MAHARASHTRA : It is a dream that I never dreamed of that has finally come true,” says 60-year-old Sanjay Kamble, whose 27-year-old son, Siddhant Kamble, recently passed the prestigious Scottish Bar Association exam on his first attempt.
Siddhant became the first ‘Solicitor’ in his entire family, locality and home district in Maharashtra. After receiving the late-night call from his son, who stays in Scotland, Sanjay could not believe the news.
The news immediately took Sanjay back to his past, which was not glorious. It was a period of hard work and struggle. Sanjay started his career in the catering and event management industry as a daily-wage ice cream distributor at marriage and birthday parties.
“I used to earn Rs 5 per day by distributing ice cream to guests at parties. It was a six- to seven-hour job. My legs used to tremble, and I felt severe pain as the guests at the parties were at the peak of their celebrations. My job was to offer ice cream to the guests, but I never had an opportunity to eat it and was not even aware of how it tasted. But our contractor was kind; if some ice cream was left at the end, he used to offer it to us too,” Sanjay Kamble recalled.
He said he had determined that he might have to go through hardship, but he would ensure that his son Siddhant got an education and stood in public with honour and respect.
“I did not want my endless hours of standing to go to waste at parties, either as an ice cream man or an event manager, ensuring that every guest was happy and satisfied with the food and hospitality. My hard work has borne good fruit. I am on cloud nine and feeling very proud of my son, who became a ‘Solicitor’,” Sanjay said.
Sanjay said his son Siddhant was an average student during his school days, but he had a special quality: once he determined to do something, he never backed down from his chosen task.
“Since my childhood days, I was inspired by the academic success and contribution of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to society, the community and the country. I always wanted my son to pursue law and help poor and needy people by giving them justice. Therefore, after the Class 12 board exam, Siddhant decided to pursue the five-year law course in Navi Mumbai. Earlier, we used to live in Mumbai’s western suburbs, and then shifted to a far-flung suburb, so adjusting to the new locality and crowd was a big task. But my son managed and put in 100 per cent effort to complete his LLB at one of the private colleges affiliated with Mumbai University,” Sanjay said. Siddhant, speaking over the phone from Scotland, said that after completing his LLB, he decided to pursue higher studies.
“But the real question was whether to pursue an LLM in India or go abroad. I did a lot of research and consulted my teachers, friends and relatives, and finally decided to go abroad because exposure was important along with studies. I applied to the prestigious University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, for an LLM. I did my LLM in International Commercial Law,” Siddhant said.
Back in India, Opposition leaders coming under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with money laundering cases influenced Siddhant, and he wrote his master’s thesis, ‘Money Laundering and Use of AI – Artificial Intelligence to Combat It’. “I was very happy to do a master’s thesis on this niche but important subject,” he added. Siddhant said studying abroad looks fancy, but it is not easy because students have to stay away from home, manage their own affairs, work part-time, meet expenses and study.
He said that after completing his LLM, he decided to appear for the ‘Solicitor’ exam. “I had little time, but I read as many books as possible. There were 12 subjects for this open-book exam, ranging from international to European and UK law. While doing a part-time job, I read the books whenever I got the time, whether on the bus, train or in court premises. My only motto was to read as many books as possible. And, on my first attempt, I passed the Scotland Bar exam and qualified as a ‘Solicitor’. Now, I am eligible to practise in Scotland.