Journalism of Courage
Sanjay Dutt being brought to Yerawada Central Prison early on Wednesday morning in a hush-hush operation has rekindled memories of the actors stay in the same jail in 2007. One man in particular,former convict Santosh Arjun Shinde,would never forget his first meeting with Dutt.
And the actor would also remember Shinde,for he had told Shinde that he would never forget the in-house actor of Yerawada jail.
Having served his term,Shinde now lives near Yerawada jail.
In 2007,when Dutt was brought to Yerawada,Shinde says he was already a senior prisoner. Shinde was popular among prisoners and Dutt who heard about his talent wanted to meet him.
The Anda cell (high security cell) was where Shinde met Dutt.
In fact,it was at the Anda cell that Shinde had met gangsters like Ashwin Naik,Arun Gawli and even Kumar Pillay (on whom film Satya is based) . It helped me. I learnt about people and their psyche and why they do things the way they do, he says.
It also stirred the actor in him. Much before his jail days,Shinde had participated in competitions like the Purshottam Karandak Festival. He started staging plays in jail. He wrote,directed and acted. Comedy was my forte. I made comic plays because prisoners had all lost hope and were perpetually sad. I wanted to make them happy. When Sanjay came to the jail in 2007,first for 22 days and then for 15 days,he was pleasantly surprised to hear about me and met me, he says.
The actor,recalls Shinde,enjoyed certain special privileges. When it came to relatives meeting him,or even getting the food he liked,he usually got what he wanted. When he had was here for the first time,prisoners went to him with scraps of paper for autographs. He was shy and reserved. He didnt like oily food. I would see him drain the oil using a newspaper. He even worked out in the cell,using the horizontal steel rods overhead as pull-up bars.
Eventually,says Shinde,the actor became more friendly with the inmates. When they sought his autographs,he would joking tell them they had come empty handed. He craved for gutkha and cigarettes. When word got out,some prisoners,when they went out for court hearings,would smuggle it for him and gave it to him when they returned to the jail, he says.
As for his own tryst with prison,Shinde says,My life in jail changed my view of everything. I came to the jail on February 13,1993,sentenced to life for murder. The grim reality of prison life sank in within 24 hours.
Shinde soon got over the sinking feeling and not only got his degrees and diploma in Gandhian Philosophy,but also made himself useful within the confines of the cell. He spread cheer among other inmates with his plays.
Recalling his first meeting with Dutt,Shinde says,He was in the No 3 High Security Yard and I was in the Hospital Yard,when he expressed a desire to meet me. I went. We shook hands. He complimented me on my work and said he would remember me.
Shinde got out of jail in December 2008. He has a job and is married to a social worker.
