'Prem Ahuja wasn't the wicked seducer the world knows him to be'

Sylvia and Kawas Nanavati shortly after they got married in 1949Prem was attractive in many ways not just that he was goodlooking He had great charm Now thats difficult to define but I can tell you he had the essential ingredients which go to make it The first is a certain niceness and he was a very nice man to know This was going to be interesting because Ahuja had always been referred to in fourletter words but never the kind found in nice companyThe second was that he took interest in you Of course it was greater if you were female but it wasnt absent visavis males When we had a first proper conversation he spoke to me in a genuinely interested way and listened attentively He wanted to know about advertising and Lintas where I was creative director He responded to the ads currently creating a buzz and like a member of the thinking public had an objective opinion which was professionally important for me to hearThirdly Prem was well spoken and had social ease and grace He was definitely what would later come to be labelled PLU People Like Us But in those days it carried none of the dismissiveness for and of PLT People Like Them His parties at whatsitsname yes Jeevan Jyot were memorable Interesting people nice music He was a great fan of Nat King Cole and so was I The latest player and speakers were in a spacious den We danced to the dimmed lights which created a cosiness an intimacy unimaginable in other settingsAhujas parties and others in that genre werent some dens of iniquity But to people of a different social strata and with different ideas of morality this lifestyle would suggest all kinds of undesirables There were lots of women who spent time with Prem yes in his bed more than likely No woman was safe with him around But I say this in the nicest possible wayKawas Nanavati centre with John Pereira left and another friend at DartmouthNews of his killing had spread through the phone lines of his scores of friends but for obvious reasons not many attended the funeral when it did take place after the autopsy etc Sheila one of the Singh sisters who were friends of Prems and Dina of the noted Petit family were the loyal exceptions sitting at the crematorium distraught and uncomprehending Gerson had gone too but the notoriety of the case draws a veil over memory I cant remember any details Gerson refuses to blame any of this lapse to age or the long passage of time So what about The Wimmen Werent there attractive unattached women at Prems parties Yes of course and like me unattached men who ndash apart from their undeniable looks and charm of course mdash were invited because we were unattached men Of course he was a guy for the gals of course he had a glad eye seduction may have always been on his mind but that didnt make him vileWood cuts for the February 6 1960 edition of Blitz contrasting the prosecutions directshooting theory and the defences struggle hypothesisGerson recalls two instances of the Prem Effect In 1958 on his way back from a sixmonth European trainee posting and holiday the Air India guest relations guy at Paris had told Gerson that a young colleague of theirs was traveling on the same flight and would he show her around Bombay Janine was French young and pretty so mais oui he didOne evening while they were at the Moka Bar Prem came over to their table to chat I could see his eyes hovering on Janine but it was nothing crude He asked about her work at the airline why she had chosen Bombay when her free ticket could have taken her anywhere etc Janine visibly softened under his warm attention He later called me and asked how he could reach her I obliged knowing that he was a thorough gentleman If shed stayed on a little longer I have no doubt at all that Janine would have succumbed to the Ahuja charmOn another occasion the separated wife of a neighbour friend asked if Gerson could give her a lift to and from Prems party that evening The evening was perfect as always Then late at night the guests began peeling away However lets call her Jaya showed no sign of wanting to leave I kept hinting and finally we left the flat and Prem walked with us up to the Jeevan Jyot gate I kept waiting for Jaya to say Okay Gerson lets go and getting deeper into a dilemma I didnt want to leave her in the lurch but the smitten girl clearly didnt want to leave Finally the penny dropped and realizing that discretion was the better part of gallantry I mumbled something like OK Ill push off Er maybe Prem can drop you homeGerson adds with a wicked smile These are two microcosms You can multiply them as many times as your fancy takes you Women were drawn to him some to their total devastation When told about a letter published in Blitz allegedly from a woman who claimed shed been surreptitiously administered a yellow powder by Ahuja which could have been a love potion Gerson guffaws Total fabrication Prem didnt need the help of potions and powders yellow pink or purpleDid he ever meet Prem with Sylvia Gersons broad shoulders shrug a dont knowDid Prem ever boast of his exploits Gerson shakes that stillmagnificent mane of hair now moresaltthanpepper You see I was never an intimate I was part of a circle but this was not my only circle just as it was by no means Prems only circle But Id be very surprised if he talked loosely about his lady friends He was too much of a gentleman to kiss and tell To which one could add Discretion is also part of the survival kit of the serious LotharioGerson concludes Count me in to present a nonKaranjia nonKhandalavala aspect of PremExcerpted with permission of Juggernaut Books from In Hot Blood The Nanavati Case that Shook India by Bachi Karkaria available in bookstores and on wwwjuggernautin