When a man has just had to serve an unexpected stint in a prison in a foreign country, one expects him to show some signs of what one assumes must have been a harrowing experience. One certainly doesn?t expect him to look like and talk as if he?s just returned from a little holiday that?s been unusual, but instructive.

So, it?s a bit of a surprise to see fashion guru, event manager and man-about-town Prasad Bidapa walk into the room ? no, bound into the room ? looking as neat, dapper and cheerful as ever. After all, the man has just returned from Dubai having spent 33 days at the Al Rashidiya detention centre, where he was incarcerated after getting caught with marijuana in his possession. One must resign oneself to feeling surprised, though, for Bidapa is positively brimming over with new-found enthusiasm after an experience that would have rattled lesser mortals.

In early June, Bidapa travelled to Dubai to sign a contract for organising a musical show that was to take off in 2006. He had been travelling all over the country organising various shows and one of his last ports of call had been Calcutta. It was here, he believes, that the packet containing 1.5 gm of marijuana that was to turn his life upside down for the next few weeks came to be in his belongings. ?There had been a party at a big Calcutta hotel,? recalls Bidapa, ?and lots of people had been milling about my room all day. I think someone came in with that small packet of marijuana and left it there by mistake. Late at night, some of my assistants and friends were helping me pack as I was leaving the city the next day. How I see it is, somebody ? it could even have been me ? unmindfully stashed that packet into one of the side pockets of my travelling bag.?

It was a mistake that cost Bidapa dear. For he happened to be carrying that same bag to Dubai, which was searched on arrival and the packet duly produced. What surprised many who were following his story at the time was his confession of guilt. Bidapa explains why: ?I was told by my lawyer that if I declared myself to be a user (which I am not, I am strictly a Scotch-and-water man), I would have a much higher chance of freedom. If I did not plead guilty, they would put me down as a trafficker and the retribution would be that much tougher.?

In spite of his explaining the circumstances under which the packet came to be in his possession, Bidapa was put in indefinite detention at the Al Rashidiya. Talking about the initial stages of his interrogation, Bidapa shows the first signs of feeling even remotely distressed about the situation he found himself in. ?The most difficult part of those first few days was not knowing what was going to happen,? he says soberly. ?I had no clue about the rules of the country, I didn?t understand the language and it was difficult to find anybody who spoke English or Hindi. It was a hopeless situation.?

Help soon came, though, in the form of a competent lawyer who led him through the legal processes and his wife Judith, who flew down to Dubai to be with him. It was at the lawyer?s behest that Judith decided to file a mercy petition asking for Bidapa?s release. She also requested well-known (and well-connected) Indian personalities from the corporate and political world to put weight in on Bidapa?s behalf. He says he still doesn?t know what worked in the end. ?I had gone for the second judge?s hearing almost a month after the whole incident started. I came back to Al Rashidiya, went through the usual routine. I had no idea that by the end of that day, I was going to be released,? says Bidapa.

That night, as he was preparing for bed, he heard an announcement over the PA system. ?Apparently, they were calling my name, which sounds something like ?Bersad? when spoken with an Arabic accent. It was some other inmates who let me know that I was being called. And in an hour, I had packed my stuff and left after signing the necessary papers. It was as simple as that,? he says.

Bidapa?s account of his stay at Al Rashidiya is again revealing and myth-busting. The detention centre certainly doesn?t come across as a Shawshank-like prison, but akin to an upmarket rehabilitation centre. According to Bidapa, not only was he not put behind bars, but he also had access to good food, clean beds, a television (which apparently he and some other inmates pooled in money to buy), exercise and the chance to interact with the people incarcerated there from many races and countries.

?It was sad to see how so many residents there had just let themselves go. They slept most of the day because that?s the best way to kill time,? recalls Bidapa. He recounts how he tried his best to keep up a semblance of normalcy ? by doing simple things like shaving, having a bath and doing his daily exercises. ?Soon, I had a group of inmates joining me for the morning exercises. That really gave me a sense of achievement and purpose,? he smiles. The high point was an impromptu fashion show organised in the prison?s long corridors, with the fashion guru teaching the men the basics of walking the ramp.

Bidapa knows that all this sounds too good to be true, but he shrugs off people who?ve criticised his attitude towards the whole incident. ?As far as I can see, there are two ways to approach this sort of experience. One is, you let yourself sink into gloom and be traumatised about it, and the second is, you try to get something positive out of it. I just chose the second way,? he explains.

Nor does he shy away from admitting that his exalted status as a well-known face and media personality could have contributed towards his early release. ?I came to know a lot of people in there (Al Rashidiya) who had been languishing there for years on very minor charges. They didn?t have access to the benefits I had, all the media attention and publicity that helped keep my case high profile. What can I say except that I wish each of them had the same good luck as me,? he asks resignedly.

Today, putting this experience firmly behind him, Bidapa looks forward to getting back into the thick of things as usual. He is even planning a return trip to Dubai in some time to seal the contract he had originally gone there for. Only, this time he?ll be very, very careful about what he carries in his luggage.

Photograph by Asif Saud