There Is Not A Single Day Where I Haven't Learnt Something New

LEGAL ERA in conversation with one of the most successful lawyers the Bombay Bar has ever produced, the essentially old-school

- Janak Dwarkadas

LE: You come from a family of lawyers. Was that the main reason for you to take up law as a career?

Anyone knowing my background would be justified in thinking so. But the truth is otherwise.

My father, who was a Counsel specializing in Income Tax, was very keen that I take up law as my profession. However, I never subscribed to this view. A large part of this aversion to the profession stemmed from the fact that I was an absolute introvert, reticent and shy as a child. Throughout my school and college life, I had never participated in any activity like elocution, dramatics or debating where the spotlight would be on me. Being a back-bencher and a very average student, academics was certainly not my forte. What also frightened me most about the profession was the extremely long hours which I had seen my father devote.

While pursuing a Commerce degree, I befriended a fellow student who wielded a significant amount of influence over me. After he convinced me that the profession of Chartered Accountancy was the way to go, we both began preparing for the entrance examination, which had to be cleared before one could enroll for the CA course.

Whilst we were studying for the entrance examination, he insisted we attend a speech on the Union Budget, delivered by one of the greatest orators and lawyers of the time - Nani Palkhivala. In those days, Mr. Palkhivala used to speak to a rather modest audience of people gathered on the East Lawns of the CCI Club at Churchgate, Bombay. Similarly, my friend once dragged me to the High Court to hear Mr. Ram Jethmalani argue a case. These two events inspired both my friend and me so much, that he convinced me that we should abandon midway the CA Entrance Examination and instead, enroll ourselves at the Government Law College. The irony of it all was that the friend who goaded me into the profession, left law college in the first year itself. The rest, as they say, is history.