few.”

— Katie Kacvinsky

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We don't need to have just one favorite. We keep adding favorites. Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.

Lloyd Alexander

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“Another morning comes. It always does. Time always moves at the same rate, only feelings have different speeds. Every day can mark a whole lifetime or a single heartbeat, depending on who you spend it with.”

— Fredrik Backman, Beartown

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Image description: it's an illustration of Boba Fett. He's looking down and kneeling in a field with grass and flowers. He has blood on his gloves, armor and helmet. He's holding one of Ahsoka's lightsabers in his fists, on his lap. Her other lightsaber is strapped to his belt. There's red smoke rising behind him and a bolt of lightning that cuts from one end of the page to the other. On the bottom left there's "Boba Fett" written over my signature. End of description.

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“Never give up on something you really want. It may be difficult to wait, but it is worse to live with regret.”

— Unknown

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Falling, shades of darkness slithering, then again, falling!

- Joel Anto Johnson

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One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.

- The Power of Myth (Joseph Campbell)

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For I'm a broken soul, a million pieces held together with mere hope and fake smiles.

- Joel Anto Johnson

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I saw light in the abyss, it is not darkness but the light of abyss blinds us, embrace it.

- Joel Anto Johnson

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Love is from another realm. We cannot manufacture it on demand. Nor can we subdue it when it appears. Love is not our choice to make.

Origin (Dan Brown)

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​The dim flame of hope slowly died away in my life. I've had a thousand blinding visions of the future, but now, when I look forward, it's like gazing down into the abyss. Nothing, the mere nothingness, the feeling of hopelessness that whisper in my mind that there is nothing more to live for or hope for, is getting stronger and heavier with every single moment. The ancient god that I used to believe in, is not working any miracles anymore. Maybe my life is fated to end like a Greek tragedy. Beautiful and sweet at the beginning but desperate and sour at the end. But anyway, I'm thankful that I could exist in this vast universe as a conscious being. I loved the fragrance of the flowers, the sunsets, the stars, the moon, buttery white clouds, twisted old trees which swayed in the wind, and last but not least, enjoying the stories and legends of famed heroes of old. This is my Odyssey.

- Joel Anto Johnson

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The Lord of the Rings