
8220;After completing my bachelor8217;s in engineering in 1974, I went on to do my master8217;s in the same. About the time that I was completing it, I had a bad accident in 1976 and was laid up for three to four months. I also had a small factory that I was unable to attend to. But as luck would have it, the factory, too, had to be folded up around that time, due to a strike in an automobile factory where I used to supply parts.
8220;Having a lot of time on my hands, I had, in the meantime, joined some evening classes for L.L.B. at the Symbiosis Law College. Now, suddenly, after the closure of the factory, my L.L.B. classes seemed to assume more importance. That was the first time I began to toy with the idea of an alternate career.
8220;One of my seniors there, N.D. Pawar, suggested that I give law a try. If I didn8217;t like it, I always had my engineering degrees to fall back on. I did just that and have not had any regrets since that day.
8220;I feel people have a lot more respect for lawyers in this society than they probably do for many other professions. Maybe because they feel they would need the services of a lawyer at some time or the other in their lives!
8220;This is also a more relaxed profession. At the factory, I would often be working throughout the night too. But as an advocate, I can choose my timings, work schedule and take it easy as and when required.
8220;The only sphere where I feel I have compromised is the monetary one. As a lawyer, one can make a lot of money only if one8217;s practice is going great guns, and that too consistently. Yes, engineering might probably have given me a fatter bank balance but law has afforded me a better life. Which is what matters8221;.