$indendSpace += 2;
$spaceVar = " " x $indendSpace;

$var =~ s/^/$spaceVar #at the start
$var =~ s/$/$spaceVar #at the end

$pad="    "
$var="vivek"
$ newvar=$pad$var
$ echo $newvar
vivek
$ echo ${#newvar}
9
$ echo "$newvar"
    vivek
$ L=9
$ new=$(printf "%${L}s" "$var" )
$ echo "$new"
    vivek
$

#!/bin/ksh

echo "Input variable: \c" ; read var
echo "Input number: \c" ; read pad
echo "Input Left or Right padding (L or R): \c" ; read lr

lr=$(echo $lr | tr '[a-z]' '[A-Z]')

if [ "$lr" != "R" ] && [ "$lr" != "L" ]
then
        echo Invalid padding $lr !
        exit
fi

while [ $pad != 0 ]
do
        if [ "$lr" = "R" ]
        then
                var=$var" "
                let pad=$pad-1
        else
                var=" "$var
                let pad=$pad-1
        fi
done

echo "[$var]"