So you've read his name in the papers. But what do you really know about the man embroiled in the 2G scam?
So you've read his name in the papers. But what do you really know about the man embroiled in the 2G scam?
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Prising information from every source took tremendous convincing.u00a0 Everybody, including teachers, went into hiding when asked to recall something as innocuous as Shahid's schooldays. His school actually called a meeting warning people not to speak to the media.
Yet, with perseverance, we pierced the wall of silence and details started to emerge about a Bombay Central boy who gave no indication of a razor-sharp business acumen in his student days and yet, went on to build a realty empire.
What one learnt was that the most ordinary childhood can lead to an extraordinary adult phase, that the mediocre student in class might prove to be a trailblazer in later life.
In the end, though, one thing that came through was that, as a result of allegations linking Dawood Ibrahim and Shahid, there was a lot of fear in the minds of the people. The letter 'D' continues to be the most ominous in the alphabet. No wonder the word Deadly also starts with it.
Who: Shahid Balwa
Born: 1974
Spent his childhood at: Bombay Central
Currently lives in: Bandra (W)
Schooling: St Mary's School (SSC) Mazagaon
Is... Cricket crazy, a fitness fanatic
Work: MD of DB Realty
Shahid Balwa (37) dubbed as one of the richest men in the country and big wig developer in Mumbai is currently the Managing Director (MD) of Dynamix Balwa (DB) Realty. Embroiled in the 2G scam, he is now in custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged role in the scam.
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While the world ponders his sudden leap into fame and now possible spiral into notoriety, we trace his childhood, his craze for cricket and razor-sharp business acumen and give a little known glimpse into the early life of a Bombay Central boy who is grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Community
Shahid Balwa is a Chilya Muslim, also known as the Momin community. He was born in Mumbai and spent his childhood in the Bombay Central area. His father is a hotelier called Usman Balwa.
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He resided on the third floor of an old building called Shabnam, the proverbial stone's throw away from the Maratha Mandir cinema hall.
Ordinary
Several neighbours who still reside in the Mumbai Central area (Shahid Balwa now lives in Bandra) claim that Shahid was your ordinary bloke, he certainly did not do anything extraordinary for them to have recalled him.
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According to them, Shahid was the quintessential boy next door, a simple guy, who never bothered anyone and kept to himself and his friends. Some people say he was not very good academically too.
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Others though, say he was a mediocre student. A retired teacher of St. Mary's School (SSC), Mazagaon, which Shahid attended, recalls that Shahid was a mischievous student. Once his father wanted to sue a teacher for cutting Shahid's hair that was too long!
Hair-raising
A retired teacher who taught Shahid confirmed the hair cutting anecdote and said, "I remember clearly that in Class VII Division A, Shahid Balwa's hair was cut along with some others, by a teacher called Ana Gomes as it had grown a little long.
There was a rule in school that boys must have short hair. No other student raised a voice against their hair getting cut in class.
But, at that time, his father came with an advocate to school to sue that teacher who cut his son's hair! That teacher was widow (who is now no more) and had a child who was 40 days old at that time. At that time, the teacher told his father,u00a0"keep an eye on your son otherwise he will get spoilt one day".
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School principal Laurie (only first name known) intervened and forced him to do a re-think on the idea of suing a teacher.
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I remember too, on several occasions, especially during Ana Gomes's class, Shahid used to be frequently punished and made to stand outside class. He used to give gifts to his teachers. He was mischievous student, not a bright child."
Cricket
Yet, if there is something that people recall or remember of his early days is his craze for cricket. Like so many other youngsters, Shahid was in love with the game and played a lot of galli cricket. It was his cricketing skill that made him popular and got him close to Yusuf Patel's son, Nabil, who works with Shahid now.
Charitable
Born in 1974, he is the younger of two brothers. His father Usman Balwa, who is popularly known as Usman bhai in the locality, is considered a charitable man, who helps people of his community and even outside his community. Shahid has an elder brother Salim, who is also a partner in the business.
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The family, initially, started its business with a hotel chain, with a well-known hotel at Mumbai Central called Balwas International.u00a0
There were others at Charni Road and Grant Road. According to a close family friend from Mumbai Central, the Balwas led a simple life. "Even when they were working in the hotel, their dabba (lunch) used to come from home. They were mostly into vegetarian food," said a relative on condition of anonymity.
Project
Sources close to the family say that Yusuf Patel had bought a chunk of land from the Balwas. Later, Shahid and Yusuf's son, Nabil had their projects under the name of Neelkamal Realtors, which was later on merged into Dynamix Balwa Realty (DB Realty).
"Nabil and Shahid started with their small office within the hotel in a 10X10 room and their first building was Orchid Apartment, which is a redevelopment building, the earlier building that stood there was Kali Building. After that came the malls and other buildings," said a family friend.u00a0
Bandra
According to a relative, their father like all others always wanted both his sons to do well in life. "They both used to be in the hotel, after school to help their father," he said. Currently Shahid is married and has two young daughters, his family moved out of their old house in Mumbai Central and now resides in Bandra.
Sharp
People who know Shahid claim he is extremely sharp and aggressive. "He doesn't need a calculator to calculate, he is very sharp, and he calculates figures worth crores on his fingers.
He is very particular about his health and spends time in the gym working out. He is also very particular about what he eats and is mostly into healthy food," said a source.
Warning
A parent of a student who studies at St Mary's School claimed that when news about Shahid and the scam broke, the school management called for a meeting of teachers and non-teaching staff.
In the meeting they warned everyone from school not to speak to the media with reference to Shahid.
A parent on condition of anonymity said, "We learnt that the management called a meeting on Friday, February 11 morning warning everyone in the school not to speak to media regarding Shahid."
Scared
A St. Mary's School alumnus said, "It has come as a surprise to all of us. But one cannot compare somebody now with his past. I am sure no teacher will speak against Shahid, because they are scared. He was also expected to attend a reunion this year on February 26 in school, but now he may not come in."u00a0
Friends
MiD DAY also spoke to Sameer Bhujbal, a St Mary's ex-student and nephew of Chhagan Bhujbal, who said, "Shahid was a year junior to me in school, I had my own friends whereas Shahid had his own.
I don't remember interacting too much with him during school. But whenever I read good things about him in the newspapers, I felt good and now when things are not that good, it does make me feel bad."
Native
MiD DAY went to Shahid's native place located more than 60 kilometers from Ahmedabad. It is ironical that while currently Shahid Balwa's name is embroiled in the country's biggest scam: The 2G scam, he is revered as a messiah to help the poor, at his native place in Gujarat.
The St Mary's SSC School in Mazagaon
Mansion
Shahid hails from a village called Pirozpura in Gujarat where he has a house like a mansion. It has a cricket ground inside with an air-conditioned pavilion from which one could watch the game.
He has built a dispensary in the village, the Balwa Family Charitable Trust medical dispensary for the poor, wherein they are given subsidised medicines.
One of the doctors said, "Whenever a poor person, immaterial of his caste, creed or religion comes to the hospital and cannot afford the expenses, they are treated free of cost."
Along with medical charity work, Shahid has also builtu00a0 a three-km road from Chaapi village to Pirozpura for public use.
Development
Shahid also has a CBSC board J M Balwa School with approximately 800 students who come in from in and around other villages.
Run by a Momin community board, the school has a Hindu principal called Dr K Prasad, who said, "There is no discrimination here, students of every religion are welcome in the school, many of them come fromu00a0 neighbouring villages."
Tennis
Shahid travels to the village by his helicopter (he owns four aircraft) most of the time. He comes in to play cricket with his friends and family. He has built a helipad in the village.
His mansion reportedly, also has a tennis court. Sources claim that Shahid has good connections with Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi.
Compiled by Varun Singh, Sayed Sameer Abedi, Kranti Vibhute, Poornima Swaminathan and Shailesh Nayak from
Gujarat
About the Chilyas
Hailing from the Chilya community, a branch of the Sunni sect, Shahid Balwa is a devout Muslim.
The community, which is financially strong, originates from Gujarat and most Chilya Muslims speak fluent Gujarati.
This community owns most Irani restaurants in the city, which serve the famous paani kum chai. The paani kum chai is a popular Chilya Muslim recipe.
The community has a strong presence in Mumbai Central. The sense of brotherhood is very evident within this community. Every member offers help, including financial support to other community members without interest.
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They believe in prospering along with their brothers. A classic example of their close ties is reflected by the business model of hotels along with Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, mostly owned by Chilyas.
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They collect all the day's earning by every hotel, pool it together and distribute it equally amongst themselves. This ensures that no matter which hotel a customer goes to, the day's earnings are ensured for every hotel owner.
u00a0As Shahid faces CBI interrogation, the community is praying for him. "A person who is involved in charity and helps people, cannot get involved in criminal and anti-national activities.
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But politicians being politicians, can snare anybody in their misdeeds," claimed one.
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