This is a story of B L Gautam, a half- naked urchin from a hamlet in Haryana to an author of recently published novel, Andy Leelu. The life of this writer and media professional reads like a film script.
Once a distinguished Intelligence Officer in Indian Customs, Gautam is a Presidential awardee of 1998. His name caused tremors in the world of smuggling during the eighties and nineties. He says, “Once gone to ‘Intelligence’ never comes back. When roused I still write letters to the apex power. I doubt if somebody reads them." Gautam eventually declined the award as a mark of his protest when the government meekly passed the buck after the killings of BSF personnel at the Bangladesh border.
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At the mention of the risk of dealing with dons, he chooses his words carefully and says, “Risk in a preventive job comes with rewards. Integrity mitigates it to an extent. The power and respect that comes with the package might prove a honey-trap, if not handled with caution. There were occasions death came searching and I was luckily not there. To not be perturbed of such eventualities, I started taking myself a walking dead.”
His thrilling exploits have provided him enough fodder for a novel. He plans to make into a thriller film. Gautam is also the executive producer of films like Khosla Ka Ghosla and A Wednesday. He now plans to come out with a collection of short stories that will have five stories across genres. Writing is his best refuge. u00a0