“We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness” -APJ Abdul Kalam
When you’re a working professional in the legal field, certain facts are incontrovertible. For instance, lawyers are always right. I’m joking. They are the most arrogant, devious, amoral, unempathetic and untrustworthy people on this planet. Still joking. The role of lawyers in the ‘social engineering’ of the society is a discussion for another day. Today I want to talk about a process used by everyone associated with the legal field. As it is common knowledge that lawyers and judges are required to read a lot of laws and interpreting those laws is a never ending process. What might seem like an arduous task to outsiders is the driving force for most of us. The constant development of law is proportional to the constant growth of a legal professional. It resonates with our never ending thirst for knowledge. But don’t worry, we’re only human and there are times when we experience doubts too. Just like a painting can be interpreted in multiple ways, a law can also have multiple interpretations. While there is no harm attached to your own meaning of a painting, a different interpretation of the law can have catastrophic effects. I am talking, life and death. I am not going to bore you with the nitty-gritty of law. Rather my attempt is to use simple analogies to relate theories of law with self-actualization.
There are two well established theories of interpreting laws. ‘Literal Interpretation’ and ‘Purposive Interpretation’. As the names suggest, Literal interpretation is used when there is a provision which is clear in language and it is applied as it is. If the language of a provision is ambiguous and more than one interpretation of the same is possible then rule is that the interpretation that serves the purpose better has to be applied. Interestingly, courts have even defied grammar and petty linguistic details to serve the ends of justice. To my mind, this is a refreshing thought. It reminds me of going back to your roots. It’s about finding the origin story of everything you come across. This kind of problem solving really helps lawyers, judges and students alike. I am arguing that let’s implement this purposive interpretation into our personal lives. Don’t worry I am not going to urge you to look for the purpose of your life and call it a day. Instead, knowing the origin story of little things you do can really enhance your experience of “you”. So why not enquire about ourselves with some dedication? Ask yourself, ‘What do I like and why?’ Abed from the popular TV show Community taught me that “once you know who you are and what you like about yourself, changing for other people isn’t such a big deal.” Essentially, you are no longer threatened by change. You are actively pursuing it even. Imagine the pace of disposal of cases if people were more amenable to change and agreeable on settlements. So let us examine the conflict of opinion in our mind. Let’s attend to the every day hearing in the court of our mind wherein we sometimes give out arbitrary verdicts and other times adjourn certain matters because they make us question our belief system.
How does one deal with these conflicts? And why is it important to be just, fair and reasonable with yourself? Well, foremost reason is that if you inflict injustice on yourself, you will never be happy. Less morbid reason is, if you actually try to be compassionate with yourself, acknowledge every issue and do away with your pride, you will be helping the real courts in dealing with the pendency of cases and we as a society will not need courts to resolve our conflicts. It’s a long shot, I know. But unlike in court of law, you are allowed to be the judge in your own case. You are the aggrieved and the aggressor and only you can set yourself free. Let me illustrate-
‘I am fat’ (Literal Interpretation)
-That you are literally not able to fit into those pants. You have gained weight. You are fat now. No ambiguity here. Hard facts.
But soon after, you start feeling insecure about yourself and doubt your self-worth based on your weight. Your mind is at odds. You don’t know how you should feel when others point out that you are fat. You don’t know if you’re still beautiful.
This is where you have to be liberal with yourself.
‘I am fat’ (Purposive Interpretation)
-There can be two or three ways this fact can be interpreted.. one is that you are ugly, no one will ever love you. Another is that the reason you are feeling uncomfortable with this fact is because society puts unreasonable expectations on you. There are forces beyond your control that feed off of your low self-esteem. Another interpretation is, “big deal! I’m fat. I am still the same smart ass I was two minutes ago. If I am unhappy with my weight, better do some exercise and spread positivity around body weight and that will bring me back to my wholesome purpose of fitting into my favorite pants.”
It becomes so important to clearly state the grounds of your suffering and also, the root cause. In legal terminology you can compare it with the ‘cause of action’. If the plaintiff does not clearly and distinctly state his cause of action to the court, his plaint is rejected and quite rightfully so. If you cannot express your issue(s) how can you expect anyone and here, the court to help you?
In the above illustration we have successfully stated our grounds, framed issues, heard all sides and acknowledged that only you decide your worth.
The function of law is acknowledgement. The due acknowledgement of the existence of every person. It is the duty of the courts to legitimize every right of a person that is being violated by any person and sometimes even by the State. Law has the power to make people feel like they can breathe again. In a statement issued by Bilkis Bano after the Supreme Court’s verdict of setting aside the premature release of eleven life convicts who gang raped her and murdered her family, she was found saying, ‘It feels like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again.’ But when the litigants are left remediless they become resentful and no longer remember what they were fighting for. They get tired. They feel invisible. Non-existent.
Similarly when we delay the process of getting to know ourselves better and constantly stand in the way of our own progress, we deny justice to ourselves. We deny validating all parts of ourselves. We are suffering because every day we choose to show up for a fight we no longer believe in. We, as a society, do not believe in ourselves. As Virginia Woolf once said that ‘Beyond the difficulty of communicating oneself, there is the supreme difficulty of being oneself…’ Ergo, all of life becomes a quest to find the courage to be you. The quest is for enlightenment. The quest is for freedom. The quest is to empower your essence.
An effective justice system is beneficial to the society because it balances the interest of different individuals so that they can co-exist with maximum satisfaction and possess the liberty to control their own lives. But the big question is what you will do with all the freedom once you have it. An effective personal justice system can be beneficial to you because it will help you actualize all your dreams. It will help you form interest and opinions. Once you realize that there is a great deal that most of us can do to increase our freedom, you can fight the forces that oppress you. You can build qualities that promote individual freedom. Thereafter go read the Preamble to our constitution and tell me if it doesn’t lift the hair on the back of your neck.
In copyright law there is an established principle that ‘Expression of an idea and not the idea itself is protected under the law’. So law believes that an idea is not safe in your head and expressing it in any form will protect it. This protection is not merely legal. It is the protection of your mind. It is the protection of the essence of you. So go ahead and create. Law got you!
In the end, you may hoodwink yourself into believing that you are never wrong and there is only one interpretation to your life. But think again, do you want a literal life or a purposive life?
Written by Vanshika Rathore, Practicing Lawyer.
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