Tihar inmates devise new pastimes

NEW DELHI, OCT 6: Morning. Tihar jail. In the high security unit of jail no 5, alleged Dawood aide Romesh Sharma has just completed his b...

NEW DELHI, OCT 6: Morning. Tihar jail. In the high security unit of jail no 5, alleged Dawood aide Romesh Sharma has just completed his breathing exercises. After attending a five-day course on the art of living and meditation organised in the central jail lawns, he is trying out the techniques he picked up in class.

Two jails away, Manu Sharma, prime accused in the Jessica Lal murder case, has come back to his cell after a game of badminton at the Tihar games court. Manu8217;s jail mates say it8217;s impossible to beat him.

Behind bars, they share the common criminal8217;s fate and his isolation. So, they have come up with ways to kill time.

Romesh Sharma, the man who has 16 cases of extortion, assault and kidnapping registered against him, spends most of his time invoking the forces of shakti inside his high-security cell. He is also into mantra uchharan, reciting verses from Bhagvad Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata 8211; books issued to him from the jail library.

When this reporter looked up Romesh, hewas busy cribbing to jail authorities about the poor quality of drinking water. Romesh often complains about the quality of food available in the jail as well,8217; adds a senior official at jail no 5. And he gets very upset, even sulks for days, if we don8217;t take notice of his complaints.8217; Apart from this, Romesh keeps to himself. Not many people visit him in jail. Friends, Dolly and Sonu, no longer turn up. Only close friend Kunzom Buddhiraj8217;s father visits him once in a while, say sources in the jail.

One cell away is prime accused in the infamous Naina Sahni tandoor murder case, Sushil Sharma. We often find Sushil reading law books and taking down notes in a small writing pad,8217; says a senior jail official. He seems to be busy preparing his defence for the court hearings.8217;

Sushil rarely talks to fellow prisoners. Once in a blue moon, we hear him complaining tht not a single politician of repute visits him in jail though they frequented his home earlier. The small-time netas are the only ones whohave kept in touch with the man,8217; says a jail official. Like Romesh, Sushil is also heavily into shakti pooja.

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Unlike the Sharmas, BMW accident case accused Sanjeev Nanda who was released on Tuesday followed an entirely different routine. A former management student at a top United States university, Nanda borrowed the maximum number of books from the library. Says jail librarian Ravinder Sharma: Nandaji has read most of the books we have. He completed Many Lives, Many Masters and Through Time into Healing by Dr Brian Weiss and The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfred.