Before Memory Fades . . .

Very recently I finished reading an autobiography of one of the eminent advocates of India, Shri. Fali.S.Nariman. The title of the book is “Before Memory Fades”. Since I’m not a great fan of non-fiction, I wouldn’t have read this book had my brother not recommended it. I grew curious after bro said it’s a good read and thought of giving it a shot. And I was in for a pleasant experience! I have not read many autobiographies, but among the ones that I have read, this one is the best and I’m damn sure that even otherwise it is a very good book. In this book, Mr. Nariman has shared his wonderful experiences so lucidly and candidly that it really feels like he is talking to the reader personally! No where has he dragged or bragged about the incidents that took place in his life and that is one of the main reasons why, in my opinion, this book was such a huge hit!

I think it would be necessary to give a brief introduction of Mr. Nariman here, although it would be unnecessary for all those readers from this field. Mr. Fali.S.Nariman is one of the very famous advocates of India. He first practised in Bombay (he started his practice in the year 1950) and then moved to Delhi (1972) as he was appointed the Assistant Solicitor General of India and resigned from the office when Emergency was imposed in 1975 by Mrs. Indira Gandhi's government as a symbol of protest. He was offered the post of a High Court Judge of Bombay when he was still 38 years old but he refused it due to financial reasons. Years later, he was offered the post of a Supreme Court Judge (A direct appointment) which he refused as he felt he may not make a good judge! He was appointed as a member of the International Human Rights Commission. He has also been a member of the Rajya Sabha in November, 1999.  He received the Padma Bhushan Award in the year 1991 and later received Padma Vibhushan Award in the year 2007. So, this introduction would be enough to know what a wonderful and thrilling life Mr. Nariman has led! Now, let's come back to the book.

This autobiography was something different and different in a very pleasant way! I loved reading every bit of this book! Though this book would interest readers with a legal background, Mr. Nariman has explained the legal terminologies/aspects so well and in such simple terms that even non-law people would find this book quite interesting. The book is rich with the varied experiences of Mr.Nariman and his style of writing is just so beautiful that the reader thoroughly enjoys reading it!

One very beautiful aspect of this book (It'd be more apt to say, one of the very beautiful aspects of this book) is that Mr. Nariman has given an account of all the important things that happened in the nation interweaving those with his life. Since he was an important part of the many many important cases/judgments (The Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, for instance) that were passed in the country during 1970s ans onwards, the reader gets a close up report and also the inside stories of those incidents. 

The next important aspect is that, the author has written about every aspect of his professional life with such frankness that, I felt, needs a lot of substance for any man to write that way! He has spoken about some of the Judges of the Supreme Court before whom he has appeared and has praised them with whole heartedness and also condemned their acts in the same way, when he found their behaviour unbecoming. He has spoken about the many landmark judgments passed by the Supreme Court and has given a very scholarly and critical analysis of those judgments and their outcomes. It is intellectually so appealing that it leaves the reader in awe of the author! 

As mentioned earlier, he was appointed as a member of the International Human Rights Commission and through that, he received international recognition and reputation. And also as mentioned above, he appeared in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, On behalf of the Company! (Union Carbide Corporation - the Respondent!) because of which he also received quite a lot of criticism. The author very beautifully writes, "In life there are no unmixed feelings. With 'international recognition' there also came international criticism for my assuming the role of lead advocate for Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in the civil litigation arising out of the Bhopal gas tragedy." The criticism was that, he being a member of the "International Human Rights Commission" how could he appear on behalf of the company that was the reason for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in his nation, which was a gross violation of the human rights! The author has furnished full details of the criticisms and comments that came his way and his answers to those criticisms without any improvisations. Basically, he has narrated the incidents as is! That was something which I was found very amazing and amusing.

Though the book is about a lot of serious incidents and experiences, Mr. Nariman has kept it interesting through his refreshing sense of humour and simplicity! And he has not spoken too much about his family anywhere in the book! That, according to me is a very very good aspect of this book! He has spoken about his family very rarely and has provided details which were necessary for that point. Also, another refreshing thing about this book is that, it does not feel that the author is just talking philosophy and preaching the reader. He has, just in 2-3 sentences given very important messages, regarding life as well as profession, which have a profound impact on the reader. The book doesn't drag anywhere!  Also, another important point that should be mentioned here is that, Mr. Nariman has neither boasted about his achievements too much nor has he maintained the veil of false modesty! The book is very well balanced and shows the refined writing skills of the author!

Thus, all these aspects put together make "Before memory fades" a reader's delight! I tried to find atleast one negative aspect of this beautiful book, but I could not!! This book is that good! I urge all those who are reading this blog to read this wonderful book. :) 

Mahabharata!!

From a past few days, I'm hooked to Mahabharata - The TV series, which had charmed the whole nation in the 90s. Since I was a li'l kid then, I hadn't watched the series from the beginning and had watched it only in bits and pieces. Recently, I got to know that a friend of mine had the whole series with him, so I persuaded him to lend me that and finally got it. I have been watching it whenever I have free time. Since I fell ill this week, I couldn't go to college either. So I was free through out the day and hence I started watching it continuously! :D


I have come towards the climax now where the turn-of-the-century war in Kurukshetra has Finally begun! All the great warriors have blown their conch and have signalled the start. Now, all of a sudden, the greatest warrior, Arjuna is in a dilemma as to fight the battle or not, because all those warriors who are his opponents are none other than his dearest Grandfather, Guru, and cousins. He feels ashamed of himself as he is there today to kill those people only for the sake of a piece of earth! how selfish is that! and so, he asks his charioteer, Lord Krishna as to what he should do and thus the Great Lord imparts the ever-true message, The Gita!


As I watched this, I remembered reading the Gita sometime ago. So beautiful is the Bhagavad Gita and of course the greatest work - The Mahabharata which contains this holy scripture, which has such simple yet profound values and all those incidents with such truthful messages that, if adopted in life make our lives so meaningful and devoid of sorrows. We have the answer for all our questions in this great work and yet we don't take the effort of reading and understanding it! Arjuna asks all those questions to the Lord which may arise in every man's mind and the Lord answers all of them so well that it leaves behind no doubt in Arjuna's mind. Here as we all know, Arjuna is the one who symbolises of all of us and Lord Krishna states the ultimate truth to us. If you may observe, The Holy Gita is the only holy scripture that was born in such a dramatic scenario! No other holy scripture has had such an interesting start. 


Watching this series had a very wonderful effect on me! It got me thinking about the wonderful way of life, the culture, the protocol, the mannerisms, the system of education, politics and every aspect of life that was so systematic and meaningful! All this conveys to us that the Sanathana Dharma (Hinduism) is not a mere religion, but a Way of Life! So vast and deep is this Dharma that subsumes every aspect of the human life. Today there are various religions in the world. One religion says that God has no form, other says He has a definite form, yet another says God is nothing but Fire or Energy and so on. But in Hinduism there is place for every theory and every form of worship because it believes that ultimately there is only one God and just like the way every river finally merges with the ocean, similarly every soul has to finally reach the God may it follow any stream! How generous is this concept and how tolerant!! 


Today we see many fundamentalists who proclaim themselves to be the Protectors of this vast religion, trying to whittle it down into a narrow minded creed! Real Hindu is the one who  believes in the beautiful concept of "Live and Let Live". Hinduism can proudly say that it is the only religion which has never attempted at "conversion" of people from other religion into it's fold. In fact there is no ritual in this Dharma as such, which signifies "conversion"!! It is a matter of great pride to call myself a "Hindu" today as that term stands for such wonderful and sublime meanings! 


Therefore, I'm glad and proud to be a Hindu! (By saying "proud", I don't mean to be arrogant, but try to be a real Hindu who believes in the noble concept of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam") :) And this article is just a tiny and humble tribute to the greatest Dharma!


                                                                    Om Tat Sat

We never like what we have and never have what we like!

I'm sure all of you have heard this statement a lot of times. Mostly by our elders or parents, whenever they see us crib about something. All these pearls of wisdom sound like dry philosophy till we experience those things ourselves and start lecturing about it to others who think the same that we thought before realising the truth!!  

Why I'm saying this now is because, right now I'm in the final year of my Law. In a year from now, I'd either be hunting for a job or if I'm fortunate enough, would have landed a job! (The college in which I study doesn't have a Placement Cell, so the burden is on our shoulders to find a job!) I'm unfortunate when it comes to the batch that I have. It's a very dull batch and people ain't friendly either. There are only 2-3 people whom I can confidently call my Friends! Right from Day 1 of this course, I have been wanting to get out of college and start working. (Not that I'm too impatient to start working and earn a great name, but mainly coz of the wonderful batch that I've got. The thought of being with them for 5 long years was very depressing, yet I've managed to survive till now!! It's been a very boring and tedious journey).

Though I haven't had a very exciting college life, I wouldn't want it to end! I'm not lucky enough like you guys who had a great batch and good friend gang, :) but still I have had the leisure to do what I wished to do and I always had my school friends with whom I could hang out. I wouldn't want to lose out on that!

Most of my old friends had taken up Engineering. (that seems to be the norm now-a-days. Nothing against them though!! Have got some great help from these guys whenever I've had a problem with my lappy, free of cost!! ;) And all of them are great friends :) ) Since their course is for 4 years, all of them finished their education this year and have started working!! It's a very nice feeling to see all my friends stand on their own feet! :) When I see them, that urge of getting away from my batch and start working becomes stronger and also feel good that this is the last year! But still, a part of me doesn't want this to end!!

In legal profession, they use 2 statements very often while talking abt exercising an indivuals' rights to the detriment of others. It goes like this: You cannot beat hot and cold at the same time/You cannot have the cake and eat it too. I feel, these statements hold good not only to the legal scenario but also in general to the human longing. In my case it would be the leisurely college life and the work. In your case, something else!

So, we never have what we like and never like what we have AND we can't have all luxuries simulataneously in life!! :) Do you agree?!

Yeh World Hai Na World.......!!!

In the movie Bunty aur babli, Abhishek Bachchan keeps saying this dialogue through out the movie… He would be propounding all his theories through this dialogue: “Yeh world hai na world! Is me do tarah ke log hote hai.. ek jo……………. Dusre jo……….”. I loved that dialogue of his. And now, I am going to use that dialogue to propound one of my theories! Well, this is not MY theory or anything! Everybody knows this. I would better call it my observation and I am sure even that observation would have been made by many other people prior to me. Anyway, here it goes.

In this world, there are two types (categories) of people! There is this first category of students who buy the text books and mark all the important topics/questions on the day 1 of the semester and would have finished revising atleast thrice by the time the exam dates are announced and still freak out as if they haven’t even touched the book! And there is the other category of students who buy the text books after the exam dates are announced and start studying when they are left with hardly 2-3 weeks! (I don’t think I need to explain more about these categories because all the readers would have been surely in one of the abovementioned categories during their student days (if you are still a student like me, you would know better!) and would be well acquainted with the other category as well!)

And I feel proud to admit that I belong to the latter category! Our category has a few specialities which may be listed below! (I’d prefer calling it “speciality”. The 1st category would surely call it “eccentricity!” But I don’t mind that tag either!!)

1. Our category is proud to admit that they are lethargic, late risers and not hard working enough!

2. We plan to start studying when we are left with three weeks to the exam and finally bring ourselves to study when we are 2 or one and a half weeks away from writing the exams!

3. We are also wise enough to maintain a safe distance from the 1st category who have the potential to scare us to our soul and make us feel like we are surely going to flunk in the exams and have a few backs!

4. And we also make bald promises to ourselves that from the next exam we will be more prompt and start early and be ready for the exams. (As I mentioned, they are “bald” promises, so we will never execute them!)

These are the salient features. I don’t want to probe into the deeper and finer qualities of us because it is quite a long list and since I am sure that no reader would be alien to this concept, he/she wouldn’t need much explanation! ;)

Inspite of being so lethargic, happy-go-lucky, we manage to get a decent result and pass out with flying colours! The 1st category getting a 95% in the exams is equivalent to us getting an 85%. We study when we are weeks away from the exams and still get a distinction, those aliens study through out the year and get only 95%?? Tch tch.. Not that smart! Ain’t it?! It shows one more aspect. And that is, the 2nd category is more intelligent and has a better grasping power than the 1st one! Isn’t it? Atleast I feel so!

Now, I am propounding all these theories, analysing the trend etc etc., because….. I am 3 weeks away from the exam!! And today, I managed to buy all the important books for the upcoming exams! This is just one more salient feature of our category! We tend to get more creative and indulge in other hobbies and activities as the exams approach! And that is why I am writing this blog now!!

Wish me luck! I need your wishes! ;)

Mankutimma!!

ಅನ್ನದಾತುರಕಿಂತ ಚಿನ್ನದಾತುರ ತೀಕ್ಷ್ಣ
ಚಿನ್ನದಾತುರಕಿಂತ ಗಂಡು-ಹೆಣ್ಣುಒಲವು
ಮನ್ನಣೆಯ ದಾಹವಿದು ಎಲ್ಲಕಿನ್ತೀಕ್ಷ್ಣತಮ
ತಿನ್ನುವುದದಾತ್ಮವನೆ - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ!

The literal translation of this poem would be:

The urge to have gold (money) is fiercer than the urge for food

The urge for gold is overridden by the attraction towards the opposite sex

But the urge to get recognised is sharper than any of the other urges

And it ultimately eats our soul.

Mankutimmana Kagga is a masterpiece in the Kannada literature, written by the great, humane poet Late. Sri. Devanahalli Venkataramanayya Gundappa, more popularly known as Dr. DVG. The Mankutimmana Kagga is fondly remembered by the Literature lovers as “The Bhagavadgeeta in Kannada”. That is because, all the wonderful values, ideas, ideals contemplated in the Bhagavadgita can be found in Mankutimmana Kagga and is put across in a very lucid manner.

The language, the style, the rhythm, the brevity, the beauty of the Kagga is just flawless. Even the very abstruse spiritual values are put across in such simple way that any person who reads those verses can’t help but admire the ingeniousness of DVG, because explaining something so abstract and abstruse in such a simple mode is a Herculean task. I haven’t read the whole of Kagga till date, and whatever little I know of it is through my father who is a great fan of DVG and knows so many of the verses bye heart.

The verse that I have written above is my most favourite one. Not that I have read all of it, but out of the little that I know, this one is really close to my heart. I haven’t translated it in the right way and my translation does no justice to the original verse because the life and seriousness found in the original one is utterly lacking in my translation!

Basically, it says that the burning urge to be recognised is the ultimate thing any human being wants. The desire is so strong that people have lost their lives only to get recognition! The need to get importance, limelight, recognition and appreciation is an innate human instinct. We find that in every human being, right from a little infant vying to get it’s mother’s attention to an old man trying to get the attention of his children or his companions (And here I am, trying to get recognition for my blogs!!). In fact there is a distinct concept called "RECOGNITION" in Public International Law!! (It speaks about newly formed nations getting recognised by existing nations) We want to be recognised no matter what. Even if we haven’t achieved anything great or even good, we want people to know us, and appreciate us. Especially in today’s world it has become so rampant that all the so called “reality shows” are a burning example of this pathetic urge! People do what all just to get their share of limelight! They want to be known whether they do something good or bad. Whether they become famous or infamous is secondary to them. They just want to be RECOGNISED!!

When I see these instances, this verse plays itself in my mind! How true!! The Kagga stands so germane even to this day even though it was written decades ago!

No Matter What, The Show Must Go On!!

I always wanted to be a part of the theatre. The challenge and thrill of playing in front of live audience is an altogether different feeling. It’s difficult to explain that feeling, best to experience it yourself! Finally, when I was in my third year of LL.B, I got an opportunity to be a part of the professional theatre. Thanks to my dearest friend, Sharmi. :) She took me along with her and introduced me to the director of the play and to my fortune, they were in dire need of an actor for a role which was quite an important part of the play and when I went there, they accepted me right away! So, I didn’t even have to audition for the role! Now, that’s called luck! ;) It was a show mainly for kids between the age of 6 and 15. I was not very keen on doing a show for kids. Whenever I used to imagine myself playing in a show, it would be a Classic. But here I was in a totally different play! But, I didn’t mind coz finally I had got an opportunity to realize that dream which was the closest to my heart! So, I didn’t even give it a second thought and accepted the role and started the rehearsal on that day itself!! This show was a production of the esteemed Ranga Shankara Team!

I was offered the role of Amma in the play! I was supposed to play the role of a working mom who has 2 kids of 9 and 7 years respectively! But the funniest part was not that! My kids in the show were elder to me by atleast 5 years in real life!! And I had to look at them like cute li’l ones and scold them and show affection to them like a mom! In the beginning I found it utterly hilarious, but then I got used to it and got comfortable. :) Though, I have never been a mom, I had to put myself in that shoes and act like any mother who would take care of her kids. Now, that was quite a challenge but I loved it all the same! The rehearsals took place everyday, for a month and in each rehearsal I learnt something new about Acting and Theatre in general. It was a wonderful and vibrant experience! :) My director was very supportive though she would lose her temper at times. (But that is how every director is.. isn’t it! ;) ) And my Team was The Best!! So easy to get along and so much fun to be with! Since I was the youngest and the least experienced of the lot, I would get all the love and pampering! That was my favourite part!!

Finally, the dates of the shows were fixed and we had 3 shows per day for a week! And I had to perform in every show! For every other role there was a standby, but for mine, It was only me! They had just started training on a new Amma, but they were concentrating more on me as I was supposed to perform in all the shows. When everything was going on so well, when the shows were just one week away, I met with a serious accident and fractured my left wrist! :( The doctor put a cast on my hand and advised rest for 6 weeks!! I was so disappointed when this happened that I cursed every damn thing that I came across! But strangely, I was disappointed for the show and not for myself! If things had gone on perfectly, I would be doing my debut as an Actor!! But, I wasn’t feeling anything personally.. All I felt for was the show as a whole and worried as to how it would go on! But luckily as they had started training my standby, there weren’t any hitches and the show went well! :)

When I again got the chance to play that role, it was a year after my accident! I had waited too long and this time I wasn’t going to let anything come in my way and was focussed on performing in the show. And, things finally fell in place and that day came when I went on stage and performed!!!

But what happened just before the show started is something worth a narration and here starts the story!! ;)

The show was at 7 in the evening and the team was supposed to be present at the Theatre in the morning itself. We all gathered at that time and started setting up the stage. Setting up the stage was quite a task in itself. We had to arrange every prop in sync with the lighting arrangements. Every bit of it had to be taken care of. We had to shift the props thrice to finally arrange it according to the lighting system and when we were finally done, only we could know how happy we were!! Since I was an amateur, I didn’t understand the need for being so strict about placing even a small insignificant prop like a newspaper in the right manner. But when looked at the set from the point of view of an audience, the difference would look huge and for a show to become a hit, even the smallest of things have to be taken care of! So, it was a tremendous task which we finished FINALLY!! By the time we were done with the stage, it was already 4:30 in the evening, and it was only 2 and a half hours before the show started! But still the work wasn’t over! We had to do one final rehearsal for the sake of light and sound cues. That went on for nearly two hours and when we finished everything, it was 6:30!! We ONLY had half an hour to put on our costume and make up!! And in Ranga Shankara, they follow the schedule very strictly. If on the ticket, it says 7:00 PM as the show time, the show will start at 7:00 PM irrespective of whether the cast is ready or not!! I was freaking out like a crazy person and we had to run to the green rooms to get ready and since the whole team had performed in this play for more than 50 times, everyone got ready in no time, except for me, the amateur!! :-/ The good thing was my entry was not before fifteen minutes after the show started. So, the director didn’t scold me or anything! Finally I was ready by 6:50 PM and we all gathered in a circle and chanted the shlokas and had our huddle! The energy was electrifying!! And since it was my debut, everyone came to me and assured me I will be fine and gave the encouraging smiles, hugs and pats. That’s when it set in that it was my debut and I STARTED FREAKING OUT!!!! I started shivering and my heart started beating so fast that the person standing next to me could actually hear it!! (No exaggeration!!) I started getting all stupid pictures in my head, where I would fall on the stage while walking, forget my lines and stand still and many more crazy thoughts which I tried very hard not to haunt me and started focussing on the scene. When My Entry was 2 dialogues away, My legs started shaking and I wasn’t sure if they would carry me forward!! But luckily, they obliged my frantic requests and I entered in time and delivered My First Dialogue!!! That feeling was Just Out-Of-The-World!!

There were 200 people watching me perform in a world class theatre, as part of a reputed theatre fest! My dream had finally materialized… I felt like freezing that moment! But then, I had to bring myself out of the reverie and start doing my job! The show went on without any embarrassing moments.. None of the crazy pictures that had paraded in front of my mind’s eye, just before I entered the stage, came true! :D Although, there was a scene in the play where I had to lend a candle to my neighbour. I finished my dialogue and went to the kitchen (the make-believe kitchen) to fetch the candle and saw that there was No candle!! I searched frantically everywhere and couldn’t find it and I had to call my “7 year old daughter” to help me find it.. she had no dialogue or movements in that scene but she came in to help me out, and she was also unsuccessful! What to do now?!?!?! The next dialogue heavily concentrated on that candle! And it wasn’t any school-play to just pass an imaginary candle! I had to give a real one! I thought my director would kill me after the show.. but luckily, I found a Torch!! And at the same time, My husband called out to me to give the candle and I gave the torch and added a line which was not in the script! I said, “ This was all I could find, there is no candle at home” for which, even he had to alter his dialogue!! Oh god.. that was a hell of a situation there.. but it went without any incident and the scene successfully ended!! :D

Rest of the play went amazingly well and we had a wonderful audience that evening. They gave the right reactions at the right time and the show was a HIT!!! At the end, there was a scene where the villain waters a tree. When that scene started, a little gal from the audience came up on the stage and lent her water bottle!!! The whole auditorium, including the actors on stage went.. “Awwww!!!” That just showed the involvement of the audience in the play and I felt so so satisfied with my performance and the performance of the whole team that I felt like punching my fist in the air! But.. I was Amma! I shouldn’t act like a kid, but like a kid’s mom! So, I had to contain my emotion and excitement and wait till the show was over!

We got a resounding applause once the show was over and when we went down to meet the audience, EVERY single person who watched us perform came up to us and congratulated!! Since it was a show which portrayed the day-to-day lives of a typical nuclear family, everyone in the audience could connect with the scenes, the kids’ activities, the little funny fights between the husband and wife etc.. That day, I realized the joy of materializing a dream.... and it was ecstatic!! :) :) :)

And the most special thing that happened that day was, Arundhati Nag watched me perform!! She was sitting in the last row and since all the lights were focussed on the stage, I came to know about her presence only at the end when she came up to the stage to announce about the success of this show! ! (And, I couldn’t believe I performed in front of her!!!) Later, when my director introduced me to her, she appreciated my performance and was shocked when I said it was my debut as she felt my acting was very “natural”!! That day is one of those days which is very very close to my heart and which will ALWAYS bring a smile on my face! :)

Modala Blogu! (dunno what they say for Blog in Kannada.. so I have just Kannada-ised the word!)

YESSS!! Finally I have a blog of my own!! Actually I have had this thought of creating a blog from a long time.. It is of course not a BIG step or anything.. but it was my lethargy that made me procrastinate this simple task! Though I knew deep down it was coz of my laziness, I would lie to myself that since I was busy with all the crappy assignments which the College had thrusted on me, I didn't have the time to sit and create a blog.

Now, I have One! and that's good.. I don't know how many people will read my blogs, let alone appreciate them.. but it feels cool to have a blog! ;) So, here starts my journey as a Blogger!

Read maadi, encourage maadi.. and Appreciate maadle beku!! :D

(Btw.. I love my mother tongue.. so you will come across a lot of Kannada words in my forthcoming Blogs...And You may also find a lot of Legal Terminologies.. Repercussions of being a Lawyer! You can ask the meaning of any terminology that you don't understand.. I will explain and clear the doubt! I LOVE talking!! Just FYI :) ) Feel free to ask! :D