... Continued
Along with the previously discussed lessons of forgiveness, I wish to share another incident which taught me that firstly, one must accept and own the responsibility of one’s mistake, and secondly, damage control has to be done at all costs, immaterial of the hardships that one may go through.
It is true to say that seniors may forgive juniors for end no. of mistakes (except for criminal offences and secretly taking away their clients), but at the same time they are also justified in having legitimate expectations from the junior to handle situations and find solution to the problem with utmost sincerity. Something very similar happened with me, as in one of the matters, I did not annex three main documents of the case, believing that the said documents were already annexed to another annexure, which was a complete company petition. I truly admit that it was so reckless of me, as I did not check the final file carefully before filing it. I presumed that all the annexures were in place, so I went ahead with filing. Just a night before the matter, around 9:40 p.m., my co-senior called me and informed me that three documents were missing. Hearing this was so embarrassing because the Ld. Senior Counsel had told her about the above blunder at the outset of the conference, which the client had also joined. I immediately told everything to my family, left for office within 10 minutes (thanks to the extra office keys with me), my associate drafted the application to file additional documents, reached the office, completed all the formalities for the filing, and came back home around 11:45 p.m. The next morning, I left for work at 7:00 a.m. and did the final check again. While executing an act in repentance, I lied to my immediate senior and bought some time to go to NCLAT to file that application. I reached NCLAT by 9:30 am, however the application could not be filed despite my best efforts, as the court master informed me to get the order first and then the application would be accepted by the Registry. With a heavy heart, I went back to the Apex Court and quietly handled the matters with Ma’am. Thereafter, post-court hours, my immediate senior came to know about everything. I was so nervous when I met her, but she was simply laughing at me. She told me that she could sense something really off and awkward but was not expecting this big blunder. Anyways, I am truly grateful to both my seniors for not throwing me out of the office and forgiving me for my stupidity and recklessness. To be honest, I am always overly cautious while filing the matters. It is my practice to cross-check the final file at least five times, but to this day I am still clueless as to why I did not follow my routine procedure while filing the above matter. I am still trying to figure out the chemical locha occurred inside my brain that made me commit the biggest, and the first self-created blunder in my entire professional life till now.
One of the most important traditions in Vakalat is the direct or indirect yet regular interactions with the seniors, as it plays a pivotal role in learning valuable lessons from their experiences when they were establishing their practice. I believe that many times even a statement from a senior can have a huge impact on a junior. So one day, I was waiting with Ma’am to mention (a special request from the Hon’ble Court to do something related to the case on an urgent basis) one matter, when a Ld. Senior Counsel came and sat beside my senior. Coincidentally, he also wanted to mention a matter, but the proper procedure was not followed (unlisted mentioning), so he had come to take his chance. They both got into a general conversation, and he told my senior, “Ki humari toh unlisted mentioning hai… Allow ho gayi to theek hai warna daant khaakey chale jaayengay." He then continued and said that his father had, once, told him that, “Either you (Vakeel) raise yourself to that chair (become judge) and then be angry and say whatever you want, or if you cannot do that, then you should keep quiet, control your anger, concentrate on arguing your case, and patiently listen to whatever the judge says.” I overheard this conversation and felt nice because hearing such anecdotes from a senior counsel of his stature does not happen so often. I believe his juniors must be hearing these things on a regular basis, but for others, such moments are rare and worth knowing.
Furthermore, I learned an unsaid fact from a Ld. Senior Counsel that even during court hours, some time can be carved out to maintain physical fitness and pace, which ultimately contribute to having good health. A lawyer must take care of her physical as well as mental health seriously so as to remain in the race for a longer period of time. When I came to know that the Ld. Senior Counsel has the habit of taking rounds of the Apex Court whenever she gets time, I also started copying her but with a little moderation. I have also developed the habit of taking rounds of the court after lunch. If I am alone, I take almost four rounds, or if someone is accompanying me, then it depends upon the convenience of the other person. After doing this, I feel energetic, and my food gets digested easily. It has comparatively become easy to remain alert and awake during the post-lunch court sessions.
In addition to the above, regardless of pressure or stress, it is critical to maintain positive energy and a happy-go-lucky aura, especially in Court. This is possible because whenever I meet Ld. Senior Counsel Mr. N, there is always a smile on his face. His positive vibes are so impactful that I always feel happy after greeting him. I feel more young and energetic after talking to Sir, as he reminds me that age is just a number. When I see his speed in the corridors, I always wish I could be as healthy as him in my 65-70s.
Also, one of the other important things that I have learned from Ma’am and Sir is that “narazagi issue-specific honi chahiye naaki person-specific.” This line was actually eye-opening for me and I have come to the conclusion that our limited yet nuanced understanding of human behaviour affords us the opportunity to accommodate others, and the implementation of the same in day-to-day life can help resolve many complex issues more amicably.
So before I conclude the present series, I would like to say that we should always be eager to learn from each other, regardless of the age gap or hierarchical difference. None of us is perfect, yet we all have something in us that others can learn from, and vice versa. So keep learning; stay young, healthy, and safe. I will soon meet you again, dear readers, with something more interesting, creative, and different from this. I hope you enjoyed reading the above. Take Care everyone.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy, successful, healthy, peaceful New Year!
The views are personal.
