As I stand at the edge of this precipice, today I am going to narrate my story. The life I had before I raised some serious hell. So, let's rewind, shall we?
Caption: -[sighs.]
The year was 1949, the post-Independence era, when I was born in a traditional Marathi family but my family was poor and my father was a smoker and a drunk asshole who would rather bet his earnings on gambling and would barely win any big score.
"Father? Hey, have you been out gambling today while we waited for you? It was Diwali for fuck's sake." I lashed out at my dad.
"Don't you go heckling boy, I won 30 grand today and it calls for a celebration. Happy Diwali you ungrateful chump." He was bragging about his big win.
It meant a lot to him.
So, I Grew up at a chawl in Mumbai, the Maya Nagri, the city of dreams.
I still remember the day when my little sister Fannah was born and dad was more than happy to have a girl child in our family and I was also happy to have a sister.
Years passed by and Fannah and I went to a local school and this is where I met Johnny Barbosa, a Parsi boy who moved to Mumbai with dreams of his own.
"Hey, John, slow down man." I and John were already raising hell back then.
That day we stole answer sheets to our exams. And successfully made it out.
"Score. Now we both can get an A for sure." He was boasting a lot.
"Yeah, let's get outta here." I wanted no trouble.
And then the results came out two months later and surprisingly enough we both passed.
I didn't go to any fancy college, but a prestigious one to pursue Bachelor's degree in Arts and literature but my fate had other plans for me. I was recruited to the Indian Army and I fought the war in 1965
After the war I took a long break to return home and met Johnny again at the station.
"Buddy, you are back. How the heck are you?" He had his own way to greet me.
"I'm good, War is finally over." I was more than happy for a warm homecoming.
"It calls for a treat from your old buddy Johnny." And then he took me to the local Jazz bar for a quick drink.
"It was fun Johnny but I need some r and r right now. See you tomorrow." And then I headed to the chawl.
The people were happy to see me especially Mrs Kulkarni.
"Vikrant, look at you all grown up and made the country proud. I heard you took a bullet and survived too." She was following the news it seems.
"It's nothing Aunty Ji. I only did the right thing." I kept my dignity intact.
"Those Pakis really had a hard time, dint they? Mr. Kulkarni was also praising me a lot.
It's funny how war is still celebrated and glorified after all these years.
The year ended and we headed towards 70s the era of Glam and glitter and the new age of Bollywood, Cricket, New talents and a lot more. So, I saw a bigger fish in this huge ocean to catch and this is when the things began to drift towards a different direction.
April 9th 1977.
"You sure you are ready to do this?" We planned a heist, me, Johnny, Pappu, Monty and Aamir.
"Woah, easy money, now let's bail before the cops….. shows….. up….. fuck!" The whole thing went south as someone tipped the alarm and Johnny wasn't happy about this at all.
"If this is a setup I swear to God. Who snitched?" Johnny was fucking pissed.
"Forget that. We can find the snitch later now we need an exit strategy." I was taking the lead here.
"Fine, show us then." Johhny asked.
"We got one shot at this. Hand me a Molotov." I had some bombastic plan.
Caption: -[FLICKERS.]
Caption: -Thann [Molotov breaking.]
Caption: - Crackles. [Fire burning.]
"Heavy. Now let's get outta here." Johnny suggested.
I won't lie but that night we injured a large unit but no casualties.
But this heist wasn't some random jewelry store heist. We poke the hornet's nest and was about to get stung.
"Dude, do you have any idea whom we had robbed?" Monty was trying to reveal something.
"We robbed Utsav Shetty." Monty was trembling when he said this.
And later we knew we were visited my 5 men from the Shetty gang.
"Shetty Bhai called you guys, said that he has an offer for you bozos which you cannot refuse. So, come with us a no funny business or I'll blow your brains out, Capece?