Versatile lawyer who loved the good life - By Janak Dwarkadas I Mirror
Posted on - 06 Sep 2014
Versatile lawyer who loved the good life
By Janak Dwarkadas
Mirror
As they say, “Death never comes at the right time, as mortals would like to believe. It always comes like a thief“. On Tuesday, around 4.30 pm, the hand of death took my friend and colleague, Goolam Vahanvati, away from this world. He had been to a hospital in Andheri early morning on Tuesday, and passed away due to a cardiac arrest in the evening.
When I joined the bar in October 1977, Goolam, who was about six or seven years senior to me, had already made his mark. Even as a junior counsel, Goolam was in great demand. He was known for his skills at drafting pleadings and being an extremely dependable, hard working and able junior.
He had mastery over the facts of cases he appeared in, and extremely good knowledge of law. As a result, Goolam was almost every senior counsel's and solicitors first choice as a junior counsel. Juniors my age and I would look upon him with great awe and admiration.
Later, as I got to know Goolam both personally and professionally, we developed a good rapport. I assisted him in several matters and he encouraged me to unhesitatingly argue matters which he, on account of his busy practice, was unable to attend to.
Today, I cannot help but remember Goolam's profound advice to me to slow down, by quoting what Nani Palkhiwala had once said to him learn to say `no'.
Goolam had one of the most versatile, varied and busy legal practices. There was not a branch or field of law in which Goolam did not feature on one side of the case or other. The law reports bear testimony to this fact. It was his legal acumen and skill that ultimately earned him the posts of the Advocate General of Maharashtra, the Solicitor General of India, and subsequently the Attorney General for India.
Goolam was a man of many parts. He loved horse racing and at one time owned a string of race horses. He was equally knowledgeable about several other sports including cricket, boxing and football. He was fond of different genres of music and had a diverse collection of tapes and CDs. He loved travelling, was a collector of watches and pens, and recently, of vintage cars.
Goolam was extremely fond of gardening, and had personally supervised the acquisition, planning and landscaping of his magnificent farmhouse in Pune. I was told that he also planned and landscaped the garden of the official residence of the Attorney General for India in Delhi. He knew the name of every single plant and tree that flourished in his gardens. His house in Mumbai as well as in Pune had the finest collection of curios, paintings, artefacts and furniture.
In short, Goolam loved the good life.
I am reminded of the following words by Linda Kage: “Sometime, the Lord just takes blessed people because they have filled their purpose early. Sometimes their song is cut short and ends too early but that doesn't mean their music was any less sweet or that they left any less of an impression.”
I am yet to get over the shock and I can well understand how difficult it must be for Essaji, his son, and the rest of his family to deal with his untimely death.
The writer is a Senior Advocate at the Bombay High Court
