Mumbai , India ( CNN ) -- To say Gregory David Roberts has witnessed much in his life would be an understatement . The 57-year-old native Australian was sentenced in the late 1970s for a series of armed robberies . He escaped prison and found his way to Mumbai , India , where he lived for 10 years forging a new life , including work as a doctor in the city 's slums . Roberts ' other career highlights ? He joined the mafia in Mumbai , fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan and married a princess . CNN 's Anjali Rao spoke with Roberts in Mumbai , the setting and inspiration for `` Shantaram , '' the novel loosely based on his life . Watch Roberts talk about his life in the slum . A brief excerpt from the interview : . CNN : Is it kind of strange that you used to live here , and you were down to your last pennies I guess , and now when you come back here it 's with CNN , or Madonna and Guy Richie . Is it kind of strange the way that your life has just taken that change , that turn ? Roberts : No , I know this sounds strange , but I think it was to be expected . I had a dramatic change that occurred in my life 19 years ago . I changed the orientation of my life , took control of my life . I think that if you do that , and you stay true to it , and you stay true to a set of principles -- of being fair , honest , positive , and creative in what you do ; of pledging not to harm others , and to minimize any amount of harm that you do to other people or to the world around you ; you do n't take drugs , you do n't poison your mind , you do n't take alcohol ; you focus on what you 're doing , keep your discipline -- then I think it 's natural that positive outcomes will occur . There 's a sense in which it 's a natural progression , from taking control of your life and saying , `` I 'm going to make my destiny happen . I 'm not going to allow destiny to control me , I 'm going to control my destiny . '' I think that we can expect it to happen in those ways , so it 's not really a surprise . The thing is , it 's not surprising that I 've come to know these people ; the surprising thing for me is that they are almost universally nice people . I have n't met anyone at that level -- whether it 's Richard Branson , or Johnny Depp , or Madonna , to name a couple -- who are not very , very nice people , and deeply concerned about the world they live in , and trying to make a difference . And that 's the thing that 's to me very surprising , I mean and it 's a good surprise .
Author of `` Shantaram '' , the global best-seller based on his own experiences . The Australian worked in slums of Mumbai and came into contact criminal elements . Eventful life has included jail term for armed robbery and fighting in Afghanistan .