Transformational Fifty 

M.C Jose was my senior in K.E College, Mannanam. A very amiable and agreeable person with a pleasant demeanour, Jose had endeared himself to his classmates and teachers as a well behaved and talented boy in the campus. Though the College was meant only for men at that time, Jose had the rare distinction of being considered the college beauty. As Shakespeare says, “there by hangs a tale “.Jose donned the mantle of the heroine in a stage play. The heroine looked stunningly beautiful and he became the talk of the campus. Jose, in his female form drew raving applause from his male admirers including (hushhush) the teachers. If Jose were not a senior lawyer \, as he now is, he would perhaps have become a celebrity in the tinsel world.

My exposure to Jose as a lawyer started when I happened to be posted as the Sub Collector of Kasaragode. Jose’s place, Hosdurg or kanhangad was a few Kilometres from the subdivision headquarters. I used to make it a point to route my trips to the district head quarters, Kannur, via Hosdurg so that I could spend some time with dear friend, Jose . Once Jose took me for lunch in one of the best restaurants in the town. To my surprise, as the lunch came a swarm of flies also zoomed in. Very rare and disagreeable sight for me. There I first saw Jose’s capability in advocacy. He told me, this is the time of tobacco growing in Hosdurg. The flies are attracted by the manure that is used to feed the manure used for tobacco farming. There will be hundreds and thousands of the flies all around during the season. According to Jose that is the time when the entire place is their habitat. Its not that they are intruding into our habitat. But we are trespassing into their habitat. Though little disagreeable at that time, I found Jose’s advocacy for environmental protection and diversity is something which stems from his concern for the balance of the Universe. Jose always has this sense of balance grain.

Jose had an excellent innings as a lawyer. He grew into a popular leader and became the District President of his party. Though the member of a national party, he was loved and respected by people who belong to different political ideologies. He was firm beneath his gentleness and gentle beneath his firmness.

I remember those days when I happened to be the Secretary to the then Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri K. Karunakaran. Advocate M.C Jose belonged to a group within the party which was not in tune with the Chief Minister. But the Chief Minister had lot of regards for the personality of M.C Jose. Jose had lot of access to me as a friend and collegemate . I can never think of any occasion where Jose tried to use that affinity for any political gain. He always keeps his professional and personal life apart neither did he use any opportunity to shift his loyalty for narrow political gains.

We have the instance of lawyers taking prominent position in public life and in politics. As lawyer Politician, Advocate M.C Jose can claim the distinguished lineage of icons like Lala Lajpat Rai, C.R das, Sardar Patel, Panampilly Govinda Menon, V.R Krishna Iyer Kapil Sibal, Arun Jaitley and their ilk.

Life is nothing but froth and bubble. Two things stand like stone. Kindness in another’s troubles And courage in your own. This dictum seems to apply well with M.C Jose .Looking at the years that he has spent as a responsible citizen of this nation, most of his achievements are in the field of public service. Jose is no doubt, a professionally competent and efficient person . But he has not used his profession for the worship of mammon. Nor has his political leadership made him utilize the opportunities for personal gains. What he has gained is a reputation which is unblemished and the love and respect of those around him. As a lawyer he has earned a niche for himself as one who is committed to protect the interests of his client without compromising on justice and fair play.

While looking back on life, Jose can feel proud that he has left his legacy to more competent hands. I had the occasion of interacting with his son, Jawahar, a bright young man, who has also taken to the profession of an advocate and doing exceedingly well there. Dignified, balanced and articulate, Jawahar is taking after his father, in many ways. Jose’s second son, Sharath is a successful entrepreneur ,in Bengaluru and daughter Annalakshmi practices medicine, in Dubai. Mrs Jose, the contented homemaker, is the unseen breeze which moves the sail that propels the ship.

There is this incident which happened in the life of a botanist. He was touring the Jungles of Africa with his students. He noticed a beautiful flower. Enamoured of it, he came forward to pluck it. To his surprise he found the beautiful petals of the beautiful flower flew off in different directions. He could not understand what was happening around him. Adding dismay to his dis belief ,the petals of the flower flew back and converged on another point and a beautiful flower was again born. The botanist observed, what flew off in different directions were not the beautiful petals of the flower, but a group of ugly insects. When the ugly insects which flew off in different directions, converge on to a rallying point, a beautiful flower is born. This is what happens around a leader who has transformational potentials. As a father, as a lawyer, as a politician, M.C Jose was transformational. That sums up the lawyer and the man.