Dongri to Dubai (13 page)

Face-to-face with Hamid, Dawood could not control his temper at Hamid’s behaviour.

‘
Behanchod, tu bahot bada shaana ho gaya hai kya bambai ka
[sisterfucker, you’ve become too big for your boots]!’ he roared.

‘
Nahin
Dawood
bhai
, kuchch ghalat fehmi hui hai
[no, Dawood bhai, there seems to have been a misunderstanding],’ Hamid quivered.

‘Ek baat sun le, Baashu Dada ka moonh dekh kar maine tujhe baksh diya, nahin toh tera kheema banake rakh deta
[now remember one thing: I’ve spared you all this while only because of Baashu Dada, else I surely would made mincemeat of you],’ Dawood thundered.

Hamid had seen his death in Dawood’s eyes. He knew very well that he would have been dead meat but for Baashu’s name, a veritable suit of armour for him.

Fuming at his inability to do anything to Hamid, Dawood stormed out. Meanwhile, Hamid started thinking quickly. He knew that sooner or later the news would reach Baashu’s ears. Wouldn’t it be better if he, Hamid, was the source? With all this and more on his mind, he went to Baashu’s darbar. Baashu was trying to enjoy what was left of one of the tournament’s matches. He was already annoyed by the Maulana’s uppity behaviour and now here was Hamid.

‘
Dada, Dawood ne aapko maa-behen ki gaali di
[Dada, Dawood hurled some rather tasteless abuses at you]!’ Hamid exclaimed.

An enraged Baashu, unable to bear the idea that someone could have the temerity to insult him, let alone a young boy on the rise, rose from his charpoy immediately. He asked for Ibrahim, Rahim, and Sabir to be summoned to the
baithak
. His football match had now completely gone for a toss!

Ibrahim, Rahim, and Sabir, still a lad, came, and stood in front of Baashu, surrounded by the don’s men.

‘
Dawood ne mujhe maa-behen ki gaali di Ibrahim. Sambhalo apne chhokre ko
[Dawood has abused me Ibrahim, you better keep a check on your son]!’ Baashu raged.

‘
Galti ho gayi hogi ladke se Dada. Maaf kar dijiye
[he’s made a mistake Dada, please forgive him],’ Rahim ventured.

‘
Galti
[mistake]!” the don bellowed.

Addressing Sabir he said, ‘
Jab tere baap ke paas tum log ko khilane ke bhi paise nahi the tab maine sahara diya. Aur ab tum log sab saale behenchod log, usi thaali ko gaali deta hai! Tum logon ne mere ehsaanon ka yeh sila diya hain, is tarah namakharaami karke
[I helped your father when he had nothing to feed you all. And today, you people bite the hand that feeds you]!’

‘
Dafa ho jao yahan se
[get lost]!’ he said, with a wave of his hand.

Ibrahim and Sabir walked out clutching what little dignity remained while Rahim stood where he was. The word
ehsaan
(favour) and
namakharaami
(disloyalty) kept ringing in the ears of the father and son.

‘
Aapko chhote ladke ko aisa nahi bolna chahiye tha Dada
[Dada, you shouldn’t have spoken to the little boy like that],’ Rahim reasoned.

‘
Chhota ladka? Usike chhote bhai ne meri maa-behen ka naam apni gandi zubaan se nikala aur main kya tamasha dekhta rahun? Nahi Rahim!
[Little boy? The little boy’s younger brother abused me and you expect me to be a mute spectator? No Rahim!]’ Baashu raged.

Sabir, meanwhile, returned home and began to sob. While it was well-known that the family of fourteen often faced difficulty in getting by, because of Ibrahim’s popularity in the neighbourhood no one had ever spoken a word in public about it. Now the fact that Baashu had insulted his father to this extent was unbearable to Sabir, and he could not control his tears. Ibrahim himself maintained a stunned silence and a stoic face. Dawood heard of the series of events from Sabir and his blood boiled. He could not bear to see his father and brother insulted and dishonoured like this by another man. Vowing revenge, he vowed to bring the empire and the pride of Baashu Dada crashing down.

11

David Versus Goliath

D
awood’s presence in Dongri was growing increasingly powerful. A mere lad, he had already surprised people with his adeptness and ability to plan meticulously with a sharp mind. The Young Party was also gaining fame and their activities did not stop at the Eid-e-Milad processions they had begun with. They were now notorious for extortion. Along with Hanif Kutta and Sayed Razi alias Rajji, they extorted money from all and sundry under the pretext of meeting expenses for weddings and funerals in poor families. The moneyed would be asked to ‘contribute’ to the wedding coffers or funeral expenses of the poor, or else face Dawood’s ire. Playing partly on the emotions of the people and partly on their fear, Dawood and his pals created the perfect con strategy.

The Young Party, of course, had been created to further the aims of Maulana Zia-ud-Din Bukhari. However, not only was Bukhari no more involved with the Young Party, but the party itself had become a front for criminal activities, albeit of a non-violent nature. It was around this time, circa 1974, that Ibrahim Kaskar and Sabir were humiliated by Baashu. The problem that faced the young Dawood was very grave. He truly loved his father and brother. No matter his general impunity, where his father and brother were concerned, he was generally with his head bowed in their presence out of fondness and respect. Baashu, a mere goon, had shamed both of them and even listed all the favours he had done for Ibrahim over the years. The more Dawood thought about it, the more he regarded it a faulty assessment.

He knew how much Baashu owed his father. A lot of Baashu’s smuggled goods had been released with the assistance of Ibrahim Kaskar. When Baashu’s goods would get caught in the docks, Ibrahim would be away for days, wheeling and dealing and peddling favours to get it released. His father had helped Baashu make his millions to buy his Mercedes and custom-made white shoes while he gave Dawood’s family a mere pittance from time to time. And in exchange for that small amount of money that changed hands, he had insulted Dawood’s family. This was absolutely unacceptable.

Rahim chacha tried to console Dawood and coax him into calming down, ‘
Gussa achi baat nahi. Chalke Baashu bhai ki galat fehmi door karo.
[Anger is not good. Let’s go to Baashu and clear this misunderstanding.]’ But his sermons were falling on deaf ears. There was no way Dawood was going to see anyone else’s way. He knew that Baashu would have to go. In the quiet manner that was somehow also menacing, Dawood retorted, ‘
Baashu Dada ko yeh baat badi mehengi padegi
[Baashu will have to pay for this].’ At these ominous words, Rahim chacha’s blood froze.

The Juma Namaaz had just finished and it was a hot 2 pm on Friday. Baashu Dada offered his prayers in a masjid near Mastaan Talao. Dawood and his gang were waiting for Baashu. Hanif Kutta, Rajji, Sultan, Abu Bakr, and Sabir were with him. Sabir was against the idea of attacking Baashu, fearing reprisal, and he had told Dawood as much. But Dawood had made up his mind. They were all standing together near Pir Khan Street, a little ahead of JJ Square, waiting for Baashu to emerge through the archway.

It was not a very long wait because Dawood had planned the operation to its finest detail. They saw Baashu appear on schedule, accompanied by his
pehelwans
(musclemen). Responding to a cue from Dawood, the gang began throwing soda water bottles and used electric bulbs at the don. Soda water bottles as weapons? Now that was a first! The gang continued to throw bottles incessantly, even hitting some passers-by.

If those around were shocked, Baashu was stunned. Firstly, absolutely nobody attacks Baashu Dada and to add salt to injury, soda water bottles were a belittling choice of weapons. This was the first time an incident like this had taken place, but in the riots that broke out in the following years, bottles came to be commonly used.

As he got over the initial shock, Baashu regained his composure and decided to take on Dawood singlehandedly, in man-to-man combat. Baashu knew that Dawood was no match for him and Dawood himself was not ignorant of this. He had even anticipated that Baashu would try something like this. So he began to target Baashu specifically, before it came to this pass. He rained bottle after bottle on Baashu while his boys took on the other
pehelwans
.

Finally, one of the
pehelwans
managed to pull the black Mercedes out of its parking slot. Baashu and Umar Pehelwan were seriously injured by this time, and as Baashu saw the car coming towards him, he realised it made sense to retreat when they were so seriously set back. The don and his pehelwans scrambled into the car, some of them even getting in through the windows as the car picked up speed, in their desperation to get away.

Dawood and his boys continued with their bottles-and-bulbs attack. Even as the gangsters retreated, the boys managed to shatter the car’s rear window and tail lights, and made huge, satisfying dents in the luxury car’s shiny exterior.

As the car drove away, the boys began to celebrate their unheard of victory. But Dawood had other things on his mind. He was not satisfied. He was not done with Baashu. Not done with teaching him a lesson and not yet done with his revenge.

Picking up their motorcycles, the gang went to Temkar Mohalla where Baashu’s darbar and
akhada
were erected to massage his ego.

The traditional
akhada
is a big ring-like space surrounded by mirrors where people can pump iron, jest, duel, and keep fit. Baashu’s
akhada
had a speciality. A place of pride in the
akhada
was given to the
badam
sherbet-making machine. Dawood took to the walls with a hockey stick. He shattered the mirrors brutally, remembering how Baashu had humiliated his family. Together, the young Dawood and his gang destroyed the entire
akhada
; the mirrors, the furniture, the equipment, and even the sherbet-making machine. It broke the spine of Baashu Dada.

Unable to face himself after this episode, Baashu withdrew from public life. The
akhada
was an integral part of Baashu and his aura, and when it was utterly destroyed, he was finished. And when luck turns, even the oldest and most faithful servant seeks greener pastures. Why would Baashu’s case be any different? Soon after this incident, Baashu was detained by the Bombay Police under the National Security Act (NSA), entailing a year-long detention without bail. The charge of Teli Mohalla was handed over to Khalid
pehelwan
. This was an opportunity for what was soon to become a signature Dawood move; Khalid, despite being Baashu’s right-hand man, had been treated as just another minion in Baashu’s fiefdom. Dawood moved fast to earn the loyalty of Baashu’s Man Friday. He made sure to impress upon Khalid that he did not bear any enmity or rancour towards him, and would be glad if Khalid joined him. So, with one swift move, Dawood effectively emasculated Baashu and brought an end to his reign.

After this, even after he returned from jail, Baashu refused to meet anybody and never again did he set foot in Temkar Mohalla. He divided his time between his houses in Hyderabad and Walkeshwar and was rarely heard of again.

12

The First Blood

A
couple of years later, when Dawood Ibrahim heard that Bombay’s reigning Gold King, Haji Mastan Mirza, had got some Pathans to beat up two of his cronies, he was seething with revenge. Nobody knew exactly why Mastan decided to beat up Abu Bakr and Ejaz, but he had now strayed into Dawood’s territory. He wanted to get even with Mastan, who he thought had garnered enough glory by smuggling gold and silver. Resting on the laurels of Mastan was the ‘Madrasi’, Varda bhai. Dawood knew that Mastan was not a man of action; he had never done anything to assert his might in the city. He believed that such a man had no right or authority to rule over the city. And Dawood had had enough of his photographs being splashed in the newspapers while attending various film mahurats
.
Bollywood was obsessed with Mastan and sought to epitomise him in forthcoming movies.

This just was not right to Dawood’s mind. So, while a seemingly harmless group of boys and men were caught up in a heated discussion on 4 December 1974, one of them, young Dawood Ibrahim, was masterminding the gangster’s downfall.