Nani Palkhivala- What a man!

“His life was gentle and the elements So mix’d in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, “This was a man!” Einstein has once stated “The greater the genius, the more simple and common the man”. In the pages of history of modern India, the name of Nani Palkhivala is always to be known as such a man who was tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the absurd fulfilling Newman’s definition of a True Gentleman. In Parsi community, their are usually two or three personalities in a generation to whom the Parsi’s attach the fond Gujarati prefix- “Apro”. Nani was “Apro Nani” (Our Nani) not only for them, but for common masses. Coming from humble circumstances and as a child suffered from a dreadful stammer, Nani Palkhivala had a brilliant academic career. He earned a master's degree in English literature and aspired to be a lecturer in English and later on wanted to be an ICS officer but destiny has already pre-determined as Malcolm Muggeridge has rightly observed that “In all the larger shaping of a life, there is a plan already, into which one has no choice but to fit” to serve him as one of the India’s finest legal mind which India has ever produced and as beacon light for those helpless masses for whom suffering is rule rather than exception. A man of great Advocacy:- According to Mahatma Gandhi, a true lawyer is one who puts truth and service in the first place. In his autobiography, the Mahatma observes that the law is not an “intellectual legerdemain to make black appear white and white appear black”, but it is a ceaseless endeavour ‘to enthrone justice. These words well represented in the ideas and deeds of Nani Palkhiwala. One of the greatest lessons which Swami Vivekananda learnt in his life is to pay as much attention to the mean of work as to its end. From his father, Nani learnt the art of perfection which he never defiles throughout his professional career. His rise at the Bar was meteoric. Clarity of thought coupled with precision and elegance of expression, impassioned plea for the case he espoused, excellent court craft and “ability to think on his legs” rendered him an irresistible force. When he addressed the Court, he communicated with the judge, he caught his eye, he caught his attention and he dominated his brain. Beginning with the Golaknath case in 1967, he appeared in a series of historic cases before the Supreme Court to defend the rights of citizens and the sanctity of the constitution. He realised the importance of preserving the cardinal values of the Constitution, its basic and essential features. The doctrine which Nani has innovated in famous Keshavananda Bharti case that Parliament had no authority to amend the basic structure of the constitution is Nani’s most enduring contribution to law. His passionate advocacy for five month in this case has become hallmark of his professional success. He firmly believed that: “The survival of our democracy and the unity and integrity of the nation depend upon the realisation that constitutional morality is no less essential than constitutional legality. Dharma (righteousness; sense of public duty or virtue) lives in the hearts of public men; when it dies there, no Constitution, no law, no amendment, can save it.” He always believed that it depends entirely upon the individual himself whether he will allow the legal profession to narrow his mind or will regard it as an opportunity to learn comprehensively the story of human life and human nature. Whether it was constitutional law, whether it was civil law, whether it was taxation, whether it was international law, Nani had a certain quest for excellence and he lived up to that ideal on every occasion. He was so successful in the profession that despite not yet-turned fifty, then Chief Justice of India, Justice S.R. Das, invited him to become a Judge of the Supreme Court of India-directly from the Bar, Nani which would have remain him Chief Justice of India for unbroken period of 15 years, but he simply declined. The most brilliant advocate of his time has developed his own style of court craft. He innovated a skill in persuasive advocacy, which seemed to have escaped most lawyers. While presenting the case, he at once gives the overall as well as the microscopic view of any case. He then break-up the most complex set of facts and arguments into a few simple sentences stated as prepositions. He would start the most complex of cases with these propositions and then build a formidable superstructure of arguments by logically extrapolating from these prepositions and repeatedly illuminating and illustrating his case by simple everyday examples, anecdotes, analogies and parallels. His advocacy was extremely convincing, based on respect for the court and devoid of any arrogance and more importantly, administered firmly but with humility. In the courts, he was “full concentration” in the ulmitate and detested any intervention unless he himself asked a question. He never forget to mention any point or argument that needed to be made. He always advice others to avoid taking conflicting work. There is a simple formula but it is difficult to implement, he said. Just say “No” and stick to it. This probably gave rise to the oft-repeated story that many judges would not decide the case till they reflected for a few days after the conclusion of Nani’s argument. Extensive reading and ever-expending knowledge are the prerequisites of a successful lawyer and Nani implemented this principle in its totality. He extensively read not only tax law and constitutional law, but also several other laws on a regular basis. He never studied a statutory enactment in isolation on a stand alone basis but as a part of a broad legal network and this brought out much wider and deeper meaning and understanding of that particular enactment. Reading books and watching some finer elements of nature and its beauty rejuvenated his vigour and further motivated him to carry on his hard work. During the busiest days of his legal practice, his conferences with his clients were absolutely to the point and very brief and still the client went back with the right advice and satisfaction. Former CJ of India P.B. Gajendragadkar in his autobiography observed that his critics would say that he sometimes tries to play to the gallery; but it is really not playing to the gallery when he argues a political-cum-constitutional matter in which his personal convictions are involved. He is inevitably worked up and his words express his views and feelings genuinely and fearlessly. Even, what it matters if critics of Nani misunderstood him as Emerson once stated: Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. His greatness as a lawyer is summed up in the words of Justice H.R. Khanna of the Supreme Court: “If a count were to be made of the ten topmost lawyers of the world, I have no doubt that Mr.Palkhivala’s name would find a prominent mention therein”. A man of great intellect:- While defining the great man, Emerson once stated, “to be a great man you must be a non-conformist” and further, “it is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after your own, but the great man is he who in the midst of a crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Nani perfectly fitted the Emersion vision. It is quite amazing that at the age of only 30 years he has written authoritative book, “The Law and Practice of Income Tax,” on complex subject like income tax which became bible for others on this subject. He was learned in the spiritual lore of India having profound knowledge of the Upanishads and the Bhagwat Gita and particularly the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo. He embodied the concept of plain living and high thinking. Like Mahatma Gandhi, he believed that private wealth was to be held upon public trust. He was a self-taught economist who picked up the dismal science for advancement of his tax law practice. He would use this knowledge in a string of speeches and articles on economic policy that were keenly followed by the general public. His famous budget-day speeches started out as an informal gathering where he would dissect the Union Budget for the audience. Its popularity grew to such an extent that hiring of the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai would become a necessity. It was aptly said that in those days that there were two Budget speeches, one by the Finance Minister and the other by Nani Palkhivala, and Palkhivala's speech was undoubtedly the more popular and sought after." He made his speeches replete with wit and humour, punctuated them with quotations from literature and references from history, and reeled off facts, figures and statistics without a scrap of paper before him. Infact, he was example of orator par excellence about which Shakespeare in his inimitable words stated, “when he speaks, the air...is still, and the mute wonder lurketh in men’s cars to steal his sweet and honey’d sentences’. Of late, Palkhivala was deeply upset, indeed depressed, at the catastrophic decline in values in our public life. He had always believed that improving standards of life is more important than improving standards of living. The onslaught of materialism and its effect on our youth bothered him very much. He was anguished at the deterioration which had set in our institutions. “The tendency in India”, Nani had said “has been to have too much government and too little administration, too many laws and too little justice, too many public servants and too little public service, too many controls and too little welfare.” National integration, religious and social harmony and development of the country on modern lines were among his consistent concerns. He once stated that “National integration is born in the hearts of the citizens. When it dies there, no army, no government, no constitution, can save it. States of mind precede States. Inter-faith harmony and consciousness of the essential unity of all religions is at the very heart of our national integration.” He believed in the profound truth: Pessimism of the intelligence, optimism of the will. While identifying the real problem, he once stated that that the real problem is that we do not have the quality of administration, and the quality of government which we need. What this country needs, is not political leadership. It needs moral leadership. It needs to bring out the best of our citizens.” He lamented that the “Bar is more commercialised than ever before. Today the law is looked upon, not as a learned profession but as a lucrative one.” He stressed the need to educate our lawyers better and not to produce “unethical illiterates in our law colleges, who have no notion of what public good is.” He feared that our country was on a long slide towards darkness and obscurantism with no visible solution and sign of hope. His mission was to launch a movement for the regeneration of values and to maintain and revive idealism in the youth of our country. Nani always belief in Lord Acton’s famous phrase, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He frequently quoted the poem which ends with these ominous words penned by Josiah Gilbert Holland: An author of Life of Abraham Lincoln:- “For while the rabble, and with their thumb- worn creeds, Their large professions and their little deeds, Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.” Nani was of the firm view that some minimum qualifications should be prescribed for those who seek election to Parliament. His point was that you need years of training to attend to a boiler or to mind a machine; to supervise a shop floor or to build a bridge, to argue a case in a court of law or to operate upon a human body. But he was shocked that to steer the lives and destinies of millions of our fellow-men, there is no requirement of any education or equipment at all. He exhorted the people to shed the divisive tendencies which split the votes on caste and sub-caste lines, and which are so devastating to our unity as a nation. He pointed out that “Democracy and freedom were not synonymous. Freedom is like alcohol; -it must be taken in moderation. Perhaps, we are making life too easy for criminals and too difficult to law abiding citizens. In free societies, too many crooks break the law, blight young lives, traffic in drugs and claim the fundamental right to exploit commercially sex and violence”. He was deeply associated with Tata and served as Chairman and Director of several companies. Despite, his busy schedule, he never let down his role and responsibilities as business leader and play important role to establish institutions to proof what R. M. Lala learnt and emphasised that- “There were two ways to build an institution: First, to conceive one, build the infrastructure and look for the Director who would take it forward. Second was to look for a man of conviction and knowledge and build the institution around him. The latter was the more sensible of the two alternatives.” No doubt, one of the great architects of modern India JRD Tata must have aware about his ability to establish institutions beyond generation. Infact, the story of Tata would have been different if Nani had not become member of great Tata family. The late Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, described him as "the country’s finest intellectual”, Rajaji described him as, “God’s gift to India”, Munshiji hailed him as “God’s gift to India.” and his contemporaries regard him “greatest Indian Lawyer of the last century”, but he himself considered a humble man who is for the service of humanity. He always ask his fellow being to keep your head and sprits high and carry the fight right up to the doorsteps of death- for death can only destroy the body-not the sprit. It has been rightly stated about this great intellect that Nani would have not only the best Finance Minister, but probably the best Law Minister and the best Attorney-General this country would have ever had. A man of great Humanist:- Phillips James Bailey once stated that “We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths. In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives who thinks mot, feels the noblest, acts the best.” Certainly, No one exemplifies these words better than Nani. Once when asked, what makes you so humble, Nani replied, “I know my limitations...In any case whatever I have achieved is not due to my efforts. It is the blessing of providence. I don’t think I have reached any real position.” Nani’s father taught him compassion and kindness for the less privileged. He always treasured his advice which proved far more important than any legacy of land or wealth he may have left for him. He once stated: “I remember, I was not more than two years old. I was about to help myself to a bowl to almonds when my father reminded me of the poor orphan who lived next door. I was so moved by his words that I immediately handed over the entire bowl to the boy. That incident has made a deep impression on me ever since.” His humility was genuine and simplicity had to be seen to be believed. He used to repeat the lines of poet “blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask for no other blessedness.” He never waited for opportunities to come to him and believed that opportunities are always there, only disguised as hard work. He always emphasized that the professional should have courage, integrity and humility and professionals should stick to his ethical behaviour. To a question as to what particular qualities he would look for in an individual, he once responded:- “I respect courage and integrity and humility. These three qualities, I think are essential to make a likeable personality. First, a man must have the courage of his convictions. He must not be a coward. He must honestly believe certain things and he must say publicly what he behaves privately. Secondly, he must have integrity- not only financial integrity which is much more common than intellectual integrity. He must have intellectual integrity, that is, honesty of purpose, the intellectual honesty which makes him say what he believes to be right. So if a Chartered Accountant or a Lawyer has intellectual integrity, he will never give an option merely to suit the client. I think every professional man must have that ideal before him, when advising clients. Thirdly, humility is just as important as courage and intellectual integrity. The higher a man goes in life the humbler he should be. I remember vividly a sentence I read 50 years ago in school: “The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem”, the grace referred to here being the grace of God. I, somehow, by temperament, find it difficult to admire people who are egoist. The cleverest of us, the greatest men who ever lived, are just little pygmies. What are the greatest achievements of man against the backdrop of eternity/ India’s great heritage teaches true humility. We are all in members of an insignificant species of an insignificant planet in an infinite Universe.” M.C.Chagla once observed that despite an unrivalled command over the language, vast knowledge of law and great power of advocacy, Nani has remained essentially modest and humble. Success has not gone to his head, something that is rare with human beings. Certainly, he was the living example to prove that greatness and humility invariably go together. He has a sound value system. “To me, money is only a means to an end. And that end is doing good to others,” Once when asked about secret of his success, he replied, “I always want to do my best.” His wife, Nargesh, chipped in, “Even when young people like myself liked to fool around (in college), Nani was very hard working.” The greatness of Nani truly lay in his sincerity and commitment to spiritual values which made him a moral force in our public life. His love for his country had been proverbial, and so was his pride in her ‘fantastically rich” spiritual heritage. The fearlessness with which he spoke out, whichever be the party in power, made him the voice of conscience of the nation. And conscience for Nani was not an alibi but an ally, a constant anchor of his beliefs and actions. He had deep abiding faith in the God and he always listened to the inner voice before taking any important decision in his life. He once stated:- “I have deep faith in the existence of a Force that works in the affairs of men and nations. You may call it chance or accident, destiny or God, Higher Intelligence or the Immanent Principle. Each will speak in own tongue.” On the subjects of destiny, he always reminded four basic beliefs which he carried throughout his life:- “First, I believe that the basic pattern of an individual’s or a nation’s life is predetermined. Secondly, very few individuals have the gift of clairvoyance to foresee what is predetermined. Thirdly, guidance is sometimes vouchsafed to receptive human beings by means for which there is no scientific explanation. Fourthly, I do believe in the existence of free will but that again is within preordained parameters. To my mind, the simplest analogy to the case we are talking about is that of a dog on a long leash-the dog has the freedom to move about as far as the leash permits, but not beyond.” He never spoke ill of people. Particularly those who were known to be upset with him and made no bones about it. He just did not respond. He has never jealousy, or rather envy, the besetting sin, which cannot countenance the fame and success of others, never consumed him. Holier-than-thou attitude was alien to him. He was not the one to smile and shake your hand and thereafter stab you in the back. Backbiting and denigration of others was unknown to him. He had no ego problems. The warmth of his friendship extended to all fellow human beings, whatever be their status in life. In society, where worldly people only make a show of love for selfish end, Nani has shown true love towards others -which Swami Vivekananda considered as only one element in life which is worth having at any cost. Nani bring these words of Vivekananda into reality:- “Often and often, we see that the very best of men even are troubled and visited with tribulations in this world; it may be inexplicable; but it is also the experience of my life that the heart and core of everything here is good, that whatever may be the surface waves, deep down and underlying everything, there is an infinite basis of goodness and love; and so long as we do not reach that basis, we are troubled; but having once reached that zone of calmness, let winds howl and tempests rage. The house which is built on a rock of ages cannot shake.” Himself facing some of the most serious physical ailments, Nani would phone to inquire after a relative or friend having a mild disorder. Well or ill, he worked on endlessly, but saw to it that his co-workers and subordinates had the required rest. When the tea tray arrived in his office, a piece of cake or a few biscuits were first out aside for the peon of his chambers. He ensured that his servants, on their retirement, were financially comfortable; and the same consideration was extended to the family of a servant after his death. An oft-overlooked aspect of life is his philanthropy. In reply to question by a disciple “what is right action? Buddha replied “any action which originates when your mind has compassion.” Infact, this selfless servant to ideas has compassion towards others and was in the habit of making massive personal cheques out to various charities. “Do it today- tomorrow may be too late’, Nani tells himself, especially when it comes to doing good. He was a member and trusty of several prominent organizations and trusts. Soli Sorabjee rightly invokes Cardinal Newman to describe the man, “Of Nani, it can be truly said that he walked with Kings yet lost not the common touch.” His greatest competitor was- Time which he would have outwitted if he had the strength. He was far too preoccupied with the concerns and chores of the moment. “What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”- asked the poet. Infact, Nani had “no time to stand and stare. Was it Tolstoy who said: “Not till here and there. Someone is thinking of us, someone is loving us; does this waste earth become a peopled garden? His philosophy of life was similar to his friend, Buji Chinoy which was excellently written in following words: When I die Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise. Give my heart to one who has known the agony of the heart. Give my blood to a youth pulled from the wreckage of a car so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. Let my kidneys drain the poison from another’s body. Let my bones be used to make a crippled child walk. Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the wind to let the flowers grow. If you must bury something, let it be my faults and my prejudices against my fellowmen. Give my sins to the Devil. Give my soul to God. If you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I’ve asked, I’ll live forever. St Paul once stated “He created us to do those good things he has already prepared for us to do.” When these deeds are done and over, God takes us to our eternal home. As far as Nani was concerned, one life was not good enough. The kind of man he was, the talents he enjoyed, the achievements to his credit were all more than enough for many lives. No more beautiful words can summarize the values which Nani cherished during his life-time than uttered by Justice Kuldip Singh of the Supreme Court while presenting him a citation on behalf of the various Rotary Clubs of Bombay:- “Nani has tirelessly defended our freedom and Constitution against the evil designs of politicians....I have seen him working in the field of law, in the field of education, in the field of economy and finance, and in every field he has excelled to the hilt. But what impress me most is his disposition...one feels that he is not a man of this world but someone from outside....One can only feel his essence and enjoy, as one enjoys the fragrance of a flower or the smile of a child. He is like a cool breeze on a warm sunny day. That is Nani, the gentleman.” Perhaps what Shakespeare says in Hamlet is meant for this great man: “What a piece of work is a man? How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form in moving, how expressive and admirable! He is no more with us in a mortal sense, but “death bound littleness is not all we are; unmeasured breadths and depths of being are ours.” The famous line of Walter Scott aptly applies to this noble soul to say what a man he was:- “Now is the stately column broke, The beacon-light is quench’d in smoke, The trumpet’s silver voice is still, The warder silent on the hill”. .