God's Special child..
- Lyif is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.Never, never, never, never give up!
A man wit an exceptional positive attitude, inspiration and courage.
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow... "Nigel akkara" A man to celebrate hence different from other individuals because he "Never, never, never, never give up".
This gentleman always believes that "Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.”
Nigel akkara is the face one would notice first in a crowd. He looks bigger than his 6 foot 1 inch frame. His striking looks could easily be assumed to be that of a star persona getting into a new phase. His intoxicated eyes and heavily smile may give him the appearance of a fresh morning rise.
Nigel Akkara , 33, is a post-graduate in human rights, an ex-student of Kolkata’s St Xavier’s College, and spent nine years in prison after being arrested on 17 charges of crimes ranging from kidnapping and extortion to murder. Nevertheless this nine years of punishment was a life journey throug' he learned to live!
Nigel was born in a Christian family in Kolkata on 13 August 1978. For the NCC cadet and student of Kolkata’s prestigious St Xavier’s School, sports was a natural calling and he excelled in football, volleyball and rugby. Growing up, Vicky would gaze endlessly at the picture of Army Chief General Shankar Roy Choudhry,his all time inspiration! He has vague memories of his seafood exporter father’s death in a road accident. Just eight years old then, he was too young to be affected very consciously by the loss.
At the age of 15, Nigel took his first step towards the abyss. It happened at a barber shop where he used to go for a shave. It happened in a fit of rage. At the end of which, one man was dead. Vicky’s initiation into the world of crime was swift as the blink of an eye. The incident filled him with a sense of power, the feel of which he quite enjoyed. And while still in school, he was sucked into the world of crime.
Brotherhood Beyond Boundaries, at the Uday Shankar Dance Festival in Kolkata’s Rabindra Sadan. Nigel’s request to leave the jail premises for the show was denied. But he had Alokananda’s complete trust. “I knew he wouldn’t let his Ma down,” she says. Alokananda argued Vicky’s case with Sharma and, on her assurance, Vicky was allowed to be part of the troupe.
The show ended with a standing ovation from the packed house. It was to be Nigel’s catharsis. After the last of the audience had left the auditorium, Vicky stood alone in the middle of the stage, looked around the empty galleries, and broke down. A man who couldn’t remember ever having cried in his life sobbed inconsolably on this night. At that moment, he says, he viewed his actions objectively. He questioned if he really deserved the applause and accolades of the audience.
During his gangster days, Nigel had turned atheist. “I used to ask who the hell is God. Man has the power to kill. Man has absolute power,” Nigel recounts. Now, on Alokananda’s insistence, Nigel picked up The Bible, then The Bhagavad Gita and The Quran. Within weeks, he was chanting Quranic verses every waking minute of the day. With a change of mind came a change of heart. His dismissive attitude towards his mother, who had raised him and his younger brother alone, melted, and he started opening up to her, talking for hours when she visited him in jail.
Ten months after the Rabindra Sadan performance, in October 2008, Alokananda returned to Presidency Jail, this time to teach her special troupe Tagore’s dance-drama Valmiki Pratibha. Vicky was the obvious choice to play Valmiki. For Vicky, playing the character of the dacoit Ratnakar who transforms into the sage Valmiki was nothing less than a spiritual experience. He describes it as “a conversation with God”. Alokananda too noticed the change in him. “His eyes speak,” she says. “And I saw that change in his eyes. He had calmed down.”
On 20 October 2010, Alokananda’s troupe completed 25 public performances of Valmiki Pratibha. Nigel continues to play Valmiki, but now as a guest artiste. For, in July,2, 2009, Nigel was released from prison after a High Court ruling went in his favour. But the world outside wasn’t exactly paved with roses for him. Unwilling to hide his past from potential employers, he found no jobs coming his way. “One big shot even offered me a salary as long as I never went to his office,” he says. Today, Nigel is self employed. His company, Kolkata Facilities Management, employs 120 people(Approximately), provides housekeeping services and earns good sum every month. Many former prisoners find work at his company.
What made a normal middle class boy like Nigel turn to such serious crime?Nigel blames it on his rage and his greed for power, circumstances and money. But Alokananda hints at some very personal issues, some deep rooted emotional needs that remained unfulfilled.
Nigel's mother Ms.Usha John says that “Don’t go by his tough, macho exterior. Inside, he is a softie, a big hearted innocent man,” she says with a smile. She thinks these unfulfilled needs, combined with his hypersensitive and, at the same time, aggressive nature may have led him astray.
His huge and endless fan followers are confident that Nigel will rebuild his empire soon. He has the soul of a saint, a true lover of his work.
Nigel himself unequivocally accepts mistakes of his past. When asked what he feels now when he thinks of his past actions, Nigel looks away into the distance and shakes his head. “I have paid a heavy price for what I did. I am ready to move on now,” he says. “If only the world accepts...” And yes he has been accepted with open arms and blessings!
He is off to his newest Bollywood venture (LOVE JIHAD) as debutant, with all blessings love and wishes..
* Rise and Shine*
* Note: If someone denies to change their path, then no matter someone comes down frm heaven to make that individual better or changeable. Hence for Nigel's throughout dedication we salute him..Honoured to have such a men in our society.**
