Roses in December An Autobiography

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About The Author M. C. Chagla (Sept. 30, 1900 - Feb. 9, 1981) Jurist, judge, educationist, diplomat, Central Cabinet Minister and statesman, Shri M.C. Chagla was born at the turn of the century.

He was educated in Bombay at St. Xavier's High School and College after which he went to Lincoln College, Oxford, where he became President of the Indian Majlis. After graduating from there with Honours, he was called to the Bar from the Inner Temple. Returning to India, he taught Law at the Government Law College, Bombay. He became successively a Puisne Judge of the High Court at Bombay and its Chief Justice.

While on the Bench he was also Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University, served on the Law Commission, became Acting Governor of Bombay and Ad Hoc Judge of the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Thereafter for three years he was India's Ambassador to the U.S.A., and for one year High Commissioner for India in the U.K.

As a member of the Indian Cabinet, first as Minister of Education and later of External Affairs, he came into the limelight of Indian politics. He led the Indian Delegations to the Security Council (on Kashmir), to Ottawa, UNESCO and the U. N. General Assembly.

Shri Chagla was the recipient of honorary Degrees of Doctor of Laws from several Universities both in India and abroad. He was a Fellow of the Bombay University and Hon. Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, and was President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (1971-73). His published books include The Indian Constitution; Law, Liberty and Life; The Individual and the State; An Ambassador Speaks;

As Shri Jayaprakash Narayan has mentioned in his 'Foreword' to the Post-Emergency edition Roses in December, "Chagla's crowning glory came during the Emergency (June 1975 to March 1977) which stirred the innermost recesses of his heart and he became a beacon-rallying point-of the forces struggling to restore our freedom and democracy."

Shri Chagla associated himself with the Bhavan from its inception 63 years ago. When he was Union Education Minister, he once visited the Bhavan's Andheri College Campus to participate in the quarterly Shibir Munshiji used to convene for the staff and students of the College.

So much impressed was Shri Chagla by the educational activities of the Bhavan that he offered to give a "Deemed University" status for the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Munshiji, while very much appreciating the offer, declined it on the plea that such a status would result in the Bhavan getting involved in the labyrinth of rules and regulations which would ultimately stifle the institution's initiative and freedom to undertake trend-setting activities.

Shri Chagla married Meherunissa Dharsi Jivraj and had two sons Jehangir and Iqbal and one daughter Husnara. His wife died in November, 1961.

Shri Chagla passed away on February 9, 1981, at the age of 81. Shri Chagla's birth centenary was celebrated on Sept. 30, 2000 at the Bhavan in Mumbai.

Publication of the Centenary International edition was made possible through the spontaneous sponsorship of Shri Iqbal M. Chagla.

Preface A BOOK is generally the result of co-operative effort. "It is not what the author writes that ultimately gets published. He receives suggestions, criticism, advice as to what to omit and what to put in. Most important of all, he must be persuaded to write it in the first place. The book may be in his mind, and might remain buried there. The literary adventure begins to take shape when the first line is written and then, unfortunately for the reader, the explosion follows.

I owe the idea of writing this book to my younger son Iqbal. I had an eye operation, when I was compulsorily prevented from reading anything for a whole month. As is usual with me, I was fretting and fuming and was looking round for something to do. Iqbal placed a tape recorder by my side and told me to start dictating the book then and there. With considerable hesitation and for want of anything better to do I started. Almost all the first 75 pages were dictated on the tape recorder. I am deeply grateful to Iqbal's wife, Roshan, for taking down the recording in shorthand and typing it. I know what a laborious and wearisome task it was. It was cheerfully and ungrudgingly performed. The rest of the book was dictated to stenographers, most of it to Mr. Pithavalla, whose services Mr. Nani Palkhivala very kindly lent to me. He did an excellent job and sent the transcript exactly as I had dictated it - not a distorted unintelligible version of what I had said.

I have worked fairly hard throughout my life; but the labours involved in writing this book was something for which I was never prepared. If I knew, I might have paused, perhaps withdrawn from the undertaking to the undoubted relief of my potential readers. The dictation, apart from tape-recording, took over 60 hours, and almost twice the time was taken up in going through the files of 50 years - press cuttings, speeches broadcasts and letters, most of which had been painstakingly preserved by my wife.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages