by Deepanshu Srivastava
In Gandhinagar, Gujarat there lived two fast friends, Suresh Patel and Prabhat Desai, who were in the export business of clothes and readymades. People in Gandhinagar used to give examples of their friendship. Both of them had an intense desire of visiting London. However, money was an issue for both of them. Prabhat was lucky in arranging the money by selling a part of his ancestral property. But, Suresh did not have any such source. Prabhat flew to London after completing all the formalities and asked Suresh to join him in London after arranging the funds and then the two would enjoy the trip.
Despite many attempts including approaching the banks, Suresh remained unsuccessful and dropped the idea of going to London with a heavy heart. At the same time, he felt betrayed and started resenting his friend Prabhat. Prabhat with the help of a few other Gujarati cloth merchants settled in London also expanded his business while in London and soon became a business tycoon in the Eastern and Northern parts of London.
After spending almost 5 years in London he came back to India and was now an affluent trader. He wanted to invest in his home state Gujarat. He aimed to contribute a little to the development of his home state so that he could give back to his homeland whatever he had earned from his overseas trip. On the other hand, Suresh was busy in his business activities along with his two sons, Pratik and Dileep. The elder one Pratik wanted to expand and grow his father’s s business with his hard work while the younger one, Dileep was a rapturous person, whimsical by nature. He used to have fun rashly driving his bike on the roads of Gandhinagar and was a speed enjoyer. Since bad habits die hard, he was booked by police in a hit-and-run case on an occasion.
After knowing that his father could not fulfill his dream of visiting London for want of money, he wanted to take his father on a London trip by hook or by crook. He applied for a UK visa for himself and his father. Although the visa application of his fathergot through, his visa application was turned down by the British embassy due to his involvement in the hit and run case which the case was still on in the lower court. This was shocking for him and put him in a melancholy mood.
On one fine day, Dileep’s childhood friend, Amar Upadhyay introduced Dileep to his roommate Avinash Mehta. Amar informed Dileep that Avinash would soon be going to the UK. Learning the intense desire of Dileep of visiting London, Avinash introduced him to his travel agent, Velajibhai Garodia. Garodia assured Dileep that he would make sure of arranging a passport and UK – visa for him but for his services he would charge Rs. 10 lakhs from him. Pratik, Dileep’s elder brother was also willing to send Dileep and his father to the UK to fulfill their dreams. To arrange the money demanded by Garodia, Pratik borrowed money from dubious money – lenders of Gandhinagar. Dileep and Pratik were unaware that Garodia and his associates were part of an international racket. Although the racket was busted many times by the police, it was still running smoothly with the help of some corrupt politicians andbureaucrats of Gandhinagar.
Garodia and his friends used to trap those who were desperate to go overseas but were unable to do so because of their involvement in anti-social activities. Now, Dileep was also in their trap. After receiving hefty money from Dileep’s brother, Garodia arranged a fakepassport and visa UK for Dileep and also booked two tickets for London in the names of Dileep and his father Suresh. When he handed over the documents to Dileep, his joy knew no bounds. He was delighted to inform his father that the two would be flying to London on coming Monday without telling his father how Garodia had arranged the documents for him. Everyone in Suresh’s family was overjoyed.
After all, it was not only Suresh’s longtime dream that was getting fulfilled but also they could tell Prabhat that they were also capable of visiting London. On the D – day, the father and son duo reached the airport much in advance to board the flight. The family members also joined to see them off. After reaching London the next morning, the first thing that Suresh did was to give a message to Prabhat which read – ” Hey Prabhat, I am in London “. Back home in India, Pratik started getting phone calls from the money-lender to return his money soon. Pratik assured him of the same and started exploring the options of arranging the money. But, despite his best efforts and running from pillar to post he was falling short of borrowed money. The moneylender warned Pratik of dire consequences if he could not return his money in a week. However, Pratik became helpless.
On this, the moneylender showed his real color and phoned the Indian embassy in London to that an Indian named, Dileep, had entered London on fake documents. On receiving the tip-off, the London police came into action and soon arrested Dileep for traveling to London on fake documents. After hearing the case, the local London – court awarded three years of rigorous imprisonment to Dileep. Hearing this, his father got unconscious and was later admitted to a hospital. After getting discharged from the hospital, his father applied to the Indian embassy in London requesting them to see that his stay in London was extended till his son completed the jail term.
The same was agreed upon by the London authorities and Suresh started doing the job of a salesman in a London outlet. On the day of the acquittal of Dileep, the Indian Embassy came into action and sent them back to India with a detailed report on them. On landing at the Gandhinagar airport another problem was waiting for them. Indian police arrested Dileep on the charges of traveling toLondon on forged documents and defaming the Indian government and putting him under its custody. Later, Gandhinagar’s court sentenced him to three years imprisonment. On the complaint of Suresh, police also busted the ongoing racket run by Garodia and his associates for arranging forged passports and visa to any country and all were put underbar.
It is good to be passionate about one’s dream but to fulfill the dream through illegal means lands not only the individual in trouble but also defames the country. When Yashodhara, the wife of Prabhat heard that the family of Suresh was undergoing mountains of sorrow breaking, she reminded Prabhat of their long-time friendship and insisted that Prabhat should bail them out from their deep sorrowful time. The two then decided to offer Suresh, his wife Malini, and his son Pratik a trip to London. Hearing this, the family was overwhelmed by its generosity of Prabhat. After a couple of days, they left for London for a week. In the flight, Suresh whispered in the ears of his wife, Malini, and said – ” London was calling them “.
About the Author:
Deepanshu Srivastava is a freelance sports writer and storyteller from Pune.