I read very few books about Mafia. This book is a very detail account of Mumbai Mafia. No wonder there is a film based on this book, there can be tens because there is everything in this book – love, guns, money, treachery, loyalty, politics, prostitution, family drama, everything.
It’s amazing how much influence mafia has on our lives, especially in countries like India. An unsuspecting housewife buying gold, a daily laborer buying a pouch of gutka, a movie buff buying a pirated video CD, spoilt brats buying a dose of drug, that new apartment home young couples are longing to buy, everything has a touch of mafia; thereby indirectly funding terror operations that put the same unsuspecting people’s lives at risk.
Many people, good and bad, struck gold in the buzzing city of Bombay (Mumbai). Dawood is one such person who rose to prominence by eliminating enemies shrewdly and he also cleverly used the system in that process. It’s so stupid of Mumbai police to allow people like Dawood to operate freely under their nose just because they were “small” at that moment. This book does a great job at making the reader visualize the rise of Dawood to international prominence, often by manipulating the system.
Both Dawood and Chota Rajan will never be extradited because they are unofficial guests of ISI and RAW respectively. Dawood found a safe haven in Pakistan and will die rather peacefully. All the rest of drama by Indian, Pakistani and US governments will go on for ever. US will never force Pak to extradite him because they don’t care and they can give eyewash answers to India; Pak will deny his presence to India for ever, terrorist organizations will continue using his network. As the author rightly said, he traded his money for safety. That’s about it. He will live in a complicated world of his for ever. After all, money can buy anything but peace of mind.
