This week, I’ve been reading P.G. Wodehouse’s novel, Something Fresh. I love how he characterises lawyers and their stuffy offices, ‘redolent of that atmosphere of desolation which lawyers alone know how to achieve’. And the grimy windows, never opened, except once ‘in a fit of mad excitement induced by the news of the Battle of Waterloo’.
I also met up with Sarwan Singh, a working-class Barrister, who took me for a little walk down by London’s Gray’s Inn. I’ve never visited him in his office, but I’ll bet the atmosphere is dynamic and windows open. He gave me a message for people at the start of their careers.
And here’s a transcript!
Hi, let me introduce myself. I'm Sarwan Singh. And I chose a career that wasn't really expected of me in terms of where I came from.
I came from a very peasant working class immigrant family in Watford, and I then trained to become a barrister.
And on my right is Gray’s Inn.
I don't know if you can show them that Paul.
So thanks for that Paul.
That's Grazing, one of the four inns of court that you have to join if you want to become a barrister.
And then after qualifying as a barrister I practised, and am now teaching at an academic institution.
So all of that was very unexpected and not what I should have been doing because a lot of my school friends ended up working in retail, hospitality, local shops in Watford etc.
So, really I probably have one very short message for those who come from similar backgrounds, and it kind of goes along the lines of: nothing is sacred, there's nothing sacred in life and you can be whatever you want to be. Do not think that, oh, you know, becoming a barrister or a doctor or a civil engineer is beyond me.
Obviously, you have to put in the effort, but don't think this is too alien for me, I'm not going to be comfortable in that environment. The world is your oyster and you should pursue it without any feelings of not having the skills or the talent or the environment.
You know, you may have grown up in an environment where there were no books no music no literature no visits to museums. But I don't think your past determines your future.
So I think my message is, you know, go for it.
Don't limit your thinking about what you can become.
Thanks Paul.
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