Vasant Sena, the other name of Shiv Sena, during its infancy.

[madhav kapdi]

                    Sub.: Vasant Sena, the other name of Shiv Sena, during its infancy.

                    Many are calling Shiv Sena as Vasant Sena, a old name by which it was known in mid 60s, when it was in its infancy.  As a child, studying in secondary school at Parel, a heart land of Mumbai Textile mills, i very well know, as to why it was called so, or i can say that, i have a first hand experience & information, about the related background.

 

                    Prior to secondary schooling, up to 4th std, i was studying at Worli, in Worli police camp municipal school, with the children's of Police constables, but at the advise of our school head master, i was removed from the municipal school, and was shifted to Parel, and was staying with my uncle late Dattatray Kapdi, fondly called as Aba Kaka. He was working with BEST Bombay, and was staying at staff quarters. He was a social worker as well, with political affiliation to Congress. In his youth, he has seen the freedom struggle from the close quarters, hence his affiliation to the Congress was not negotiable, like everybody else, during that period.

 

                    I wanted to join R.M.Bhat high-school, which was dominated by the Brahmin management, with better SSC results, and my uncle gave note on his letter head to my father, and we called on the school office, to meet the principal  My school living certificate, was seen by the staff, and they advised my father, not to meet the principal, which he ignored, but on his insistence, he was permitted. I was Topper, but in Municipal school, and my father showed my school living certificate, and the principal politely refused, but when he showed the letter head of my uncle, the principal shouted " Kapdi gela udat." meaning there by was, let Kapdi go to hell.

 

                    Later on came to know that, Naigano municipal school, in the premises of Naigano police quarters near by , was dominated by the children's of police constables. Father of Dawood Ibrahim, was also a police constable, and perhaps Dawood [couple of years junior to me] also studied in the same school. Since the reputation of the students from Municipal schools background [with the children's of police constables, in particular] was not good, perhaps it was a policy decision, not to admit  the students, from the municipal schools.

 

                    Ultimately, i was able to get a admission in Shirodkar High school nearby. My new school, was much better than my earlier municipal school, but i was Demoralized since, could not get the admission in R.M.Bhat High school. Both of my aunts were teachers, and they were having contacts in RM Bhat high school, but those contacts didn't worked. I was staying with my uncle at BEST staff quarters, with a population of around 2/3000, and my uncle was a very prominent person in the quarters, with his leadership qualities. He was a university badminton player, and also a secretary of BEST Arts & Sports club, and was very influential person in Electric house, the HQ of BEST at Kulaba Mumbai.

 

                    The area around that part of the Bombay, can broadly be divided in three parts namely Nagpada, dominated by the Muslim gangs, operated by Yusuf Patel, Karim Lala & Haji Mastan, while Lalbaug  & Parel area was dominated by communist gangs, with Krishna Desai and later on Arun Gawli [Dagdi chawl] while Parel Bhoiwasda onwards, the Goondagiri was tapering off, and the Dadar area, was inhabited by the Domesticated citizens.

 

                    The Lalbaug & Parel area, was thickly populated, with Mumbais Textile mills, and all the mill workers, were staying in a thickly populated chawls, and the local Municipal elections, were dominated by the Communist party's, and the Congress were the losers, and the party's like Jan Sangh & BJP, were nowhere in horizon then.

 

                    I recall, the Chief minister of Maharashtra was late Mr.Vasant Rao Naik from Pusad, and he was concerned with the loosing streak of his party Congress, in the capital of Maharashtra, and he was also concerned with the law & order situation in the area. To display their supremacy, the Communist took one very daring step as under, which ultimately became their Waterloo.

 

                    The daughter of CM, and her friend Ms.Varsha Madkaikar [Fellow Goan, from Madkai.] went for a picnic to a tourist spot near Bombay, when the Communist goons, following them, gang raped and killed Varsha Madkaikar, and threw her body in to the valley. This was a challenge to CM, and he was left with no option, than to accept it.

 

                    In the very next Municipal elections, Mr.Gajanan Loke, a Congress candidate from Parel was declared elected, defeating Krishna Desai from the Communist party of India [CPI]  Well, i have not seen Krishna Desai in person, but many times, i have seen Mr.Gajanan Loke, visiting our home.  He was of medium height, with good built, and was very active person, and used to attend the problems of staff quarters, with municipal authorities aggressively.

 

                    In his elections, the BEST staff quarters, has played very dominant roles, and the Communist candidates tested the defeat, after prolonged periods of success. My uncle was a lead campaigner for Congress, and the Communist decided to teach him a lesson, with their proven strategy of eliminating the rivals. There were two attempts, on the life of my uncle in 1963 [when i was 12 years old, and in 7th std.] The episodes are being narrated as follows,

 

                    Episode number 01.

 

                    It was a Sunday, and i went to the grocers store in society, and was standing in a Que, when the group of unknown persons,  were making a inquiry with the By-standers, "  Where is Mr.Kapdi.? " The By-stander then pointed the finger towards me, and then those persons, in turn asked me "Where is your Bap.? " Not knowing they were the Goondas, I corrected them saying, he is my uncle, and has gone to saloon for shaving. Then they headed towards the saloon, by then some people identified them, and alerted my uncle in saloon. 

 

                    When i got down from the grocery shop, and was heading back, i saw my uncle with a shaving cream on his face, and a vastara in his hand, with some members from the quarters, where chasing those goondas, and those goons were caught between me and my uncle with the members from quarters. By then my uncle shouted at me " Gurudas pakad. " means catch them, and the Gurudas is my nick name, by which i am called at home, and with in the relations. 

 

                    I was having only a cloth bag in my hand, with say a kilo of sugar, as my weapon, and that was not sufficient to harm them. It was also simply impossible for me to catch them, so in a reflex action, i snatched a umbrella from a person near by, and swirled it, in the direction of a person closest to me, which tore the sleeve of his Bush shirt. He was a well built person, with a solder cut hair, which is also being maintained by the elite policemen, in civilian dress, from the crime branch. 

 

                    In early 50s, policemen were wearing half pant, with a very broad belt, with a Buckle number engraved, and not with a mandatory name plate, being affixed now. The belt is also hidden below the Bush shirt, and the Shirt is also said to be a cover to hide the revolver, for self defence.

 

                    My swirling of umbrella, hit the bush shirt of a person closest to me, and it was a insult of him, being challenged by a school boy in a half pant, and he shouted at me " Chaman " [person with less hairs, or bald even. We children's, used to have crew cut, every 15 days.] and tried to frighten me, but here my schooling with the children's of Police constables came to my help, which teaches " Never get frighten of your adversary, who in turn is also frightened of you."  He took out a long knife [later on was told it was a Barchi] but didn't charged towards me, since their prime motive now was to escape from the mob, which would have thrashed them mercilessly. They ran towards the gate, where the motorbikes, were waiting for them, and escaped.

 

                    Episode number 02.

 

                    This time, goons were prepared. They found out that our Flat number was B61. B stands for the building number 2, and the flat number 61, but the 61 doesn't means that, the flat was on the 6th floor and the closest to the staircase. All the buildings then were of G+5, with no lifts, but there were two staircases to cater each floor. Our flats were very small, with one room & kitchen [less than 300 Sq.Ft.] with independent Toilet & Bathroom. It was Sunday, and my uncle was taking his afternoon siesta, after sumptuous Sunday lunch. 

 

                    Our immediate neighbour was Mr.Ibrahim Kadri from Masura Konkan, coastal belt of Maharashtra, very close to my Grand mothers native place Maldi. Mrs.Kadri was a good coock, and she used to prepare fish curry with sumptuous coconut shavings, a specialty of Konkan belt, and myself & uncle, used to wait for the Sunday, when she used to send a curry plate to both of us. My Grandmother, who sometimes used to stay with us, was having a reservation's for eating a food prepared by the Muslim, but my uncle was secular being a Congressman.

 

                    Mr.Kadri was having a son by name Idris, couple of years senior to me, and he used to assist my uncle, in all the sundry activities, related to the society matters, and he was also called as Idris Kapdi. On that fateful day, i was standing in a balcony, and my uncle was sleeping after lunch. I then saw, Idris came running from the other stair case, and rushed to his flat B62, and shouted towards his father, who too was taking afternoon sista, "Kapdi ko marneko logo ayo." in Urdu, meaning thereby is  " Goondas has come, to kill Kapdi." His father was sleeping wearing a Lungi, immediately got up, and took a stick [Used for hanging the clothes] and followed his son, who was aware of the route taken by the Goons. Mr.Kadri bolted the door of our flat, knowing the short tempered nature of my uncle, and asked me to remain on guard.

 

                    By then, the Goons has gone to the 6th floor, and staring at the face of man in the flat closest to the staircase, but he was a Bhaiyya from UP, and his looks were   totally different than of my uncle [The face cut of my uncle was like Mr.Shetty, a villain of 70 / 80s from Bollywood.] They were clueless after watching that person, and then they were retracing their steps, perhaps to flee, but then the Ibrahim Kadri, challenged them in the stair cases [Meznam floor] and raised the stick, and hold it in horizontal direction, to block their movement, but then they swirled their knife, and were trying to escape, but they were caught by the mob,  who was entering our building from all the sides. They were caught and thrashed mercilessly, and then handed over to Police.

 

                    I have seen the blood sprinkled on the walls of the staircase, and there was cut on his armpit of Mr.Kadri. Those wounds were bandaged, and he was kept in the dispensary of the society, for observation till evening, and then came walking to his home and slept, and next day, he didn't got up as usual. He was again admitted to the dispensary, when it was observed that, the small portion of the wound, was not properly bandaged, and since he slept on one side, blood vessels were pressed with his body weight, and the blood which came out, was being soaked by the cotton mattress, and the excessive drainage of the blood, made him un-conscious, but then the family members thought that, he is dead. Everybody then said, Mr.Kadri has scarified his life, to save my uncle. Dr.Waghela, who was attached to the Dispensary, took all the necessary steps, to regain his consciousness.

 

                    Thereafter, the Police protection was provided to my uncle, and he was also recommended for the personal revolver, for self defence, but he failed in all the tests, due to his short tempered nature. His last psychological test, was conducted by a lady Doctor, but he slapped her, for her provocative question.  Such provocative questions, are deliberately asked, to judge the response, in emergency situations. Police then provided him with a personal body guard, and Mr.Sushil Kumar Shinde  API [who then became a Home minister of the country] attached to Bhoi wada police station, was assigned for this job. 

 

                    He used to come to our home, and wait in the balcony, wearing a Civilian dress, but i do not recall if anytime he entered our home. Since he used to be in a Civilian dress, i was knowing there is a Revolver hidden, but he never showed the same to me. His Boss was Mr.Inamdar Saheb, who retired as ACP, and after his retirement, was staying at Santacruz [West] very close to my another uncle Vishnu Kapdi called as Bhau Kaka.

 

                    After 2nd episode, Inamdar Saheb asked my uncle to remove me from the school, since he was afraid that, the Goons of Krishna Desai, will take a revenge on me, being a soft target.  I was removed from the school, and send back to my parents at Worli, and after few days, my father went to my school for TC, but our principal Mr.H.D.Ganokar advised my father not to panic because, after 2nd attempt on the life of my uncle, the Department went on offensives, and many Goondas were caught, and the rest went underground. After 15/20 days, i went back to Parel, and i re-collect around 10 students from the colony, with some girls also, used to escort me up to the school. 

 

                    While i was at home at Worli, i also met my best friend Dambrya, who was doing well in his studies, and his father also came to our home, to meet my father. I understand, he also met his contemporaries from from Bhoiwada police station, but by then, the Communist has lost their hold in the area, and Shiv Sainiks were on offensives, and the Communist Dadagiri, was very much in check. My uncles were not willing to keep me at Worli since, they were under the impression that, i will rejoin my old friends, and spoil my future. Sending me back to Parel, was a painful decision, but it was taken for my betterment.

 

                    My uncle was also a Secretary of BEST Arts & Sports club, and was deeply involved in many Sports & Cultural activities of the BEST.  He was a university Badminton player, and he achieved that feat, within two years, after coming to Bombay, after completitng SSC from Masura, near Kankavali, a Taluka place. Mr.S.N.Pendse [The writer of Garambuicha Bapu] was a boss of my uncle in BEST, and he also requested my uncle, to shift to officers Quarter's at Kulaba, which he was entitled for, but he was not a person to get cowed down by the threats, hence continued to stay at Parel, in the company of Bus Drivers & Conductors, till his retirement. 

 

                    You must be aware of the drama " Sambhusanchya Chalit." was being staged by the BEST Arts club, in Maharashtra Government amature drama competition, and the rehearsals used to be conducted up to late hours at Kulaba, but then my uncle used to be escorted by the police vehicle up to the quarters. Thus, the department was re-paying its debt, to a common man, for the services rendered, to challenge the Goonda like Krishna Desai, who was a nuisance for marinating the law & order, in Lalbaug  area.

 

                    Not only my parents and the extended family, but even Ibrahim Kadri & Inamdar Saheb were very keen my educational progress, and they were happy when i completed my engineering, and took up a job. I was not able to meet Inamdar Saheb, but did tried to meet Ibrahim Kadri, who settled down at Masura, after his retirement. Myself and my father, went to Maldi, a village on Kankavli to Kalawali route, with a detour of two Kms from Adivali thita [junction] After overnight stay at Maldi, next day we were supposed to merely cross the river [Gad nadi] and head towards the Masura, but night before, there were torrential rains, which made our river crossing impossible. 

 

                    We again made a long detour, and went to Chander [heard of Chanderkar ladu?] and next day again left for Masura. Again there were heavy rains in the night when we stayed at Chander, and as our ST bus approached Masura, a concrete culvert connecting Masura, was overflowing, and the vehicles were stranded on both the sides of the river [Gad nadi.]

 

                    My father was very meticulous in his correspondence, and he has kept Kadri uncle [we used to call him as Idris che baba] informed of our plan. There were no mobiles then, and only connectivity then was a land line connection at Post office, where persons used to wait for the calls from the callers. My father has passed on the message through the post master of our plan.. When we came out of the bus, my father spotted Idris che Baba, with his customary loongi and Mehandi coloured beared on the other side of the bank. 

 

                    It took me took some time to recognize him, but when i recognized him, i raised my hands and jumped with a joy, like a small child of 12 years, when i left the BEST quarters.. Well, i could not meet him then, since i already has enjoyed extended holiday, and since i was in Marketing then, lot of touring was a part of my job, but my father next day,  called on Idris che Baba, and i left for my job. I was not able to meet Idris che Baba, but my conscious is clear that, i made a attempt to meet.  You have to scarifies some emotional moments, when you take up the job, and work for somebody else.

 

                    The entire Konkan is a hilly terrain, and when it rains, the water flows through gravity very fast, and meets the sea, hence the small culverts, are not useful in case of heavy rains. They are Ok in summer or even in minor rains, but when the rains are intense, you have to wait for the water to recede. There is no other choice.

 

                    In comparison to Idris che Baba, Inamdar Saheb was very much in Bombay  and very easy to meet, but the followup of my father was very intense to meet Idris che Baba, but in comparison, my uncle was very busy person, hence my meeting Inamdar Saheb, remained un-finished agenda of mine. 

 

                    My another uncle [Bhau Kaka.] who was staying at Santacruz was knocked down by a car, and died on the spot. The car was being driven by a Juvenal son of a Jeweller, and the Jeweller used all his contacts to sabotage the investigation, but then the role played by Inamdar Saheb, and his contacts in the Department, even after relinquishing of his uniform, speaks for the respect enjoyed by the honest police officers, even after their retirement.  Son of a Jeweller, escaped from the clutches of law, but he paid the price, for challenging a honest Police officer. He was left with no alternative than to leave for his home state Rajsthan.

 

                    Krishna Desai, who created a Havoc with his Goondagiri, lost his hold after his defeat in Municipal election, and later on was murdered also, and then the Shiv Sena came in to the prominence. Sena was patronized during the regime of Vasantrao Naik,  hence it was also called as Vasant Sena then, during its infancy.

 

                    Krishna Desai, who made two attempts on the life of my uncle in 1963, was himself eliminated in 1965, while my uncle died his natural death in 1990, 25 years later. This reminds me of a well known Proverb " मारने वाले से बचाने वाला बड़ा होता है. "

 

                    The slogans of Shiv Sena, were very catchy then, and i too was very active member of Sena, while studying in Elphistone college Fort Bombay. I took a team of 11 students, including 4 girls, to participate in a morcha, lead by late Bala Saheb Thakre in 1967, but my interest in politics tapered down, when i joined engineering college in Pune in 1969, more than 50 years back.

                    I am not a political analyst, but a Metallurgist by profession, but this post is being up-loaded, as a mark of respect to my uncle, who has been my Icon.

                    
                    Madhav Kapdi.

 

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