BMW: Being rich a bane for Sanjeev Nanda

Is Sanjeev Nanda paying for the crime of drunken driving committed nine years ago on a foggy Delhi winter morning or is he being punished for being rich, driving a BMW and first trying to buy forgiveness and then the entire justice system? The collective middle class conscience may say he is being served his just desserts but for those who know him, it is simple a case of really bad luck.
Grandson of former Naval chief Admiral SM Nanda, Sanjeev is one of the two children born to Suresh Nanda. The fact that he was born with a silver spoon became his nemesis as he became the target of the media.
A regular Delhi lad, Sanjeev studied at the Modern School and then moved to University of Pennsylvania to do his graduation. He shifted to Paris to do his masters in Business Management at Insead, one of the world's leading graduate business schools.
Unfortunately he couldn't complete the course as just days before returning to his university, Sanjeev and his friends met with the accident.
The German automaker must thank him as BMW, after this accident, became a household name in India. In 1999, only a select few could buy a BMW. The fact that a rich kid was driving it made it all the more a high profile case. Had he been driving a Maruti or an Ambassador car, he would have just got a passing reference in the list of road accidents. As the case progressed, Nanda become synonymous with the Bollywood rich kid image of being a spoilt brat, partying all night and drinking while driving.
Up close, his friends paint a different picture altogether. People who know him, just can't believe it. "He is such a well-behaved, soft spoken boy and a perfect gentleman. What has happened to him is too harsh. In hindsight, it seems, that since the accident, he has changed. He quit drinking after the accident and in all the parties that he attends, he kept to himself and always maintained a low profile," says a close friend on conditions of anonymity.
Sanjeev was first arrested in January 10, 1999 and he spent nine months in Tihar Jail. Obviously he couldn't complete his MBA from Insead, but that did not make him bitter. During his nine-month stay in jail, Sanjeev acted the good Samaritan and volunteered to teach computers to inmates. By the time he got bail, he was labeled the 'Computer Master' at Tihar.
The nine-year-long case took its toll on Sanjeev. He lost the youthfulness of a 20-year-old. Although the Nandas paid hefty compensations to the victims, his "rich-kid and spoilt-brat" image made him a villain. For nine years, he tried hard to shake off his identity as Sanjeev Nanda, the BMW guy.
According to his family members, "Sanjeev became recluse because every time people addressed him as a 'BMW' guy, he felt he was being punished. The conviction may have come today, but Sanjeev Nanda has been punished everyday for nine years. If you see his images in the year of the accident – you will see a Sanjeev with a full head of hair. Nine years later, he has lost it all."
Being rich, a bane
Coming from an affluent family, the Nandas tried all the machinations and intrigues to win the case. However, it proved futile as the rich and the mighty in this country cannot be set free. Sanjeev 's affluence and the imported car that he was driving turned out to be his nemesis. Whoever has met Sanjeev, believes that he has been punished more than enough. He was in Tihar for nine months and after that for nine years the case hung over his head as a sword, prohibiting him from leading a normal life.