'Sufi' author Aabid Surti's underworld calling

You must have heard stories about Dawood Ibrahim. But how well do you know the era and the people who shaped him?

Author Aabid Surti (born 1935) in his latest book titled Sufi describes the parallel lives of two friends, one, the author himself and the other, a man called Iqbal Rupani who rose to become the kingpin of the Mumbai underworld in the 1960s and 70s. The book attempts to explain the reasons behind the rise of crime in Mumbai during that era.

Aabid grew up in a poverty-stricken area of Dongri and so did Iqbal Rupani. But probably it was destiny which took them to their respective destinations. “Not many people would know about Iqbal because he never came into the limelight. Like me, he too lived in a one-room house with a joint family. I took to writing and he went on to become a don,” says Aabid. He remembers, “Iqbal used to be a bright child and had a desire to be a scientist. He always came up with novel ideas. But he could never have enough money to afford his education. In the hope that one day he will be able to make money for his studies, he resorted to crime. Initially he used to sell cheap liquor made in the gutters of the city and later he became a smuggler. The lust for money never let him get out of it ever. Phir woh smuggling main naak tak doob gaya.”

According to Aabid, when people confronted Iqbal about the path he had taken in life, he reiterated his belief in a saying: ‘With the wish of Allah, not even a single leaf could sway with the wind. So if I am a smuggler, it is certainly his wish too’. During those days Dawood used to be a tapori  (roadside goon) and sell smuggled goods by Iqbal and gang at the Musafirkhana. But there must be a reason for Dawood to join Iqbal’s gang as well. “When I was 12 years old, Dawood Ibrahim’s father, Ibrahimbhai was an honest police constable. Approximately around the time of Independence in 1947, the Lloyd’s bank was robbed in Mumbai and Rs 16 lakh were stolen. And Ibrahimbhai caught the crooks with his team in a week’s time. But there was so much unrest in the country going on, that it made Ibrahimbhai very uncomfortable about his job. He wanted to switch to another job and ended up opening a hair cutting salon. Dawood, probably, never liked living in poverty like this,” says Aabid.

Interestingly the book is being made in to a movie, also called Sufi, starring Chitrangada Singh and Prateik Babbar.