A Female lawyer known as “THE MAN” in the world of Legal Profession
Born on 5th March, 1928, at Changanassery in Kottayam District, in the State of Kerala, to Adv. K.T. Thomas and Smt Anamma. Being born in a Catholic Christian family, she was made to learn the importance of service to the poor and complete abstinence from the established sins and material pleasures. With regard to the religious importance, she was taught about Jesus as well as Krishna. She had a fluent grasp of Latin, Sanskrit, Malayalam and English. After her primary schooling, she along with her family, shifted to Thiruvananthapuram for her high school studies. A graduate in B.Sc., she chose to do an LL.B. from Madras University, and being fascinated by the special features of our Indian Constitution and its influence in society, she did her LL.M. in Constitutional Law. She was taught by the British professors who taught her the true meaning of liberty, freedom and equality. With her aim to further grasp deeper knowledge in the Constitution and constitutional values, she came to the doors of the Indian Law Institute, Delhi, to do doctoral research on the Constitution but found her path at the opposite doors of the Indian Law Institute and thus started practising in the Supreme Court of India.
She had a perspective so original and kind that she learnt to be a better person from her every experience and struggle. Knowing Krishna as the man of love and Jesus as the one propagating love, the prayer “Our father in Heaven” was engraved in her heart and soul, for she believed and preached that every creature, under the might of Father in Heaven, is a creation of god and therefore equal, as our constitution also guarantees the same under Article 14, and we are all the children of god. Above that, for her, the creature and the creator are equal.
With Krishna and Jesus in her heart, she propagated love to every person she came across. The love, which is not just between a man and a woman, a parent and a child, siblings, neighbours or even fellow countrymen, but also for the entire race of humankind. It was indisputable, for she believed that before looking at the gender, caste, country and religion of a person, they must be seen as a human first. For she was a strong believer of Karma and always made the best efforts to make amends for her own mistakes. For she had the courage to gracefully accept the mistakes of her own and forgive the mistakes of others. She never got married, for she was not connecting to bodies but was connecting to the souls, and thus, she enlightened and strengthened her power by dedicating her entire life for the service of the human race. The lady in black was powerful, for she had nothing to lose. She was known as ‘The Man’ in the legal fraternity, for she deeply felt the burden of stones the other people were carrying and was courageous enough to fight against injustice, irrespective of any odds.
Being a strong believer in minimalism, she gave up all luxuries and materialistic things that life had offered to her. She was a constant learner and made sure to learn from every person, situation and struggle in her life. Whereas she learnt gentleness and kindness from her pious family background, she learnt the importance of individualism and liberty from the fellow British dwellers in India. She learnt socialism from the prevalent communism in Kerala at that time and learnt to fight for the rights, being empathetic because of the atrocities faced by poor people in India. She was not a blind follower of any theory and not addicted to any ideology except the concept of love, but she learnt from every theory to propagate faith, hope and love. She was the desired product of the revolution. The Constitution of India was her Bible and she lived a life like what our forefathers Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar dreamt for the Indians.
Her fraternity was not limited to Christians or even Indians but to all mankind. She lived to serve humankind. She openly revolted against the illegal detentions during the time of Emergency. She always fought against any illegal transgression of Individual’s right. She tried to help as many people as she could till her last breath.
Whenever she was asked about her future and who would take care of her in her old age, she always told her that it was her God who would protect her. She deposited such exorbitant faith in God and his protection. In the year 2008, her old junior Adv. Saju Jakob, whom she had been knowing since 1990, returned from Germany to practise in India and accidentally met her again while praying in the Church. Soon after, they started working together and developed a bond of love which was beyond any bond of blood. Having lived her last years in the house of Adv. Saju Jakob, she passed her wisdom and legacy to him, believing him to be the successor of her revolution and struggles, which she has fought for ages. She regarded him as her adopted son. She was so active that even at the age of 92, she used to come to Court every day, and she joined the heavenly abode with a smile at the end moment of her life, knowing that her revolutionary life would go on forever.
May the light guided by the noble torchbearer brighten the heart of every individual.
