Nani Adirsher Palkivala was not an individual but an institution. If the future generation looks for a role model to be an ideal Indian, nay ideal vishwamanava, there is no one better than the Late Palkivala. Why do I call him purushashresta? Man’s mind has several levels of evolution. Ordinarily people have simple manas, which is like a closed room with a tiny window and could detect simple happenings as they happen without the capacity even to gauze their significance. Our past experience gives us some more capacity to understand things. This could come from our intelligence taking into consideration the experiences. This level of the mind is budhi. The next level is chitta, where, in addition to intelligence we bring in our ego. The latter makes matters difficult for us as we look at things around us with our selfish motives. That is the level at which vrittis, desires and worries start. One could overcome all that by self-education and elevate himself to the level called purusha. This level of mental evolution is the result of man/woman acquiring viveka, which makes us to overcome the ego to a great extent. This is what sage Patanjali had in mind when he defined yoga. “Chitta vritti nirodhaha yogaha.” Occasionally, may be in rare circumstances, someone could evolve further than all these levels of mind to that greatest level-purushstreshta . At this level of evaluation of the human mind, man almost reaches the level of God Himself. At this level of development man is concerned, day in and day out, with the welfare of others in society. They live only for others – “Paropakaaraartham Idam shariram”.





This is the level where man/woman would realize his/her duties on this planet. Man should live for others, thinking of the welfare of mankind as a whole without any consideration of class, place, nation, race, religion, caste, language or any other man made differences between man and man. Those are the true philanthropes. This word is loosely used to describe people who give money freely for so called “charity” with lot of publicity attached to it. The real duty of man is not charity but sharity. Wealth and position in life are the blessings of God to be shared with less fortunate brethren in society. This was the level Late Palkivala had attained. The name purushshreshta fits the bill here admirably.



Michel de Montaigne, one of the great French thinkers, writing in his celebrated book The Essays, had this suggestion for bringing up children to be good citizens in any society. To me it looks as if Palkivala had read it early in life to internalize Montaigne’s philosophy. Knowing him, as I do, to be one of the most widely read scholars, I have no hesitation to think that Montaigne influenced his thinking.









“quid fas optare asper

utile nummus habet; patriae charisque propinquis

Quantum elargiri deceat; quem to Deus esse

Jussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re;

Quid sumus, aut quidnam victuri gignimur.”







[what he may justly wish for; that money is hard to earn and should be used properly; the extent of our duty to our country and to our dear ones, what God orders you to be, and what place He has assigned to you in the scheme of things; what we are and what we shall win when we have overcome. Teach the boy this.]



I could not think of any other better way to describe his intense empathy for his fellowmen. I think he was guided by divine blessings.



Late Nani Palkivala was, probably, the greatest Jurist this country had ever seen. I am not going to extol his virtues as a Jurist as there are many others more qualified to do so. However, there is one aspect of his legal practice that stands out even to a layman like me. By and large the conventional thinking about the legal profession is that the lawyers are trained to defend their clients under all circumstances. Late Palkivala’s authenticity of practice was such that he rarely ever, if ever, tried to defend unethical clients or espouse anti-social causes. The likes of late Palkivala probably are very few, indeed. King Ferdinand of France had even promulgated a special clause in the statute governing the original immigrants to the Indies when the New World was discovered. The clause read – “No one who studied Jurisprudence shall ever be included in the immigrants’ list - Let people be at least happy in the New World”. May be there were no Jurists as authentic as Nani even in those days!



Be that as it may, let us analyze his nationalistic fervor. I am yet to see another human being more committed to his country and his people, more so to the less fortunate in society. He was an Indian to the core, he loved his country and his fellowmen so much that he was prepared to sacrifice everything to uphold the dignity and the culture of his country. Recently, even when his physical condition was not too good, he still persued his relentless thirst for new knowledge. The wonderful book – “Origin of the Human past – Children of Immortal Bliss”, written by Dr. Lakshmikantham of the Florida Institute of Technology wherein the author had shown, with documentary evidence, that Parsis are derived from the Indian stock, touched a cord in his heart.



This must have made Nani so happy that he called the author in the USA requesting him to go down to Bombay, so that Nani could see him in flesh and blood. He spent money for a return ticket and his stay in Bombay. When the author appeared in person, Nani hugged him with tears welling up in his eyes. Nani was so happy that, at least in the evening of his life, he was able to find his roots. He was in search for the same all his life. This single incident bares the inner secrets of Nani’s heart - a great Indian indeed!



A personal anecdote comes to mind. A few years ago I was on a lecture tour of the USA. One night Nani called me in San Francisco. I was scheduled to give a talk in Los Angeles the following weekend. Nani asked me to come down to Bombay immediately to take part and deliver a talk on a very important meeting, he was organizing in Bombay for National Integration. While I was trying to impress upon him the importance of my commitments in the US, he cut me short by his firm, but affectionate command: “ Your country needs you much more than this US meeting” I could not say no for an answer. I had to cancel all my commitments and rush back to Bombay in the early hours of the day of this very important meeting. Nani Palkivala went up very much in my estimate after this incident.



In conclusion, suffice it to say that here was a man who, by the sheer dint of his hard work, sincerity, perseverance, universal compassion, empathetic attitude towards fellowmen and genuine humility rose up from penury to be one of the greatest jewels in the crown of Mother India – the real Ratna of Bharath. When I look at Palkivala’s life I am reminded of an old saying of Wincent Chuchill – “It is better to deserve than to get. Palkivala’s life reminds us of the great Indian Subhashitha.



Nothing is heavy for a Samartha,

Distance matters little for the Vyavasaayinam,

Nobody is an outsider for a Priyavaadi, and

There is no foreigner for the Savidya.

Everyone is his kith and kin.



This Subhashitha fits the bill aptly in Nani’s case. May his soul rest in peace.

He has done well in this world and he would certainly do well in the world of the dead. Let us build the unbreakable bridge of the human love connecting the world of living and the world of the dead. Let us love the memory of the late Nani Palkivala and live our lives trying to imbibe at least some of the qualities of head and heart of the great departed soul. This shall be the best tribute one could pay to Nani Palkivala. History of any country is but the biography of men and women who have achieved greatness in life. Indian history would be incomplete without the biography of Nani Palkivala.