MUMBAI: He is the big ‘Daddy’ of the underworld, now lodged in the Nagpur central jail. But Arun Gawli appears to have taken a leaf out of Munna, the ‘filmi’ gangster of 2006 comedy-drama Lage Raho Munnabhai, and mugged up all about Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Only, while Munna had to cheat to win a quiz on Gandhi, Gawli has come out with flying colours in an examination on the Mahatma’s life, scoring 92 per cent marks. Though there has been no word on whether Gawli is also adopting the ideals of the father of the nation in his real life, a la Munna, he is said to have scored 74 out of 80 marks in the exam.
“The exam was conducted in January. I don’t know how the news about Gawli excelling in it has come out now. But, it’s good. It will help spread Gandhi’s ideas,” said T K Somaiya, trustee of Mumbai Sarvoday Mandal, the organisation that has been conducting these examinations since 2003. Asked about the impact of the exercise, Somaiya said, “Laxman Gore from Ghatkopar in Mumbai was lodged in Nashik jail in around 2006. He came across Gandhi’s autobiography and decided to follow him. He confessed all his crimes before the judge on the next hearing. I met him once in the jail. He came to us after serving the sentence and stayed here for six years. Now, he travels across the state spreading Gandhi’s message.”
"Gandhi’s message of truth, non-violence, love and compassion should be known to everybody. That is the simple thought behind conducting the examinations,” he said.
“It has now become a regular practice in jails. Gandhi’s preaching help the inmates a lot,” said Yogesh Desai, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Prisons) at Nagpur. Over 3,500 prisoners in Maharashtra jails had taken the exams till now, said Somaiya. Some 160 jail inmates took the exam with Gawli in Nagpur jail.