I shifted to Mumbai fourteen years back and since then it has been my home. It is a city which teaches you to fight back and become stronger. It is an extremely accepting city and it embraces you if you love it back. My husband who has spent more than two decades often told me stories of witnessing encounters and the underworld during his college days. It sounded no less than a film. But this book has set a new edge. Men as gangsters and dons is common. What makes this book intriguing is the stories of women as gangsters, drug world queens and women rulers of the underworld.
Guns are more attractive than roses” as stated by Vishal Bhardwaj is apt for all these women whose lives have been explored by Zaidi. From Kamathipura to Dongri, these women made a mark for themselves in the men’s world where they were known as the queens by their own merit.
The journey of Jenabai Chaaviwala as a bootlegger and then renamed as Jenabai Daaruwala was a popular underworld don who was respected and sought after for advice by underworld kingpins like Haji Mastan and Karim Lala. She was a police informant and her journey is a sensational one as she ruled over the reign of Dawood Ibrahim.
Gangubai’s sensational story of evolving as the undisputed ruler of the redlight area of Kamathipura-Mumbai. Her activism for the rights of the prostitutes and her strong connect with Karim Lala which later on gave her political advantage.Ashraf aka Sapna didi who chose to be a gangster to avenge the death of her husband from Dawood Ibrahim is a story of a braveheart. Her struggle to learn the ways of the underworld and later being an active police informant whose main target was to destroy Dawood is reckless and audacious.
Mahalaxmi Papamani popularly known as Amma was the undisputed ruler of the drug world. Hers is quite a journey from rags to riches and never being caught by the Narcotics Department.Then the anecdote of Monica Bedi and her relation with the famous don Abu Salem.
It was quite heart breaking to read about these women who came to Mumbai with a dream to lead a simple life but later got pulled into the life of crime and deception. Apparently each account is intriguing but if we detach ourselves and analyze each journey as an unbiased spectator, we would see that none of the woman chose this path of crime voluntarily. They were either forced into it by their loved ones or they were compelled by their circumstances. Some even ventured unknowingly. The innocence, naivety and sanctity was present among all of them initially.
The book reads like a screenplay which transports you the yesteryears of the spine chilling world of crime, money, power and lust. This is a well researched book and very well written. This is a great read to peer into the underworld. Read it to understand the struggles of these women to carve their place in the highly competitive world of men. Read it to know about the dangers and goriness behind the grandeur and power.