"I too began running alongside the participants, took a detour and reached Grant Road, and proceeded to Borivali. I found hundreds of people running in what appeared to be a marathon." The crowd gave an escape route to Rahul. "I found the place safe from the police glare and quietly slept in a garden on the beach." At dawn, Rahul woke up to some noise in the vicinity. Recalling one of his run for life from police, Rahul said it was set on the picturesque background of Girgaum Chowpatty. I got hooked to those as I was finding it difficult to sleep," he said. "I became too much addicted to alcohol, charas and mandrax pills.
The life of a desperado, Rahul reminisced, drew him into substance abuse and alcohol addiction. As the police came closing, I had to be on the run all the time." "I was soon involved in extortion, gun running, to name a few. The growth of his notoriety marked a corresponding increase in the number of run-ins with the police, Rahul said. Police officials versed with Rahul's past recall the latter as a reckless criminal with a couple of 9 mm pistols tucked into his waist, protruding from his loose shirt on the lanky frame. Rahul became the trusted lieutenant for the fugitive mob boss, while for the police, a marked man. Soon, Rahul found himself in the league of marksmen for a dreaded underworld outfit that was unofficially headquartered in Dombivli. "Looking around, I found my friends making big bucks by threatening people or getting lucrative contracts by using muscle power." Barely did he know he was slipping into a trap with his obsession for quick money.
What will I do with a BCom degree with 50-60 per cent marks once out of college? May be some Rs 40,000-50,000 job, somewhere," Rahul said matter-of-factly.
Topping it was my sister's marriage which drained up the savings. My father's income was barely enough to support the household. Towards the end of the last millennium, Rahul, like his fellow batchmates pursuing BCom courses at a college in Thane began thinking of life beyond college. "I would come fifth or sixth in the sprint events."Ī test of perseverance and endurance. "I was always a back bencher in school and never excelled in studies."ĭid sports, running in particular, come naturally to you? "In fact, never," replied Rahul.
"Being the youngest, I was spoilt and a rebel too," said Rahul who grew up in a setup teeming with criminals and vagabonds as jobs were few and far between. Rahul was the youngest amongst the siblings. His father, employed in a private company in Thane, mother, a home maker, an elder brother and a sister. Like many in the far suburban townships of Mumbai and Thane, Rahul too had a modest beginning. "Call it my luck or 'Maa Baap ka Karam' (the Karma of my parents), I am here," Rahul said, the sharp gaze of his searing eyes still intact. He was one of the very few who not only survived the hounding bullets of the police and his rivals in the underworld, but went on to live a life which few of the hirelings in the gang could dream of. "When I close my eyes and look back, it feels like a rebirth from the hell I was trapped within," said the dreaded mafia sharp shooter who once figured on top of the 'hit list' drawn out by police in two mega cities-Mumbai and Thane. The maiden attempt four years ago had signalled his liberation from the life he dreads to recall now. "This is my fourth attempt at the Mumbai Marathon since 2016," announced Rahul, taking a brief pause from the workout.
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