Sunday, December 19, 2010

The Victory (FICTION)


Part 2:

“You know Doc, 95% of all court cases are won by rich people. And the same numbers of cases are lost by the poor. This leads us to a rule of thumb, if you are fighting a case for the poor there are 95% chances that you will lose – no matter how good you are. Now, a new Lawyer – who starts off on his own - typically doesn’t get rich clients – as the rich can afford better Lawyers. So a new Lawyer has to live with poor clients. Which means that he will lose 95% of the times.”

“Mr. Lawyer”, said the wise old doctor, “ don’t you think you are blaming the economic circumstances of your clients for your string of losses. I know its difficult to lose cases, and I also agree with your observations. But there is a problem with that thumb rule of yours – it isn’t actionable. Instead of figuring out ways to make the cases of your clients work for them, you want to change the clients themselves… That is indeed a travesty. The country needs young dynamic Lawyers, people for whom Law isn’t a business – but a profession. You of all people should not be making such statements.”

The Lawyer winced, he knew that the old man was right, “ But sir, they beat me and beat me time and again. The Senior Lawyers made minced meat out of me in courts. There was no romance of Law in real life courts doc. I am not fit to be a Lawyer… Lawyers like me are responsible for the loss of faith of the common man in the judicial system. I must quit before I do any more damage to any one else.”

“ Don’t get too worked up son… You need rest”, said the doctor…

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‘The dark sinister damp cave was home to legions of rodents. But today it had a new visitor… The Kidnapper searched for a good spot to tie his hostage up… searching the dark cave, he glanced upon a pillar like structure. Dragging his hostage by his hair, the kidnapper tied him to the pillar. He then removed the piece of cloth that he had thrust deep into the hostage’s throat, and slapped the hostage into consciousness. “Please let me go” the hostage begged, even as he scanned the stench filled, rodent infested cave with fright filled eyes. “Hahhahaah” laughed the kidnapper – a laughter full of lunatic hatred, “take all the money you want, but let me go” begged the hostage again. “Money!!! Money!! Money! Its all about money for you isn’t it… You call yourself a SENIOR LAWYER! Shame on you” said the kidnapper, spitting. “Try saving yourself with your money here” the kidnapper said. Laughing his lunatic maniacal laughter again, he filled the hostages cloths with breads and rotten tomatoes… he then left the hostage there, even as the rodents smelled out the breads…’ The Lawyer woke up with a start… looking around to assure himself of normalcy, he cursed himself for having had that violent a dream… Spotting the good doctor just outside his hospital room, the Lawyer waved out to him…

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Part 1

Swoosh… blew the wind, carrying fine dust particles within its sweep, depositing the dust on the tear filled faces of the kids… the dust, thus transported, punctuated the tear lines, as the helpless kids and their hapless parents stood over the ruined flat ground – ground that held their huge - illegal hutment… They never knew that it was illegal – they never cared, for the grind of hand to mouth existence left them with little mind space to think about very things that they could afford to take for granted…

Through the tinted windows of his ragged car the man saw the scene… a tear trickled down his youthful face and got lost somewhere in his unkempt stubble... some more tears followed…

“…..this Sessions court hereby dismisses the petition and orders the eviction of Shivraj Slum…” announced the Magistrate emphatically… he now sat comfortably on his sofa…

“Illegal possession of Land decries the very spirit of a democratic nation” had boomed the defense counsel – he now relaxed in his king size couch – celebrating yet another victory… Law was just his business – not a profession (and not a noble profession at all).

3 days ago the man – (‘the Lawyer’ from here on) had lost the case and his loss had cost these people dear. He loved challenges, and had considered this to be his biggest one. He had worked hard out of his skins, but he wasn’t good enough to match the guiles of his veteran opponent…The slum dwellers had been more than glad to let the Lawyer represent him, they could scarcely afford to turn down free unsolicited help – that too at such a critical juncture… he had been so confident – he had assured the slum dwellers that the victory would be theirs because good always won – atleast the teachers at the Law college always said so…; and the slum dwellers had believed him, they trusted him...The bulldozers returned after having completed the demolition…

The Lawyer cursed himself for having committed this act of insanity – cursed the moment when he accepted this case, cursed his immature guts, cursed the slum dwellers for not getting a better lawyer, cursed the day he got into the Law college, he cursed his very existence…‘fools are braver than the wise’, he realized… knives of guilt tore through his being as he saw the little slum dweller kids snatch food out of the jaws of street dogs… and he cried, he cried his heart out – he yelled in agony and literally fell out of his car, onto the ground… on his knees..

A sharp pain on the back of his neck shook the Lawyer out of his grieving state – at first he did not realize that he was being pelted with stones … some more curses, some more stones… The Lawyer put his head down as the slum dwellers continued to vent their anger on him… And he felt the pain – their pain… Pain – it can be such an effective balm … nothing quells the flames of guilt as pain…, “hit me more – kill me – Kill me!!” He said to himself, as gasps of insane laughter escaped his bleeding mouth. The image of his veteran opponent seemed to appear out of his subconscious – he wanted to spit at him – but he couldn’t.. He passed out.

Part 3:

“In the fight between good and evil, who wins is decided not by who is better – but by the time during which the clash takes place”, said the Doctor.

“What do you mean by that doc?” the Lawyer asked.

“ As per Vedas time is cyclical, and is divided into 4 yugas: Satyug, Terta Yug,Dwapar Yug and Kali Yug. In the 1st two yugas, the universe favors the good very strongly. Such is the bias of universe that in this age ( Sat and tetra yuga) a young prince, aided by an army of monkeys, is able to defeat a mighty asura warlord.

What this means is that had Rama and Ravana fought in a later period, lets say the 3rd or 4th yuga, who knows the result might have been different…

But, despite the fact that the universe is biased in favor of the good in that era, it ensures the survival of the evil.

Likewise, in Kaliyug the universe strongly favors the evil – this is the essence of maintaining balance. We are in Kaliyug, where the good finds it impossibly difficult to match up with the evil – the evil will almost always win, but the universe will ensure the survival of the good. Pragmatically speaking, it makes more sense to be a bad guy in this era, but it isn’t that simple. The universe has designated roles for all of us. If a guy ,meant to be a good one, behaves in an opposite manner, he still suffers from the fate earmarked for the good guy, in addition he also loses the protection of the universe meant for the good guy.

There are good people and there are bad. The universe needs both – for balance is the true expression of the universe.

The victory, thus, lies in being yourself – whether good or bad. The results are pre-determined anyway”

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“We are creatures of our experience.” Said the doctor

“What do you mean sir?” asked the Lawyer.

“Our experiences tend to repeat themselves –thus the guy who wins, tends to win again and the guy who loses – tends to lose again. Our experiences, thus, tend to trap us. If you are to start winning, you need to change your experiences of yourself. The best way to do this is to have smaller goals for yourself. Start winning smaller battles, do small things right, gain momentum for the War. Life is all about momentum. The one who wins is the one whom the momentum favors.

The Victory, thus, lies in attempting to do the right thing. The Victory lies in putting in your best effort…The results are pre-determined anyway”

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“Your work is an expression of who you are”. Said the doctor.

“Could you elaborate sir” requested the Lawyer.

“Our entire universe was created because of this question ‘Who Am I’. Everything that you do, everything that you hope for, everything that you stand for is your attempt to answer this question. The biggest statement that you make to the universe is in form of your work. Through your work you communicate to the universe as to who you are.

Often people misunderstand this, that the universe responds to your statement of who you are. Thus a Lawyer who loses too many cases isn’t a bad Lawyer – but it’s the other way round. A bad Lawyer loses too many cases. A guy isn’t rich because he has loads of money; but a rich guy (because he is rich) has loads of money. So the right sequence is "BE ( a good Lawyer)- DO (good work) - HAVE ( good results)", and not "HAVE- DO- BE".

Your results do not define you. But your definition of yourself defines your results…

The Victory, thus , lies not in seeking run away from problems, but in sticking to your definition of yourself – irrespective of your results. The results are pre-determined anyway…”

“You cannot give up son, because the country needs young dynamic Lawyers, people for whom Law isn’t a business – but a profession”.

Part 4 : 8 months from the date of the court ruling…

The Lawyer got discharged… his limp had been replaced by his old swagger. His confidence and faith restored… With his definition of a victory changed, the Lawyer filed an appeal to the slum eviction case…

“Your patient has been discharged sir”, Said the Doctor, “ He has been healed”…

From the other end of the line the Senior Advocate hung up, smiled and said to himself “The country needs young dynamic Lawyers, people for whom Law isn’t a business – but a profession”.