123. Junior, Junior!

"Hope our senior has not yet walked in!" asked Rajesh, in a whispering voice, as he entered the office.

"Not yet, luckily for you. You are late, today also!" said Siva.

"Well, if we can leave the office in time, we can also come in time in the morning. Every day, it is about 8 or 9 pm, when we leave the office. I am not even able to go for an evening show, with my lover!"

"Oh, you have a lover. You never told me!"

"Not really. I just made it up. I am yet to scout for one, but where do I have the time or it, when I am working as a junior for our great lawyer? I can't be wedded to the job, the way you are. Sometimes, I curse myself for having studied law. People who do other courses in the college land a job, earn a salary and live happily. It is only in our profession that we, after studying law, have to work as an intern under a lawyer for a few years, before we can practice as a lawyer."

"Hey! Don't speak in a loud voice. The senior may walk in any time. Fortunately, Suganthi, the typist is on leave today" said Siva.

Even as he was saying this, Ramadurai, the senior lawyer entered the office.

Seeing Siva and Rajesh get up from their seats, Ramadurai said, "Sit down. Siva, have you prepared the brief I asked you to ?"

"Yes, sir. I have kept the brief on your table."

"Ok. What are you  working on now?"

"Sir! Mahadevan's property matter is coming up for hearing, next week. I am collecting the reference judgements for that case."

"Good. If you don't get a good reference in our library, go to the High Court Library and check. Tomorrow, I will go through the references collected by you and tell you whether anything more is needed. Rajesh, what are you doing?"

"Sir, I am arranging the papers for Mr. Ramakrishnan's insurance case."

"This is what you have been saying for the last three days! It appears that you don't do any work, when I am not in the office."

"No, sir. There are a large number of documents to be checked and compiled."

"Don't I know? It shouldn't take more than two hours. Working as a Junior under a busy lawyer like me is a great opportunity. If you don't make use of it, you will be the loser. Ok. I am leaving for the court now. I will come in the evening and check what you people have done. If anyone comes to see me on any important matter, give me a call."

Ramadurai left the office, after giving the above instructions. 

"What he is paying us is pittance. But the amount of work we have to do keeps piling up" said Rajesh, with disgust.

"Did he not tell you just now that this is a learning opportunity? If we make proper use of this, we will then get the earning opportunity!" said Siva.

"If you are so gullible, people will continue to exploit you. We have been Mr. Ramadurai's juniors for the past six months. What has he taught us during this period?" asked Rajesh.

"Rajesh! This is not a college, where professors will teach us the subjects. We have to learn things by doing the tasks given to us by our Senior. If we work in this office patiently for two years, doing the tasks given to us and learning things by concentrating on our work and by observing our Senior, we will gain the competence to practice on our own" said Siva.

"That is what you think! Our Senior will keep practicing till the age of ninety and you will be working as his Junior, till the end. Neither will he allow you to practice on your own, nor will you leave him and start your practice."

"Ok. But, what are you going to do?"

"I have waited for six months. He doesn't pay us well. Nor does he give us important tasks that will help us to learn. We can only sit next to him in the court and give him the papers that he wants. We will never be able to argue a case in the court. You will see that in two month's time, I will get a client of my own and start my practice!"

After two months, Rajesh quit as Ramadurai's Junior and started his own practice.

After about a year, Siva met Rajesh in a function.

"How is your practice going?" asked Siva.

"It didn't go as per my expectation. So, I have become a Junior of Lawyer Swaminathan."

"I have not heard his name. Is he having a good practice?"

"What can I say? He doesn't have many cases. So, I don't have much work either. Since his income is irregular, he has not been paying me regularly. I should have continued to work under Mr. Ramadurai. I now feel that I took a hasty decision and quit my job. But, how are you?"

"As you know, Mr. Ramadurai is a busy lawyer, with a number of cases to attend to. So, I have a lot of work to do. In the process, I have been able to learn a lot. Mr. Ramadurai told me that by next year, I would be able to practice independently. So, to equip me for my practice, for the past two months, he has been giving me opportunities to argue cases in the court."

"You are a lucky person" said Rajesh.

"I don't know whether I am lucky. But I have believed that if I remained patient, worked hard and learnt things, I would be able to come up in my profession. I am hopeful that my belief will come true."

"Once you start practicing on your own, I will work under you as your junior!" said Rajesh.

Siva was not sure whether Rajesh said it in a lighter vein or he really meant it.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 13
Restraint

Verse 123 (In Tamil)

seRivu aRindhu sIrmai payakkum aRivu aRindhu
ARRin adangap peRin.

Meaning:

The greatness of one, who is wise and follows the right path

by being restrained, will be recognized and appreciated.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'junior junior' by the same author)

Verse 124 (Soon)
Verse 122