I picked this up thinking it was a true story, rather than "a novel based on a true story". A quick search on google suggests there's not much truth in it - so I think the marketing is a bit misleading. The first 200 pages are good, very evocative of Bombay with some funny events and characters. After that the protagonist becomes too much of a hero for it to be believable - surviving every ordeal, coming to the rescue in every situation, always having a sage view on something. As the book went on there was way too much philosophising always beginning "if I'd known then what I know now... ". I had to skim read to finish it.

In the end it just felt like a bit of an ego-trip for the author that went on for way too long.