Daaku

by Ranj Dhaliwal

In the violent and ruthless world of Indo-Canadian gangs, Ruby Pandher is on his way up. A self-described daaku (Punjabi for outlaw), Ruby learns young that might, in the form of hid drunken father's fists, is right and that money is easier to steal than earn. Ruby's small-time scams reveal a knack for leadership and after his first stint in youth detention, the big-timers start to notice his potential. Soon, Ruby is doing collections for Indo-Canadian drug dealers. Now "known to police," Ruby is drawn into a gang war just as he's trying to beat the rap on weapons charges and theft - while simultaneously organizing a jailhouse smuggling ring. On the cusp of adulthood, and surrounded by Punjabi terrorists, bikers and Indo-Canadian gangsters, Ruby is drawn like a moth to the glamour of the power, money, and drugs. A story of betrayal, cold-blooded murder and the rise and eventual fall of one gangster, Daaku is a bullet-riddled grand tour of Indo-Canadian gangland.

Genres: Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Brian Luu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book is called “Daaku.” The author of this book is Ranj Dhaliwal. The place of publication for this book is in Canada. The publisher of this book is New Star Book. The publication date of this book was in October 2006. There are 311 pages and 16 chapters in this novel. This book is an amazing book to read for its day to day theme of a not so average high schooler.

In the novel Daaku, the main plot of the story is a High school kid trying to get through school and life while being super troubled and very violent in many cases. The main protagonists of the story are Ruby, his family and some of his friends. Some antagonists in this story are the cops, and other gangs that aren’t associated with Ruby. Ruby is a very troubled kid as he has done a lot of bad deeds that lead to power or retrieving money for himself. He mostly values retrieving money for himself as he does not want to waste his time helping other people out, especially if he gets the worse end of the stick. The main characters enjoy partying, getting into violence if necessary, and also doing illegal acts such as drugs and alcohol. Ruby and his friend group enjoy doing a lot of different mini heists, these heists could be either stealing from someone’s house, robbing stores, and hijacking cars while always trying to stay lowkey. One problem Ruby has encountered is that he has gotten into trouble with the cops, and has been put under house arrest, only being able to leave if his sister is out with him. The cops have really been harsh on Ruby, but he has figured out many loopholes around this whole situation to avoid the cops and still be able to go out with his friends, in many situations either tricking them and having his sister play along was a great resource. Ruby’s friend has gotten Ruby and his friends into a lot of problems. From first stealing a client of his friend, because he wanted more money and sold at a cheaper price was crossing the line for the other dealer. The other dealer decided he wanted to get revenge and shot at their car which triggered Ruby and a whole war started out between the two groups. They decided to resolve this whole issue by talking it out after a few gunshots back and forth at the different groups. Resolving this issue by talking it out didn’t last too long as the person who stole the client had decided to do it one more time and do it behind all their backs. These have led to further issues throughout this novel.

The theme of this book is about gang violence, and always having each other's backs. In the novel Daaku there were a lot of instances of gang violence throughout the whole story. Ruby and his gang would always get into trouble with other gangs that weren’t really associated with him. The author saw all this with the intent of putting gang violence as it would show how some high schoolers act when they aren’t all acting in a more generalized way as most people would see. There was an encounter when one of Ruby’s friends got into trouble and needed help, Ruby and his friends would then help him solve his differences with the other gang while looking to retrieve some money while in the middle of all this nonsense. There was also another important part where a guy was getting beat up outside during a party at Ruby’s friends place, Ruby and his friends all stepped in to help out and fight off the other people leaving them in marks and with a ton of blood. This brotherhood between them had the invaders run away leaving Ruby and them in a victorious mood after fending off those ten guys. The author implemented brotherhood or always having each other’s backs to show that the community in Surrey, BC is very close and that togetherness is very important in local communities. Having each other’s backs build more chemistry between these people and having trust in people is always a nice thing in the general world which could lead to future successes.

In my opinion, this book has to be one of the best books I've personally ever read and dove into. I enjoyed every chapter of this book as it was excellently made. My favourite part of the book was when Ruby had hijacked the cars and thought a few steps ahead by parking a few blocks down the road from his desired location to not get caught and to stay safe around the cops. My least favourite portion of the book was hearing him get beat up or caught, as usually all the main characters would end up victorious, which he was in many cases, but he was left with a lot of marks, scars and blood stains throughout each fight with another group. He has also been caught with the cops which has limited his freedom in many cases. I had a connection to this character through typical high school life and living in the lower mainland area of British Columbia. I liked the book as it was very intense in most parts of the novel through gang violence involving gunshots or fights. I liked the intensity of the book as it kept me reading and it was very enjoyable reading it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning about gang violence, and enjoys the intensity of books through fighting, stealing, and illegal acts.

[Shane Kiely · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a fan of Joyce esque linguistic flare (which admittedly is something I'd never claim to be) this would probably be one to avoid. But judged on it's own merits (think of it as a fictional version of one of those gangster memoirs) it's actually solid. An interesting insight into a criminal mindset in a setting that's never really reported on in this part of the world (the Indo Canadian organised crime scene in & around Vancouver).