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Namaskaar
About a fortnight ago, I was most pleasantly surprised to
meet Ms. Sneha Phene in the company of Ms. Benazeer Patil. They had managed to
dig out a piece that was published in the GLC annual magazine for 1957-58.
Though I remembered that the college had won the Boman-Behram Inter-Collegiate
Trophy, I had forgotten that the piece had been published in the magazine.
Reading the piece transported me to the St. Xavier’s College
hall where the Boman-Behram trophy competition was held annually. Prof. Colaco
from that college was the leading light amongst the organisers. I have been
asked how different the article would be if I were to rewrite it. I do not think
it would change materially, though I would have signed my name as ‘Sohrab’ and
not ‘Soli’. I presume the reason for the question is the general feeling that
the hopes of youth give place to the despair of age. As a popular song says :
“Those were the days, my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.”
Today, at an age when much time has gone by and little
remains, the question is ‘Has life been worth living ?’ I would answer this with
a most emphatic ‘Yes’. Undoubtedly, some difficult professional decisions have
had to be made. In the period 1956-58, the Law degree was a two years’ course,
after graduation. As one neared completion of the course, several cautionary
warnings were received : There was not much future in the profession, one would
have to compromise values, one required a ‘Godfather’ to succeed, the Court
language would change to Hindi, Marathi, etc. The ignoring of the advice of such
prophets of doom has indeed made life worth living. Then there was the choice
whether to go in for general practice or to specialise, and lastly, whether to
be a solicitor or counsel and very importantly whose chambers to join as a
‘devil’. Fortunately, I made the right choices — perhaps more by chance than
design.
I have just said that the message of the prophets of doom was
ignored. Let me hasten to add that often it seemed that they were dead on right.
In my first year, I earned the princely sum of Rs.30 and that too because the
Counsel to whom the solicitor wanted to deliver the brief — for an adjournment —
was not readily traced and I was found — as usual — to be warming a seat in the
library !
One fact which I did not realise 45 years and more ago is
that the secret for life being worth living for a professional is an
understanding spouse and children who can adjust to having a parent coming home
at 8.30 p.m. or later. If this understanding is absent, life sours. They say
that female lawyers of eminence are less in number than the male variety. If
true, it only means that the female spouse is more understanding than the male
one ! But more seriously, there are professionals who unfortunately get so
immersed in their work that they do not have time to build such relationships.
They realise only in their middle age that fawning clients are no substitute for
a loving family, who will care for you, unmindful of whether you deliver.
I have perceptively been asked how the connotation of life
has changed from my student days. One most unfortunate development (for which I
alone have to be blamed for being a bad organiser) has been that I do not find
time for friends as I used to. Gone are the days when one sat at Pyrkes (which
was near Flora Fountain) or in an Irani restaurant exchanging notes and solving
the problems of the world over a cup of tea. (Beer was not freely available then
and in any event, who had the money so to indulge oneself ?) Those happy moments
just to sit by the sea have become rarer. To quote again from the same song so
popular in the fifties of the last century :
“Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I’d see you in the tavern (Pyrkes ?)
We’d smile at one another and we’d say
Those were the days . . . . .
Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was the lonely fellow really me ?
One disturbing development which has affected life was and
now is, is the increasing feeling, particularly amongst juniors in the
profession, that the streams of justice are not as clear and unmuddled as
heretofore. The highest in the land have spoken about the over-hanging sceptre
of corruption in the administration of justice. But still, on a personal level,
the joie de vivre and the desire to see new places, climb hills
(unfortunately, one now gets out of breath more easily), swim in the ocean and
have new experiences remains. Yes, all said and done life was, has been and,
hopefully, will be worth living. So let me end on a song :
“Oh my friends we are older but no wiser
For in our hearts, the dreams are just the same.”
(This article was written by the author in 2002-03, as a sequel
to his talk in 1957,
which was reproduced in the September 2008 issue of the BCAJ).
