Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian citizen to bring Nobel Prize to India. He was the first non-European and the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Though two Indians – Ronald Ross in 1902 for Medicine and Rudyard Kipling for literature have won Nobel Prize before him, both were foreign citizens. Thus Tagore became the first Indian citizen to receive this honorary prize. After Tagore, V.S.Naipaul won it once again in the year 2001, but he is UK citizen. So still now, only Tagore remains the only writer with Indian citizenship who has won Nobel Prize in literature. Let me mention one more Indian writer’s name who has been Nominated and shortlisted for Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984. It is Kamala Das/Kamala Surayya who also owns pen name – Madhavikutty.

Rabindranath Tagore achieved Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 for his collection of poems – Gitanjali at the age of 52. So, 2013 is the centennial year of this historic moment and countries – India, Bangladesh and Sweden are celebrating this occasion in grand way. He was the person who gave the name ‘Mahatma’ of Gandhiji, the name by which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is still known. Tagore was born on 1861 May 7 in Kolkata in Chitpur village as the son of Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi.

He started writing poems at the age of 8 and had a journey to Himalayas with his father at the age of 11. His first poem, ‘Abhilasha’ was published in ‘Tatvabhodini’ newspaper when he was only 13. His first collection of poems, ‘Kabikahini’ was published when he was 16. He used the pen name ‘Bhanusimha’ during his early age. He started painting when he reached 60 and completed approximate 3000 pictures. In 40, Oxford University gave him honorary doctorate. In 1941 August 7, he left the world. 

At this wonderful occasion I would like to briefly mention a few interesting facts related to Tagore, his Gitanjali and Nobel Prize.

Gitanjali and Nobel Prize

Gitanjali was written in Bengali and it is a collection of 157 poems. It was published in the year 1910, August 14. He chose 53 best poems from this work and took 50 more poems from other works and translated it to English. This collection of 103 poems with the same title – Gitanjali was published by India Society of London on November 1st, 1912. Its introduction was written by famous Irish poet W.B. Yeats. Tagore’s name was nominated by famous English poet T.S. Moore.

Thief stole Tagore’s Nobel

When Tagore got Nobel Prize, it brought pride and honour to India. But it became a black mark on India’s pride when Tagore’s medal got stolen from Santiniketan. It happened in the year 2004 March 25 when Tagore’s medal, along with its citation and a few personal belongings of Tagore went missing from the glass case of Rabindra Bhavan Museum of Viswabharaty University. 18 carat gold weighing 206 grams and about 50 precious belongings of Tagore including gold ring of his father and his own favourite gold pocket watch were stolen from the museum.

Government promised to give 10 lakh rupees to the person who can give any information related to this theft. Later the case was investigated by CBI. Yet even at the 100th year of this historic moment, the mystery is yet to be unfolded. Later in 2009, CBI closed this case as they couldn’t find any solid evidence behind this conspiracy. Really a matter of shame to all Indians!!!

A matter of relief – In 2005, Sweden Foundation presented two replicas of Tagore’s Nobel Prize to Viswabharaty University. One replica was made of gold while the other, of bronze. Now the gold medal is preserved safe in Rabindra Bhavan Museum and the bronze replica is exhibited for visitors. 

Santiniketan and Viswabharati

An ashram was founded by Tagore’s father in Bolpur, Santiniketan. Rabindranath Tagore expanded it as an educational institution with the name – Brahmacharya Ashram. Later it become popular worldwide and came to be known as cultural centre of India. It followed gurukula education system of our ancestors and both students and teachers stay here. Later it came to be known as Santiniketan. Started in the year 1901, it became Viswabharati University in the year 1921 December 21. Later in 1951 it came under central government’s rule.

Lost Gitanjali

Tagore translated Gitanjali from Bengali to English in 1912 during his journey to London along with his family. While train passed through a tunnel, he lost the original written copy of Gitanjali. Later it was obtained from the storage of lost possessions in an underground railway station of London. As told earlier W.B. Yeats wrote the introduction of English version of Gitanjali. They both stayed together in a hotel in London when this work was going on. Yeats used to recite Gitanjali’s poems so beautifully that many celebrities used to assemble in the hotel in those days. Gitanjali has been translated to many languages. Its Malayalam translation was done by G. Shankara Kurup, the poet to win first Jnanpith award, highest literary honour of India.

Two National songs

Our national anthem, ‘Jana gana mana’ was taken from Tagore’s Gitanjali written in Bengali. It was recited for the first time in Kolkatta, 27th December 1911 in the occasion of 28th annual conference of Indian National Congress. In 1950 January 24, it was officially adopted as National Anthem of India by the Constituent Assembly. Tagore translated this wonderful poem to English as ‘The morning song of India’. National anthem of Bangladesh, Amar Sonar Bangla was also written by none other than Tagore.

The unspoken speech

In 1913 November 14, while residing in Santhiniketan Tagore got a telegram from his friend, poet Satyendranath Dutta. The content was the happy news of Nobel Prize. But due to some reason, Tagore was not able to attend the award function held at Sweden on December. Later Tagore received this award from Kolkata Governor on January 1914. Then how did that historic speech become so popular even though Tagore didn’t attend the function? Those words were sent by Tagore 8 years later to Sweden Foundation telling that he has accepted the prize. Nobel Academy preserved it in their collection. This matter was revealed most recently through the research conducted by Indranath Chaudhary.

Renounce of Knighthood

Apart from being a great writer, educationalist, thinker and painter, he was a great political leader also. He has played a significant role in India’s struggle for independence. He had close relationship with great Indian leaders – Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.  He was given ‘Sir’ title by George V of British Government as an honour of his Nobel Prize achievement. But as a symbol of protest against Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919, he gave it back to British government. He wrote a repudiation letter to Viceroy Chelmsford showing his protest.

Rabindra Sangeet

Rabindranath Tagore was a music composer as well. He developed a distinct style of singing, by giving music to his own written poems. Though its tunes are deeply rooted in East Indian classical music, he has made it his own by adding a few more elements thus making it an independent branch of singing style. Indrani Sen, Debabrata Viswas, Suchitra Mitra, Hemant Kumarand Subinoy Roy are a few names related to Rabindra Sangeet.

Important works of Tagore

His most popular collection of poems are Gitanjali, Geetimalya, Sonar thari and Balaka. His important novels are Yogayog, Gora, Chokerbali, Khare bayre, Nauka doobi and Sesher Kobita. His dramas are Valmiki prathibha, Chirangata, Visarjan, Raja, Dhak ghar and Achalayathan. Kabuliwalah, Post master and Samapthi are his noted short stories.

Conclusion

So, we have come to the end of this article related to Tagore, his life and important works. It’s my humble tribute to one of the greatest persons of our motherland.

Image source: Wikipedia

Steve Jobs - undoubtedly is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time. A name that defines innovation, excellence and passion. He gave us products that have made our lifestyle easy by many folds and we will truly remain thankful to him for generations to come. The following article covers his life in short. 

Early Life and childhood

Steve Jobs a name most of us are familiar with. Many of us love the products he gave us. He was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to an unmarried mother Joanne Simpson. She was a graduate and the Steve’s father was a Syrian professor. As the mother was unmarried she gave her child for adoption. Being a graduate herself she wanted her child to have parents who were well educated and assure that her child is sent to college when he grows up. Though her wishes were not fulfilled and she had to give her child to Paul and Clara Jobs who had come forward for adopting her child. She agreed for the adoption by the couple on one condition that her child will be sent to school and college once he grows up.

The couple named their adopted child Steve Paul and three years later in 1958 they adopted another child a baby girl who they named Patti. A complete family by then, moved to the Silicon Valley when Steve was a kid. Steve is said to be an unstable kind of a child in his early schooling days with not much interest in studies until the 4th grade. A teacher by the name of Teddy Hill is said to have diverted his interests and Steve jumped to Middle school directly without attending the 5th grade. The middle school he had just joined didn't impress him much as the students there would bully their fellow mates. Thus Steve told his parents that he won’t go to the school anymore. Thus his parents had to move to Los Altos and transferred Steve to Cupertino Junior High.

The Growing Years

 In his growing years Steve became interested in electronics and in Homeland High School he enrolled himself in an electronics class. His personal life had too many ups and downs. He had found his biological parents, the Simpsons after years of search in the 1980s. His parents had married after a few years of giving him in adoption and had a daughter named Mona. By the time Steve met her in 1985 she had become a well recognized writer. During his growing years his father introduced him to Heathkits. These were kits that came with manuals on how to assemble them and Steve found them amazing. He developed a interest that gave helped him new heights. Steve was often quoted saying that his childhood had been fortunate as he had learned a lot by using Heathkits that were in kit form. Steve gained a lot of confidence as he knew how things were electronics were made and put together. 

During the year 1990 Steve wanted to marry his girlfriend Tina Redse. But when he proposed to her she turned down his proposal. Later during that time he started dating Lauren Powell who was a student at Stanford University pursuing MBA. Lisa was the first child of Steve Jobs born in 1978 with his partner Chris Ann Brennan. He accepted her as his daughter only after a few years and took good care of her education. Lisa being the first child of Steve Lauren gave birth to Steve’s second child, a boy who they named Reed Paul. Later the couple was blessed with two daughters Erin and Eve in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

 During his days at Homeland High School Steve had joined an electronics class. It was during this time that he had a new friend in his life who too had interest in electronics, named Bill Fernandez. Later Bill introduced Steve who was a 14 year kid at that time to Stephan Woznaik aged 19years then known by the name of Woz. Woz had a keen interest in computers. It was in Homeland that Steve met his first long time girlfriend Chris Ann Brennan.

Steve and Woz designed their first phone around 1972. They tried and were able to make one and that was the time they together showed their entrepreneurial skills. It was Steve who gave the idea of selling the product they had made. They used to go to students’ rooms and sell their product. Though it was an illegal venture and they soon had to stop it.

College

After finishing High School Steve wanted to join Reed College in Oregon. It was a private college and so the fee was high, high enough for his parents to afford. But still they gave up their hard earned savings for his college fees. They had promised his biological mother that they would provide him good education so they kept their promise and send him to Reed College. However Steve was unclear like most of the kids are at the time of college about what he wanted to do and how could the classes at college help him in attaining his goals in life. So he soon dropped out of college after only going for a few months. He thought he was wasting his parents money on something he didn't wanted to do, for the classes he didn't wanted to attend. In Reeds he came across books that encouraged him to try weird experiments with his diet. He became a fruitarian that is had only fruits as food. He had read that eating only fruits will help his body get rid of the mucus and thus there will be no need of bathing. He would often fast for a number of days on a go.

In 1974 Steve joined Atari, the first video game company founded by Nolan Bushnell. Steve was young and enthusiastic and was highly motivated by Nolan Bushnell. These inspirations he derived from Nolan Bushnell along with his entrepreneurial skills gave way to the birth of Apple.

His visit to India

While working at Atari Steve and his friend from the college (Reed) came to India for enlightenment. Though both of them went back disappointed as the guru they thought would lead them to enlighten them turned out to be a con man. They could never meet him and had caught up lice and dysentry while their stay here. He later said that India was far poorer than he had believed it to be. The guru they wanted to meet in India was famously known as Kairolie Baba. In reference to Kairolie Baba Steve said that his trip to India as a teenage boy along with his college friend was a life changer and was once quoted saying:

“It was one of the first times that I came to realize that maybe Thomas Edison did a lot more to improve the world than Karl Max and Neem Kairolie Baba put together. “

After returning Steve resumed his work at Aari and would often spend a lot of time in a hippie group home in Oregon with his Reed college friend Dan Kottke and his girlfriend Chris Ann. There they used to grow apples in the All- One Farm, Oregon.

The start of Steve’s company - The Birth of Apple

The landmark in the field of personal computing came when Ed Roberts launched the Altair, in Mexico. Altair was basically a computer kit that could be assembled by people on their own and used. In 1975 the founder of then recently founded company Microsoft whom we now know as Bill Gates wrote a Basic interpreter for Altair. The combination became famous among the curious engineers and people who had keen interests in computing. By that time Steve’s childhood friend and computer wiz Woz had started working at Hewlett Packard (HP) and he was a part of a group called the Homebrew group that comprised of people who shared a common interest in personal computing. They would meet and discuss various programs and machines and often work on them and then show it to the other group members at the meetings. Altair was based on a Microprocessor and with the belief in himself Woz started to make his own computer with a different Microprocessor base than the one used in Altair. He put in a lot of hard work as he had a job to manage along with his work at his personal computer. His hard work coupled with his knowledge of circuits paid well and he came up with a notably good computer that had a keyboard and a screen. When Woz showed his computer to Steve he was impressed by it and by the praises Woz’s computer was receiving from the hobbyists at the Homebrew group. Steve gave him a suggestion to sell his computer to the machine’s admirers. Thus both these childhood best friends would take the computer to the Homebrew meetings and assemble it there and the sell it to the hobbyists.

Eventually Steve gave the idea to Wiz that they should start their own company that they would own. They needed $1,000 for the initial start up for the company and thus Steve sold his Volkswagen van and Woz sold his HP65 calculator. Meanwhile Steve suggested “Apple” as the name for their company until they could find a better one to replace. And this is how Apple was born. The company’s first logo was designed by Ron Wayne who had worked with Steve at Atari. Ron also helped them with the paperwork that was necessary to set up a new company. Ron thus became 10% shareholder in the company while Steve and Woz both equally had 45% of the shares in it.

The first order Apple computers received was fromPaul Terrel. An order of 50 computers was a big opening for the beginners. With a price of $500 for a single piece they received $25,000 in total. Paul was a member of the Homebrew group and wanted to open a store to sell computers.

Soon they started going from store to store and try selling their product. They also tried selling their computer to the hobbyists at the Homebrew group though didn’t get the expected results. On april 1, 1976 Apple computers was integrated and Steve and Woz became the only shareholders of Apple as Ron Wayne stepped out taking $800.

After the Apple I came the subsequent Apple II that was in many ways better than the first one. It was faster than Apple I and had better graphics and sound. Steve was gradually learning about entrepreneurship and he soon realized he needed investors and thus talked to several venture capitalists. One of them agreed namely Mike Markkula. Mike wanted to invest in $250,000 for 1000 computer machines and also suggested that they need to advertise the computer and for the task he called his friend Regis McKenna. Regis was a well known advertiser and worked on the first advertisement for Apple computers. Also an art director namely Rob Janoff was indulged in to design a new logo for the company. And the famous bitten apple logo that we even see today was given by him. Steve just had one condition he made to the logo designer that the logo should not look cute and so Rob came up with the idea of the bitten apple with stripes of different colors as the logo for Steve’s and Woz’s company.

It was in 1977 in the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco that Apple Computers received an order of 300 Apple II Computers. The first biggest order they had received till that time. Steve had carefully planned their show at the faire and the returns were highly impressive. Apple II had a good design and color features thus it became a good success for Apple Computers. VisiCalc – Software that was launched by Apple became a huge success. It was basically a spreadsheet that made calculations super easy. It worked only on Apple II and thus all who had to work on calculations for their accounts and businesses or all kinds of purposes hugely preferred Apple II. Thus Apple II became a star product of the Apple Computers. Eventually Apple Computers made it big in the market within a short span of 4 years only.

Steve Jobs came on the list of the millionaires in 1979. He usually wore turtleneck suits with full sleeves, signature style he developed for himself. With an amazing number of AppleII computers being sold his company earned huge profits. With new members on the board Apple further worked on AppleIII headed by names other than Steve and Woz. Apple III fell flat in the market and was a complete failure. Steve soon started another project by the name of his daughter Lisa whom he initially had not accepted.

The new Board of Directors at Apple suggested Apple to go public and the preparations begun in 1980. The Lisa project too turned out to be low in terms of success. It was on December 12, 1980 that Apple went public. By then Steve became an icon for many around the globe. And Apple Computers became the second largest IPO after the Ford Motor Company, 1956. The relation between CEO of Apple Mike Scott and Steve were not in a very good taste. Mike Scott was removed from his post after a board meeting. The reason for his removal was the day that was called as the “Black Wednesday” when Scott had fired almost half of the Apple II team without even consulting a single Board member. Steve was made to head the Macintosh Project and was excluded of the Lisa Project that he was more interested in. 

At the age of 28 Steve met John Sculley who was an executive at PepsiCo and he encouraged him to join his company as the new CEO after Mike Scott’s removal. Sculley became a friend and thus like Steve wanted gave more interest to Macintosh as the other projects had failed terrible and the sales of Apple II had dripped too due to the launch of the IBM PC. Steve’s attitude in the company had become quiet arrogant, he would often praise his Macintosh team while taunting the other teams. Initially Macintosh that was tagged by the company as Apple’s Remarkable New PC appeared to be a success but soon the illusion did not last long and the sales dipped after a short ephemeral hit.

Steve leaves Apple and starts a new venture - NeXT Inc.

After the failure of Macintosh Steve left Apple. Steve thought he would get the support of the board but things didn't turn out as expected. His friendship with Sculley had turned sour and on May 28, 1985 he was informed that he is not included in any of the managerial positions at Apple. In September the same year he resigned from Apple and started his new venture which he called NeXT Inc. Steve hired bright people for his new venture and also introduced many perks in his new company NeXT Inc. he next searched for an investor and Pixar was integrated though Pixar didn't help much and Steve had to look out again. Ross Perot who was a millionaire invested in Steve’s new company. NeXT was introduced on October 12, 1988.

Steve returns to Apple and the launch of some great products

In 1996 Steve returned to Apple when Apple decided to buy NeXT Inc for $427 million. The position of Apple was low in the market as the competitor Microsoft was standing strong. After Steve rejoined Apple Power Mac and Power Book were launched and Apple started regaining its lost stature. Then followed the iMac which was released on May 6, 1998 and went on to become a huge success for Apple. In July 1999 iBook was launched. Thus Steve Jobs restored Apple and took it to new heights and eventually became the CEO. Mac OS X was an operating system launched by Apple that helped Apple in its long run of success. Apple later introduced the digital hub that included the iMovie, then the iMac DVs, iDVDs, iTunes, iCal and iPhoto later. These iApps lead Apple to the top in the market of electronic goods.

The iPod a portable music player with good storage and a sleek design attributed to Apple’s success. In the year 2003 Jobs introduced the iTunes Store and that gave Apple the reasons to celebrate. There was no looking back for Apple after that and in January 2007 came the iPhone that was no doubt one of the major breakthroughs.

His last days

Steve was diagnosed with a tumor in his pancreas in October 2003. He was basically suffering from an ailment called the pancreas neuroendocrine tumor. He was stubborn and refused to undergo surgery for the treatment and thought he could cure his ailment by himself through his diet. Though after no improvements he gave up and agreed for the surgery in August 2004. Steve had lost a lot of weight and there were tensions about his health issues in Apple and outside. In April 2009 Steve had to undergo a liver transplant and resumed work at Apple as the CEO in June 2009. After these medical problems Steve once again came back with an exciting product yet again that was the iPad on January 27, 2010. Not needed to say how successful the iPad was. Steve earlier was not known for charity but in the later years he signed the Product Red Program under which Apple became one of the largest contributors to charity. Steve Jobs announced his resignation from the post of CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011. Time Cook became the new CEO till date. There have been a couple of documentaries on the life of Jobs with a number of books on the legend. Some of the books on him are - The Second Coming of Steve Jobs by A. Deutschman, Steve Jobs a biography by Walter Isaacson . An upcoming movie is being produced on Job's life by Joshua Michael Stern that will star Ashton Kutcher in the lead role playing Steve Job. 

Steve died on October 5, 2011 with his family besides him. I end the article with his lines : "I think death is the most wonderful invention of life. It purges the system of these old models that are obselete". (Playboy, 1985)

Many flower shows are being organized all over the world. But the flower show organized in Chelsia of London is very very special, because this flower show was started 100 years back. Now this flower show is celebrating its 100^th anniversary.

Red roses… yellow roses… while roses…. There are different types of roses. If you find all different type of roses in one place!!! How do you feel?? Yes we feel like a rain bow has come in front of us. If one wants to see this miracle then you have to visit London once. There we can find all different types of flowers like roses, Hibiscuses and much other variety of flowers. Normally we all love flower shows and rush to see them because we find all different and beautiful flowers over here. And if we like them more we usually purchase and bring them to home.

This Chalsia flower is very special to all the flower lovers. This show is completing its 100^th anniversary with this year. This show has also entered into Guinness world record book for organizing the flower shows every year for 100 years without fail. This flower show was started in May 20^th 1913 in Royal Hospital of London. You can find all the types of Roses in this flower show, because England National flower is Rose. Britan Queen Elizibath had visited this flower show along with King Jeorg in 1937, which bought it the name as Royal Flower Show. Now it has become a custom of the Queen visiting this exhibition every year. Most of the famous celebrities come and participate in this show by doing some gardening work and some of them preparing bouquets also, due to this, the flower show has gain worldwide craze. The designers from Australia, Canada, East Africa, America, and Asia come the show there talent by designing in this flower show.

 When this flower show was started, it used to be only for 3 days. It will be organized in the place of 11 acres. And the number of visitors is being increasing day by day. At present we can find more than 150000 visitors per day, so the authorities have extended to 5 days. This famous flower show has won many awards and rewards also. 

The city of Mumbai is the commercial and financial capital of India. It has always attracted persons who want to make a fortune for themselves by any means whatsoever. It is the city where mafia dons have grown and fallen. The city is full of opportunities and it is natural that it should have seen the birth of mafia dons much earlier than other Indian cities. The romance of these dons with the people of Mumbai in particular and the country in general never seems to end. Bollywood has a big role in keeping the aura of these dons alive with movies like 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbai' and earler on Deewar.

Just around independence the area of Byculla in South Mumbai had two small time gangs lording it over and fighting among themselves for control. These are the first recorded gangs in Mumbai whom the police also acknowledged as criminal gangs in their records. On one side were Nanhe Khan and Wahab Pehalwan and on the oither side were three brothers known as Bada Johnny, Chhota Johnny and Chikna Johnny. They were small time dons and were happy to muscle there way in getting whatever they wanted. They spent all their energy in fighting with each other and did not graduate into bigger gangs. What they lacked in brains they made up with their brawn. Soon they eliminated each other to the relief of the city police. However the big mafia gangs were round the corner.

In the year 1934 a poor Tamilian, migrated from his Panaikulam village in Tamil Nadu, along with his eight year old son. In search of an opportunity to find a suitable job to come out of his poverty. The son also found odd jobs and would often look at elegant theaters and big cars and dream of having them one day. At the age of eighteen in 1944,all he could do was join the Mumbai Port as a coolie on a monthly salary of Rs 15.  He soon found out that if imported goods could be smuggled in without payment of duty ,huge profits could be made. The future Haji Mastan was 'born'. He soon was to graduate into smuggling gold into the country and smuggling silver out of the country also as a payment for the incomng gold. Besides in 1950 prohibition was imposed in the then Bombay State. It provided a splendid opportunity to Mastan for supplying banned and illicit liquor at huge profit to needy and willing customers. Mastan became rich and powerful.The only time he faced the law was when he was arrested during the Emergency. Post his release he left smuggling and turned ito producing and financing Bollywood movies. He also dabbled in politics and tried to gain respectability. He passed away in 1994 in Mumbai.

By a strange coincidence another Tamilian also born in 1926 in Vellore in Tamil Nadu, came in search of work to Mumbai and started his career as a porter, at the Victoria Terminus railway station. He started working at the age of seven and was soon to learn the English and Tamil languages. At VT station he came in contact with shady characters and soon not only became street smart but also learnt ways of making money te wrong way. Prohibition gave him a golden opportunity to make money by making and selling banned liquor. He soon became wealthy and created his gang and his area of influence was in North central and East Mumbai areas. In the areas of Dharavi, Matunga, Sion, Chunnabatti and Kings Circle it was his writ that ran. He used to organize the annual Ganesh festival in Matunga. Varadarjan Mudaliar popularly known as Varadabhai had come along way from his poverty ridden days of a porter at VT station. He operated as the second don in Mumbai from his headquarters in Antop Hills in Central Mumbai. However the Mumbai police successfully eliminated a large part of his gang and he wa forced to go to Chennai. He died in in 1969 and his friend  Haji Mastan chartered a plane to bring his body to Mumbai for his last rites. Varadbhai ran a parallel justice system where he settled disputes within his community. he has been immortalised in the Bollywood film directed by Feroze Kumar Dayavan a remake of the Tamil movie Nayagan directed by Man Ratnam and acted by Kamla Hasan.

The third of the early dons of Mumbai was the lanky Pathan named Abdul Karim Khan. He was nearly seven foot tall and also came in the 1930's to Mumbai in search of a better life, from Peshawar city. Born in 1911 he rose to be the first of the big mafia dons of Mumbai. He too started his early career in the Mumbai docks in the early 1940's. Soon he started gambling dens and also the activity of lending money to losers and others at high rate of interests. Along with other Pathans he knew how to act tough with defaulters and recover his loans. His image and clout went up in no time .He got involved in smuggling, extortion rackets and selling hashish also. His reputation grew and he became the leader of Pathans in Mumbai. He became famous as Karim Lala of Mumbai. He passed away in 2002 at the age of 90 years in Mumbai.

The growing activities of Haji Mastan necessitated his bringing together the other two dons. Their men and clout was necessary to provide trusted manpower for smuggling in and distributing gold and collecting silver from hinterlands and smuggling it out  in return. Varadbhai and Karim Lala willingly joined Mastan and in the process ruled their areas without interference from each others gangs. Their deadly alliance made them virtually the Kings of Mumbai.The !970's clearly belonged to them. The gangs rarely fought with each other as they respected the territorial integrity of each other. However the rules of the game were changing. The hold of the senior most don Karim Lala was beginning to wane. Mastan had handed over his empire to a gangster named Dawood Ibrahim and soon he would emerge as the don of dons.

The early mafia dons played by rules but the emerging dons ruled by playing with established rules. Mumbai would never be the same again.

(Pictures from Google)