As we figured out whilst at the interview, he is the ONE AND ONLY Mr. Haksar, resident of Maharani Bagh since the past almost four decades.. and till now. As we entered, he greeted us so graciously, which gave us instant comfort. That evinced the soft heart beating there !!! And here we were all set to interview ‘Sir’. He sat across us, tall, sophisticated, every bit a senior advocate, looking so so competent, honest, straight forward and strong. As we got talking, his life slowly and gradually unfolded, before us and as is, in the life of most successful people, he spoke of his “hard work and perseverance” in reaching , where Sir is today.
Born in Gwalior, in 1951 (to quote Mr. Haksar “…..I was born long ago”), he travelled with his parents to several cities in the country, as they had a transferable job (Mr. Haksar’s father worked with ITC). Primary education, was from the famous Doon School, Dehradun, whereafter college life was spent at St. Xavier’s, Kolkatta. As is common to all youngsters, Mr. Haksar too wanted to prove himself and reach heights, and with that thought in mind, he had plans of, appearing for the competitive exams (UPSC exams) and serving as an officer in the prestigious Indian Foreign Service. But just a litte later the thought changed completely as one day, whilst at the embassy for some assignment, Mr. Haksar saw that young officers (the ones that he wanted to be a part of) were doing all things, except the ones that they were supposed to as part of service….this caused him to get disillusioned and change his mind. Eventually Mr. Haksar landed up in England to study law.
He started his law career, as a junior in the offices M/s J.D. Dadachanji & Co., the famous law firm of its times, where he worked for 3 years. Thereafter, he joined the chamber of Mr. Soli J. Sorabjee (Senior Advocate) and was associated with him for 4 years. Here he rubbed shoulders with great names like Mr. Harish Salve, Mr. Gopal Subramanian, and Ms. Saurakhya Swamy. At the end of 4 years here, finally, he started his independent practice, which flourished with every passing day. He is known to be an expert in Excise & Tax Laws, Competition Law, Company Law, etc.
Ever since his return to India around 1976, Mr. Haksar has been resident of Maharani Bagh making him one of the first few residents of the colony, in a house, that his father had built. Over the years, he has looked after the esteemed asset diligently, and has added to its beauty from time to time. The house is tastefully done having withstood the ravages of time. Mr Haksar, is currently operating out of the rear wing of his house. The colony, was an excellent place to live in earlier, but now, sometimes it feels as if it is a nightmare, owing to the broken roads which the government refuses to repair/carpet, the leaking underground sewer pipes, the open nallah full of plastic and waste flowing endlessly through the colony, immense water logging, free stench available 24 hours, etc. When we visited him we noticed sacks of sand against the doors of his office! On inquiring we were told they were put as a deterrant for water from entering the house. He was extremely dissappointed at the government’s, apathy towards this colony. The inter colony roads, are in a bad shape, in parts they have also caved in. As he says, the colony is not the same anymore, it needs a lot of reconstruction.
Mr Haskar is one of the founder members of the Maharani Bagh Community Centre, and has contributed along with other residents in giving to the colony some shape, cleaniness, a place for hosting activities, beautifying the garden in the colony, helping to keep the part of the nallah flowing across the colony clean, and many other projects.
We could have carried on, but then as they say, “all good things come to an end”. The time spent chatting with Mr. Haksar was an absolute pleasure.
