Underrated books

The book "The Brahmastra Unleashed" is written by D Sivanandan. He is the former police commissioner of Mumbai and former Director General of Police Maharashtra. This book is the first person encounter of how the Underworld of Mumbai was destroyed by the capable Mumbai Police.

I am born and raised in Mumbai. As someone who has closely scene the period of 1980's and grew up in Mumbai in 1990s, I am very well aware of the Mumbai underworld. I had closely seen the crimes committed by Mumbai underworld. In this era the activities of the Mumbai underworld were not hidden. The Underworld was not in the background, rather it was the "Main Central Character" of Mumbai. Anyone who had stayed in Mumbai was not required to search for The Underworld. On the contrary The Underworld would come looking for a particular person. Underworld could be found anywhere in Mumbai - any lane, any road, any corner, any building, any ally, or practically everywhere. Not a single inch of Mumbai had escaped from the brutal crimes.

Everyday some or the other person would come face to face with criminals of The Underworld. Noone would know when they would witness an Underworld activity. Sighting of such Underworld activity could lead to the witness's apparent death. Nobody at that time was considered safe in Mumbai. City of Dreams was also the capital of crimes.

The Mumbai underworld was popularised in those decades by the entertainment industry as well. You may remember famous blockbuster movies such as Satya, Company, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Shootout at Lokhandwala. These movies had shown the POV of The Underworld gangsters. There have also been several films which should the biography of gangsters. In most of the films the gangsters were shown to be kindhearted and misunderstood unsung heroes. Most of the movies depicted the police department in bad light. These movies showed how incompetent the police department was during that period. They had also shown that if police had acted on time some of the misguided youth would not have become notorious gangsters. In the movies the filmmakers used to have a sequence where they used to show that Police would only arrive after the crime has happened or the justice has been served. Knowing the capabilities of the Mumbai Police I never believed those movies. I always thought that the film makers were showing the police in such a bad state only to please The Underworld. When I read this book I got to know that I was always right.

In those decades The Underworld had a chokehold on Mumbai and the Mumbaikars were suffering because of that. However over the next few years especially in the 2000s and 2010s the situations started changing. In these years the activities of Underworld started declining. Several gangsters were killed in shootouts, cross fires, encounters, or in the gangwars. Many gangster had also fled the country. The city of Mumbai started feeling safer again. This transformation did not happen overnight. The citizens of Mumbai never got to know what happened in the background. We never realised which battles were fought in the dark and who was fighting for us.

Now I understood because I read the book "The Brahmastra Unleashed". When I started reading this book I was completely hooked. Every information and detail provided in the book was a relatable. I felt as if I am going through a chapter in history. This book bridges the gap between the public perception and the actual legal and situational framework within which the policemen operated. This book provides the detailed accounts of multiple gangsters of Mumbai underworld, their method of operation, their reign, and there subsequent downfall. By reading the book I got to know that how various operations were carried out by the Mumbai Police. The author who was the protagonist at that time had a described how Mumbai police used to receive the information; how they use to utilised the information; and how they would form strategies for the maximum impact with the minimum inventory available with them. As a result of their efforts the city became safe again. While reading the book I felt that these stories came from someone who has lived through them. The technical accuracies and procedural details were flawless. This book definitely setiated the hunger of an avid real drama reader because it provided "insiders view" which most of the books lack.

In the world where the Gangsters are glorified, this book proved that how they should not have been glorified. Media shows how police are not capable, but in reality because of the efforts of these bravehearts today the city is safe again. Media is alive because of the police. Whenever I get any platform I definitely speak about this book because it definitely deserves the recognition.