Munir Rizwan

The man who knows too much?

If life hands you a lemon, make a lemonade out of it, said Richard Branson, the airplane king. Well, Munir Rizwan, has done precisely that. And yes, the lemonade is alternately bitter and sweet.

Life has been that way for Munir Rizwan, a roller coaster ride, bright sunshine amidst wet rains, good intermixed with the bad and ugly. A day in his life is like a page in the typical paperback thriller: racy, unpredictable, fast paced. With a lot of question marks, and few answers.

Munir Rizwan who? you ask. Well, what he could have been, rather than merely what he is now, will provide some interesting insights into his story. He could have been lording over the underworld. He could have been playing a major role in politics. Or a backroom boy to powerful political groups.

Because Munir is not really a paperback - not yet, though it is whispered that a book on him is on the way - he isn't any of these. He is actually a successful businessman, one that, he insists, is fully legit. He is a doting father and loves nothing more than talking about his son's discipline and high grades in school. He talks about how IT is changing the way business is made and how technology is empowering the world. All this sounds very normal, a life lived very matter-of-fact, so what's the problem anyways, you ask.

His past - intertwined with Part I - the underworld days, and Part II - the years of redemption. Munir's life in the Whole, has been shadowed by these Parts. All his efforts to shake off the past, and unshackle himself, towards a new life, have been thwarted. Not so much by him, but by the gray area that goes by the name of "society". See the pain in his eyes and you will understand why he thinks that this "society" is an unsociable society.

Call it destiny or desperation, but after gaining substantial notoriety in the underworld as Gun Munir, he discovered his real calling in life was not crime, but service to fellow beings. "I wanted to be known for something good, not for doing bad," he muses looking at some invisible spot on the ceiling. But when he decided to bite the bullet, and put his 'gun' down forever, society gunned for him from Day 1. Ever since, Munir has been on the run. Earlier, he was on the run, for being a baddie. Now, he is on the run, for wanting to do good. "A lot has changed, nothing has changed," he says philosophically.