Karla in ‘Shantaram’ has always stayed mysterious and kept her business to herself until a night with Lin allowed her to share why she likes to stay this way.
Lin took some relationship advice from Prabhu and learned how things work here in Sagar Wada between a girl and a boy. Keeping that advice in mind, he paid Karla a visit who willingly lets him in.
They both indulge in a deep conversation, and Karla explains why she hates love and prefers power over it. Karla rounds back to why Lin came to Bombay in the first place.
Lin finds some connection over here and is encouraged to finally let someone know what he is running away from. He agrees to tell Karla if she opens up about herself.
Karla backs out, but Lin still feels that he can trust her. He thought of her as a friend and told her about his addiction, arrest, and escape from Pentridge Prison.
With Lin getting vulnerable with her, even Karla opts to share her dark past.
Karla’s childhood trauma
Karla revealed to Lin that her father shot himself when she was 12. He had gone bankrupt and she found his body and brains all over the pile of those bankruptcy forms.
She grew up rich and was sure of two things. First, she wanted nothing, and second, her father loved her more than anything. Turns out she was wrong in both cases.
After her father’s death, she questioned herself why she wasn’t enough for him to live for. She realized that her father only loved who he was and what people thought of him.
Karla spent the rest of her teenage years crying herself to sleep at every relative’s house she was sent to. She asked herself every night why her father couldn’t have stayed for her and loved her.
Karla also clarified that she doesn’t feel guilty like Lin does for not saving others. On her side, she blamed her father for throwing her love away.
From that point on, she had made up her mind that she never want to be dependent on anyone ever again. That’s the reason she hates ‘love’ and believes that it’s arrogance to love someone and expect it in return.
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