Mohan Deep

This case was discussed in homes, at nukkads and in our classroom. Everyone had an opinion, mostly positive, about Commander Nanavati. Some would say that he shouldn't have confessed and others would say that he should have killed Sylvia too. I remember a farsan shop owner telling me that he would have considered Nanavati a bigger hero had he killed his wife too.

I would bunk classes and catch a train from kandivli to churchgate to catch a glimpse of nanavati and Sylvia.

No excuse was required in the school since I was otherwise a regular and punctual student. I think I said something like I was not well.I travelled alone. I didn't have money and travelled without ticket ready to apologise or cry in front of the TC. But there was no problem. My trip was never found out by my family as both my parents were working people.

I was a little disappointed though since it wasn't possible to get close to Nanavati. The general public was pushed away by the cops. However, I still remember the electric excitement that ran through the crowds when Nanavati was brought in.

Commander Nanvati, at the point in time at least, seemed a hero to me. Looking back I have been able to see that this was under the influence of Blitz which projected him as a loving, trusting and honorable man who was fighting for the country and was betrayed by his wife. He (to me at that point in time) seemed a couragous man who avenged the humiliation by killing the man who had led his wife astray. I also admired his dramatic surrender and confession.

However at the same time Prem Ahuja also fascinated me because of his life style. The man was rich, was an automobile dealer and a playboy.
...When i read that police discovered 24 love letters from his residence - letters written by water widows (navy wives whose husbands were away) including sylvia - i thinking how smart he was...(and then feeling but what was the use of all that if he died by the bullet of an irate husband...

Women, till then, was a devi for me but seeing Sylvia and the other women I was somewhat disillussioned.

But my sympathies, like the sympathies of the general public, were clearly with Commander Nanavati.

In fact, I can trace my fascination for the `sensational` in my writings and even my decision to become a journalist to this one case.

My mother seemed more critical of Sylvia than I was. My father never discussed this case with me. Honestly, I saw my mother's response as defence machanism. I suspected that in a similar situation my mother too would have been led astray.