Nani Palkhivala-The Law Genius

Nani Palkhivala – The most formidable gladiator of the legal colosseum who, with his phenomenal linguistic prowess and pristine legal acumen, had ruled the Indian legal arena, for more than five decades. Author of finest commentaries on the law and practice in Income Tax, Nani Palkhivala was a supreme lawyer, the nation had ever seen. The most important constitutional law cases of all time, viz., Golak Nath, Bank Nationalisation, Privy Purses, Kesavananda Bharati, St. Xavier’s, Mandal Commission, the Election Commission matter, were all argued by Palkhivala apart from representing the country in major international disputes. Apart from being the most successful lawyer of independent India, he had also been an extraordinary philanthropist, whose generosity was loud in action but quiet in publicity. I happened to read a fine book which chronicled the legend’ journey and also the landmark cases he had argued. The title of the book is “Nani Palkhivala – The Courtroom Genius” authored by two of the most revered lawyers of our time – Shri. Soli J. Sorabjee and Shri. Arvind. P. Datar. True to their words: “No student of law, no lawyer, no chartered accountant, no member of the judiciary, and no well-informed citizen can afford to miss reading this book.”

Nani Palkhivala’s Top 10 Secrets Of Success

Nani Palkhivala was a genius and his incredible success as a lawyer has inspired many generations of youngsters. The law reports are full of cases where he has argued complicated points of law and his treatise “The Law of Income-tax” continues to be a best-seller decades after it was first written.

So what was Nani Palkhivala’s recipe for success? Are there any tips or techniques that we can emulate as well in our careers that will help us become better professionals?

 Well, the new book “Nani Palkhivala: Courtroom Genius” reveals some incredible secrets of Nani Palhivala’s success formula that can be adopted by people like you and me, with average intellectual abilities.

(i) Thorough study of facts & research into law:

To a casual observer, it appeared as if Nani Palkhivala had a quick glance at the brief, immediately absorbed its contents and was instantly ready to argue the entire matter extempore. This was a myth that Palhivala cultivated and even seasoned advocates were taken in by it.

Iqbal Chagla, eminent senior advocate, recollects how he was briefed in a trust matter with Nani Palkhivala. Chagla had a conference with Palkhivala and pointed out a few authorities on the subject. Palkhivala speed-read the judgements and noted their citations on a chit of paper. 10 days later, as the matter was called out in Court, Palhivala breezed in, pulled out the chit of paper and appeared to remember all the facts and principles laid down in the judgements cited by Chagla.

However, this may not be an entirely correct depiction of how Nani Palkhivala worked. While Palkhivala gave the impression in conference of having just browsed through the papers, the reality was that he was very meticulous in studying the facts and researching the law.

This is best exemplified by Nani Palkhivala’s preparation for the Keshavananda Bharati‘s case, the biggest constitutional matter ever argued in the Supreme Court. Palkhivala formed a team of top-notch Counsel including Soli Sorabjee, Anil Divan etc with clear instructions that they should scrutinize the research material and judgements and then brief Palkhivala in the night and morning. Each morning, Palkhivala would indicate the outline of the submissions that he proposed to make during the day and his team had to ensure that all the books and papers were kept ready.

Palkhivala’s defense in the copyright infringement case that was foisted against him by Sampath Iyengar also reveals careful strategic planning and preparation and an approach that no chances would be taken against the opponent.

(ii) Focus & Concentration on the task at hand:

Nani Palkhivala had the ability to focus and concentrate on the task at hand. He did not believe in multi-tasking. Do one job at a time and do it well was his motto.

When Palkhivala conducted a conference, one could see that his table was cleared of all other papers. Only the brief and authorities required for the conference would be placed before Palkhivala. Phone calls and other distractions were not allowed to disturb the proceedings.

The other aspect of Palkhivala was that he would have read up the brief before the conference. His questions on facts were precise and focused and he would keep a list of authorities that he would ask the instructing CAs to keep ready for the hearing.

(iii) Well-thought out strategy before starting the matter:

Nani Palkhivala would formulate his propositions well in advance of the hearing and compartmentalize the facts. So, when he was arguing the matter, it was very clear to the Judges on what propositions of law Palkhivala was advancing, what were the facts and what were the case laws on the subject.

Palkhivala would, at least in important matters, prepare written submissions or propositions that would act as an aide-de-memoire for the Judges.

(iv) Persuasive style of advocacy:

Nani Palkhivala had a two-fold strategy to convince the Court of the correctness of his propositions. Apart from an interpretation of the statutory provisions, Palkhivala loved to paint a dark picture of what adverse consequences would follow if his interpretation of law as not accepted.

Palkhivala’s style was highly persuasive and his expertise of addressing large numbers of the public in the Budget speeches came in handy because Palkhivala instinctively knew what the listeners wanted to hear and gave it to them with a bit of rhetoric.

(v) Courtesy to the Bench & the Bar:

 Palkhivala was very endearing to everyone because, though gifted with incredible intellectual prowess, he was very simple and down to earth. Iqbal Chagladescribed him as “a man of genius who never lost the virtue of humility; a man of singular simplicity graced with unbounded warmth and kindness; a man of letters as much as of the law“.

Vahanvati also spoke of his experience with Palkhivala. He always treated his clients and juniors with “unfailing courtesy” and when the conference was over, Palkhivala would get up from his chair, open the door, led everybody to the lift and made them feel so special. Vahanvati adds that this was not contrived but “came naturally to him. Humility was part of his psyche and he made people comfortable. A great man is one who is truly humble. He doesn’t need to put on airs. He doesn’t need to throw his weight around“.

(vi) Made complicated issues look simple and boring issues look interesting:

Nani Palkhivala had the incredible ability of making his argument sound so simple and convincing that the Judge would be left spellbound. We could all see this in his budget speeches where his speech was full of quotations, statistics and lots of other information that he would recite from memory and without a single scrap of paper before him.

Palkhivala could also do something which no other person has been able to do: Make a dry and boring subject like the annual Budget look interesting and exciting – even for the common man.

Palhivala’s advocacy was unique in that, to use Vahanvati’s words, “when he addressed the Court, he communicated with the judge. He caught his eye. He caught his attention. And he dominated his brain“.

(vii) Time management:

Nani Palkhivala was a stickler for time discipline. In his mind, he would allot the time required for the various tasks that he had to accomplish and ensure that they were done within that time. This strict adherence to time management made it necessary for Palkhivala to focus and concentrate on the job in hand and his ability to focus and concentrate made it possible for him to adhere to his self-imposed time restrictions.

Palkhivala hated to come to Court early and to have to just sit and wait for his matter to reach. He would walk into the courtroom just a few moments before his matter was expected to be called out. If the preceding matter took longer than expected, Palkhivala would get visibly annoyed and tense though he would not say anything.

If Palkhivala did have to sit in Court, he would busy himself with reading some other brief or case for opinion. He would also settle draft petitions and opinions in Court. After finishing his matter, Palkhivala would rush back to his Chambers for the next conference or to read up for the next matter.

(viii) Single-pointed determination to succeed:

This trait can be seen amongst all successful person whether they be in the field of sports, business or the profession. Such people are highly motivated and self-driven. They set goals for themselves and push themselves hard to achieve that.

Nani Palkhivala was no exception to that rule. From childhood, he was a topper in everything that he did.

(ix) Capacity for hard work:

This was a natural corollary of Nani Palkhivala’s high levels of motivation and strong urge to succeed. Palkhivala welcomed legal problems and complications. He enjoyed solving these problems the way ordinary people enjoyed solving crossword puzzles. Palkhivala did not regard work as ‘work’ or as something that one had to do to earn a living while craving to do something else. For him, work was itself a source of pleasure; a tool of amusement and something that would refresh him.

So, Palkhivala was ready, willing and able at any time of the day (or night) to tackle legal problem. The authors give examples of how Palhivala conducted a conference at 12.30 am with Bansi S. Mehta, an eminent Chartered Accountant, and another at 3.30 am with Ravinder Narain, the well known advocate. The secret of Palkhivala’s unending reservoir of energy was that he never regarded these assignments as ‘work’.

(x) Speed reading & continuous self-improvement:

Palkhivala had mastered the art of speed-reading in which a person rapidly skims a page from top to bottom and assimilates all its important points. His masterful ability to focus and concentrate would have aided this trait of speed-reading.

The other aspect of Nani Palkhivala was that he was very fond of reading ‘self-improvement’ books, especially those by Peter Drucker. It does sound odd that a person of such incredible intellectual ability should be interested in ‘self-improvement’ books but these books were probably just an enjoyable distraction for him.

NANI PALKHIVALA-The court room genius

The nature of legal profession requires a truly great practitioner to be a jack of all trades while being a master at most of them. The extent of legal professionals’ involvement in politics, economics and policy can look odd to someone who does not grasp this. Nanabhoy (“Nani”) Ardeshir Palkhivala’s achievements in the field of public policy are enviable even to a seasoned policy-maker. And Nani Palkhivala was also, unequivocally, a colossus of the Indian bar.

For Nani Palkhivala, law must have been an unlikely choice. Coming from humble circumstances and out of a prolonged spell of speech impediment, the young Nani aspired to be a lecturer in English. Academia’s loss set in motion the development of one India’s finest legal minds.

Called to bar in 1944, Palkhivala made it quite plain that he was a master in waiting. His eloquence and grasp of subject matter would even inspire quite an audience in cases he argued in Bombay. By the age of 30, he produced an authoritative tome on Indian tax law, sharing credit with the legendary Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga. Within a short period, the young lawyer found himself arguing before the Supreme Court in Delhi, incidentally starting with a constitutional law matter centred on fundamental rights. The legend of Palkhivala has its roots mostly in the subsequent cases he would appear for in the Supreme Court, in particular the Keshavanda Bharati case.

Keshavanda Bharati v. State of Kerala, nothing short of an all out war fought on many turfs of constitutional law, was significant enough to call for the constitution of an unprecedented thirteen-judge bench. Parties put their best foot forward and employed the most capable lawyers of the land for this ultimate showdown. Issues and resolutions in the case were notoriously complex, but it is widely agreed upon that it was Nani Palkhivala who stood tallest at the end of this bitter fight over fundamental rights of an Indian citizen. Palkhivala was acutely aware of the import of the decision on the case and would emerge as its greatest defendant in public and in subsequent challenges to aspects of the judgment.

To have appeared in, let alone make a mark in such a case would have secured a lawyer’s place in the nation’s history. But Palkhivala realized that the government required a strong intellectual opposition. Guided by his libertarian ethos and influenced by his ringside view of how far an unfettered government will go, he threw his intellectual weight and legal acumen behind taking on what he perceived as the wrongs of Nehruvian socialism.

Palkhivala would undertake this mission in courts through a string of constitutional law cases that focuses on fundamental rights. Equally significant were his activities in the public domain excluding courts. Palkhivala was a self-taught economist who picked up the dismal science for advancement of his tax law practice. He would use this knowledge in a string of speeches and articles on economic policy that were keenly followed by the general public. His famous budget-day speeches started out as an informal gathering where he would dissect the Union Budget for the audience. Its popularity grew to such an extent that hiring of the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai would become a necessity.

The man who declined offers to be on the Supreme Court bench, and to be the central government’s first law officer would finally take up a government assignment in 1977 as India’s ambassador to the United States of America. There was a virtual race among universities there to fete this capable polymath from India with honoris causa doctorates.

An oft-overlooked aspect of life is his philanthropy. Perhaps it speaks eloquently of what kind of a human being Nani was. This selfless servant to ideas was also in the habit of making massive personal cheques out to various charities he took an interest in. Soli Sorabjee rightly invokes Cardinal Newman to describe the man, “Of Nani, it can be truly said that he walked with Kings yet lost not the common touch.”

Satya Nadella is the current Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. He was appointed as CEO on 4 February 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer. Before becoming CEO of Microsoft, he was Executive Vice President of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, responsible for building and running the company's Computing Platforms, Developer Tools and Cloud Computing Services.

Satya Nadella  was born in Hyderabad in a Telugu family from Anantapur district  in Andhra Pradesh, India. His father was a civil servant in the Indian Administrative Service.^[12][13] Nadella attended the Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet^[14] before attaining a bachelor of engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications from the Manipal Institute of Technologyin 1987 (then affiliated with Mangalore University), Manipal, Karnataka.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

Nadella subsequently traveled to the U.S. to study for an MS degree in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee,^[20] receiving his degree in 1990.^[21] Later he received an MBA from the University of ChicagoBooth School of Business.

Nadella said he "always wanted to build things" He knew that computer science was what he wanted to pursue, but that emphasis was not available at Manipal University. "And so it [electronic engineering] was a great way for me to go discover what turned out to become a passion," he says.

Nadella worked with Sun Microsystems as a member of its technology staff prior to joining Microsoft in 1992.^[

At Microsoft Nadella has led major projects including the company's move to cloud computing and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world.^[

Nadella worked as the senior vice-president of research and development (R&D) for the Online Services Division and vice-president of the Microsoft Business Division. Later, he was made the president of Microsoft's $19 billion Server and Tools Business and led a transformation of the company's business and technology culture from client services to cloud infrastructure and services. He has been credited for helping bring Microsoft's database, Windows Server and developer tools to its Azure cloud. The revenue from Cloud Services grew to $20.3 billion in June 2013 from $16.6 billion when he took over in 2011.

Nadella's 2013 base salary was nearly $700,000, for a total compensation, with stock bonuses, of $7.6 million.^[

Previous positions held by Nadella include:

·         President of the Server & Tools Division (9 February 2011 – February 2014..)

·         Senior Vice-President of Research and Development for the Online Services Division (March 2007 – February 2011)

·         Vice-President of the Business Division

·         Corporate Vice-President of Business Solutions and Search & Advertising Platform Group

·         Executive Vice-President of Cloud and Enterprise group

On 4 February 2014, Nadella was announced as the new CEO of Microsoft,^[ the third chief executive in the company's history

In 1992 Nadella married Anupama, daughter of his father's IAS batchmate, K.R. Venugopal. They have three children, a son and two daughters, and live in Bellevue, Washington

C.K.PRAHALAD

Coimbatore Krishnarao Prahalad, Padma Bushan, (August 8, 1941 – April 16, 2010)^[1] was a globally known figure who was consulted by the top management of many of the world's foremost companies. His research specialized in corporate strategy and the role of top management in large, diversified, multinational corporations. C.K. Prahalad is famous as the father of the concepts of " core competency" and "the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid".

Early life in India

Prahalad was one of nine children born in 1941 in Coimbatore,Tamil nadu. His father was a well-known sanskrit scholar and judge in chennai. At 19, he joined Union Carbide, he was recruited by the manager of the local Union Carbide battery plant after completing his B.Sc degree in Physics from Loyola college,Chennai , part of the University of Madras. He worked there for four years. Prahalad called his Union Carbide experience a major inflection point in his life. Four years later, he did his post graduate work in management at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He met his wife, Gayatri during this time; they married five years later, and subsequently had two children.

Doctorate studies at Harvard

At Harvard Business School, Prahalad wrote a doctoral thesis on multinational management in just two and a half years, graduating with a D.B.A. degree in 1975.

Teacher and professor

After graduating from Harvard, Prahalad returned to India. He taught at his alma-mater the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, but soon returned to the United States. He was appointed to position of the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan.

On April 16, 2010, Prahalad died of a previously undiagnosed lung illness in San Diego.

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell (born September 3, 1963) is a British-born Canadian journalist, author, and pop sociologist, based in New York city . He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He is best known as the author of the books The Tipping Point (2000), Blink (2005), and Outliers (2008). professor at the University of Waterloo; his mother, Joyce, is a Jamaican-born psychotherapist. Gladwell has said that his mother, who published a book titled Brown Face, Big Master in 1969, is his role model as a writer.Though born in the United Kingdom, Gladwell was raised in Elmira ,Ontario, Canada and graduated with a degree in history from the University of Toronto's Trinity College in 1984. During his high school years, Gladwell was an outstanding middle distance runner and won the 1500m Midget Boys title at the 1978 Ontario High School championships in Kingston, Ontario, in a duel with eventual Canadian Open record holder David Reid.
Courtesy:Wikipedia

NANDAN NILAKENI-THE GREAT ENTREPRENEUR

Nandan Nilekani is the second-youngest son of Durga and Mohan Rao Nilekani.He was born in Sirsi a small town in Karnataka, he did his graduation in IIT Bombay .
In 1978, Nilekani joined Patni Computer Systems where his colleague was N. R. Narayana Murthy. Three years later in 1981, Nilekani and six other enthusiasts, led by Murthy, decided to start their own company, InfoSys (later renamed Infosys).
Nilekani became the CEO of Infosys in March 2002, taking over from Murthy. Nilekani served as CEO and MD of the company from March 2002 to April 2007, when he relinquished his position to his colleague Kris Gopalakrishnan, becoming Co-Chairman. Nilekani has an estimated net worth of US$1.3billion.

In 2004, Nilekani was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest Indian civilian decoration. In January 2006, he became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board.

Nilekani was named one of "Asia's Power 25 – The Most Powerful People in Business in Asia" by Fortune magazine, 2004. He was regarded by TIME magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" in May 2006, and by Forbes Asia as "Business Leader of the Year" 2006.
Nilekani is a co-founder of India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). He is also the chairperson of the Bangalore Agenda Task Forc (BATF). His book,

Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century
In this book, Nandan discusses on topics such as the future of India,its recent history,the ideas and attitudes that evolved with the times and contributed to the country’s progress,India’s early socialist policies,its young population,Information Technology, caste politics, labour reform, infrastructure, higher education, the English language in India among others.