Children of Gangsters Becoming Doctors and Pilots

From the archive: first published September 27, 2011.

The kingpins of Mumbai's underworld have either fled, been killed in police encounters, or called it a day. Now their children are stepping out of their parents' feared shadows — as bankers, doctors, engineers, pilots and developers.

Police officers who watched the underworld at close quarters say the families know the costs of that life and choose not to pass it on. "Times have changed. The youngsters today want respect in society and a bright future. They don't want to be termed as 'underworld heirs' but are trying to make their own identity," said a senior officer who headed an encounter squad for a decade.

Reshma Naik was only 11 when her gangster father, Amar Naik, was killed in a police encounter in 1996. His wife planned both daughters' education meticulously — and Reshma went on to complete commercial pilot's flying training at an aviation academy in Florida, a story Indian newspapers followed when she prepared for her first commercial flight in December 2007.

The trend goes beyond the Naik family. Across Mumbai's former gangland neighbourhoods, children who grew up with the stigma of a feared surname are qualifying for professions that depend on clean records and public trust — a quiet generational break from a business that once made their families famous and feared.

Editor's note: this article was rewritten during our editorial review. The original 2011 version reproduced a press article verbatim and broke off mid-sentence; the text above is an original summary of the reported facts.