Can you imagine a Christmas without them?

We’d all miss the cheap plastic toys, the paper hats that never fit and, God forbid, the jokes… What is Santa’s favourite pizza? One that’s deep pan, crisp and even.The joke was voted the worst, groan-inducing festive gag a few years back by the readers of Nuts magazine.

• Here’s a couple more to get you into the party swing:
• How do snowmen get around? They ride an icicle.
• Who hides in the bakery at Christmas? A mince spy.
• Got you in the mood? Good, ‘cos here’s some of the best, courtesy of Guy and Will over at guy-sports.com.
• What does a frog do if his car breaks down? He gets it toad away.
• What do you call a crazy golfer? A crack put.
• And finally, one more little gem:
• What do you call a blind dinosaur? A doyouthinkhesawus.

Christmas cracker jokes, apparently, are not meant to be side-splittingly funny, according to cracker manufacturers Robin Reed Crackers. We in Britain love the fact they are not.And they should know, selling as they do literally millions of crackers every single year to a host of countries across the world, including Canada, Australia, the USA and, of course, right here in the UK.

The corny cracker joke is a tradition which has lived on over the years, with Brits preferring to groan then giggle when pulling crackers at the Christmas dinner table.Julian Reed, founder of Robin Reed, says, “Consumers genuinely prefer corny jokes, we’ve actually had complaints after trying to introduce more genuinely amusing gags – it seems that the British public have fond memories of groaning at a bad punchline after pulling their crackers!” Sounds about right. They’ve also got a cracking top ten list of the corniest cracker jokes ever. Here’s a couple of them:

• How do cows subtract? With a cow-culator.
• Why did the teacher wear sunglasses? Because her class was too bright.
• What do ghosts play at parties? Haunt and seek.
• To finish off this slightly irreverent look at Christmas crackers , do you know the length of the longest cracker ever made?

According to the Guiness World Records, the world’s longest Christmas cracker measured 63.1m (207 ft) long and 4m (13 ft) in diameter and was made by the parents of children at Ley Hill School and Pre-School, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, UK on 20 December 2001.

And largest Christmas cracker pull was achieved by 1,478 participants for an event organised by Honda R&D KEN-YU-KAI Tochigi (Japan) at Tochigi Proving Ground, Tochigi, Japan, on 18 October 2009.

In the Mrs. Doubtfire vs. Italian Restaurant, we had successfully managed to settled to the tune of millions and on the other side, in helping Adam’s girlfriend Angela, I had been gaining up on the people  who had been responsible in her family’s condition and those who had ‘accidentally’ veered to almost put me and Neal to our graves. But soon there began to be repercussions of my search. We saw incidences of the people around me having eerie  feelings of being followed. First was Neal, then me and then, to my beginning horror, Yvonne my girlfriend. They were trying to send us a message and we had received it loud and clear.

That weekend, the whole gang gathered in my apartment to discuss what our course of action would be. We all knew the lives we were putting in danger and being the one who would be responsible for all, I was facing the biggest dilemma that could be; either to protect my family or to protect my client. In the strictest of official term, Angela’s father was not my client as such, I had just promised to help them. What had really got me going was the incident where someone had tried to run us over. Maybe I was in search of the truth or maybe it was just a plain case of my ego getting hurt. Much as I would like to say that I was in search of truth, but I was making myself understand that maybe, just maybe it was a case of hurt ego. I was no hero after all.

Adam, Neal and I explained the gang of all the recent happenings and after listening to everything, Daniel was quiet, maybe out of the same dilemma that I was in. But Kaitlin was swift to protest, she in fact presented the very obvious solution that we should drop pursuing those people in order to protect the people around us. I looked at Yvonne to see if she had the same feelings. To my surprise, she was of the opinion that we should ‘go to the mattresses’; and she used that phrase literally. We guys were a bit shocked that she used the phrase since not many girls were familiar with the Godfather series. ‘Going to the mattresses’ meant declaring a silent war on them and taking them down.

But Kaitlin, Lorenzo and for the matter Adam (who must be feeling guilty for everything) had some pretty strong opinions and had made their case a strong one. I could not put everyone in danger for someone who wasn’t even officially a client. They won and we decided to declare truce with the ‘Italian people’.

It was not an easy decision for me, I don’t know why. Maybe in the end, I did want to be the hero and save those people (Angela’s family) and the people of the city from the likes of these some tainted Italian businesses. But then again, when I say Italian, there are a lot of Italian businesses in the city and a majority of them are good ones and since most of the tainted ones hide in plain sight, it is hard to differentiate. I was running behind something that even the strong NYPD hasn’t been able to crack down upon.

In the end, as much as I would like to be hero, I have to protect my own first.

I had met Adam at one of our cocktail nights and he seemed like a really nice chap. He was in his senior year of college and Neal told me that everything seemed to be fine until he met with the accident. Neal then made a shocking revelation that Adam met with the accident because he was running from some hooded men and that before losing his consciousness in the hospital he had mentioned my name to Neal. Neal was as shocked as I was and we both decided to investigate. Neal called up a few of Adam’s friends he knew and none of them came up with anything. There was Adam’s roommate though who had made a tall claim that Adam was getting on the wrong side of the law. We immediately headed to meet this guy and he gave us the story that he thought that Adam had been ‘dealing’. He told us that he had heard Adam talk to someone from Harlem and that Adam had begun visiting the place quit often. He had once seen Adam write down an address of St. Nicholas Av. 125th Street. Neal and I both looked at each other in surprise as we knew what that area meant. It was amongst the 25 most dangerous areas in the country. Then as a shocker, he told us that he had given the same story to the cops. We had to work fast before the cops stereotyped Adam and implicated him. Hence, even though it had been past 10 pm, we decided to go to Harlem.

We first went to my house to grab my licensed 9mm and then headed toward Harlem. Harlem, in general had changed over the years from a dangerous neighborhood to that of a good one. However, there were still some parts which were dangerous, like the one we were about to enter. There was a possibility that Neal would have been OK alone in this part of the city but a white guy like me looked completely out of place and that was not a good thing here. We parked the vehicle well before our destination and were on foot; I secured my 9mm in my trouser.

We must have walked just four blocks when we came across a group of guys who looked about 14-15. I thought that they might be just wannabes of ‘the hood’. Neal showed them a photograph of Adam and one of the boys recognized it. He gave us the address of the place Adam frequented and offered to show us the way. The whole neighborhood was dead quiet and Neal and I hoped that we don’t turn up dead in the place. I talked to Neal in French and told him that since we had entered the area in the first place, there was no going back, it was either do or die. Neal asked me why I was risking life for Adam and I told him that I believed that he was innocent.

The boy led us to a shady looking apartment building and up to the second floor. He rang the bell on the 1st apartment and we waited for it to open. Who knew that instead of a person there would be just a barrel, a flash and bang that would be the last thing we saw. But contrary to our fear, a young lady opened the door and Neal recognized her as Adam’s girlfriend Angela. She invited us in and after hearing us, she explained her part of the story. Her father had been recently duped by some Italian businessman and reduced to shambles and hence they had to move to this dangerous neighborhood. Adam was visiting often to help her father work out a way. He had mentioned to her that he suspected he was being followed and would be taking my help to solve the matter.

We all reached the conclusion that he must have been coming to me for help when he met with that accident. With that enough for us to clear him we decided to head home and handle the rest the next day. We bid Angela good bye and headed out towards the car; the streets around us were quite deserted and the ‘boy hood’ was also nowhere in sight. We must have gone just a block when I heard a car speeding and the next thing I knew was that Neal had a tight grip on my hand and was dragging me with him. We were running frantically and under the adrenaline rush, I even forgot that I had a gun. We heard a gunshot but we both were already face down on the pavement. It was then that I gained control over my senses and pulled out the gun; I shot at the car but it sped off and my bullet hit the rear bumper. We got up and being on our guard made a run for our car.

We headed straight for the police station and I took care of all the formalities. I also called a friend at the DA’s office and explained him the situation where he promised me to take care of matter for then. We headed home and the first thing I did was call up Yvonne. In those moments where my life could had been hanging between life and death, she was the first person I thought of. That was a sign.

Everyone agreed to the ridiculous idea and we even set the ground rules, which were rather simple; we would behave exactly as tourist, like go sightseeing, asking for directions and even take the public transit. We packed the bare necessities like a camera, a travel pouch and as a cherry on the top, a New York City guidebook and we headed out. Our first stop was going to be Grand Central.

When we got off the taxi, we thought that it would be the good old, same Grand Central; however when we stepped in we felt as if we had been hit by a bout of hot air. The Grand Central was the same, but this time, our point of view was different. We saw people move in a flurry while we, the tourists just observed them; and not only them, we were able to observe the small details of the place. We marveled at what all we had missed during the years and we simply bustled through the place without drinking in its beauty. The girls wanted to eat at the famous Oyster Bar but we were short of time and hence we promised them that we’d bring them some other day.

We stepped out and were surprised for the second time of the day. Right in front of us was a vintage bus of the MTA and without any thought we got into it and very shamelessly asked the driver as to where it would be going. When he told us that it would be going to Circle Line, our next destination was therein set. Luckily, Neal was carrying enough change for paying for our tickets. As we settled down for our journey, we marveled at the bus and how comfortable it was. We later learned that it was part of the MTA’s Nostalgia Special for the holiday season. There were even vintage subway cars.

We got off the bus and booked tickets for our next destination – the Liberty Island. On the cruise, when we passed the Elis Island, Yvonne told me of a family story connected with the place. Not many non-New Yorkers know the connection of Elis Island with immigration during the early 1900’s. The Statue of Liberty was not that fascinating to me, maybe because I am a lawyer!?

The major attraction of New York was still pending and we headed straight for it as we made landfall. But this time we took mixed transport as we wanted to see the vintage subway cars. We did manage to get into one and noticed that just like the bus, the wicker seats of these cars were comfortable as well; albeit not so much for the ladies if they were torn with the wicker popping out. It really felt as if I was in the previous century, all I needed was a double breasted coat and a pipe to go with. Alas! I don’t smoke.

The Empire State Building. Once the tallest building in the world the building has once again become the jewel in New York’s crown as the tallest building in the city (after the fall of World Trade Center towers). The view it presents of the city is unmatchable and sheer feeling of being on top of the city is something in itself. We all stood there, just bathing in its glory for some time and then began to head back.

We got down and went on to Union Square for some snacks and rest and I really enjoyed just sitting there and watching people, the incidents and everything. This was the calm New York. While the girls went on a souvenir shopping, we guys just sat there talking about life in the city and how, even in this fast life, we haven’t lost each other. Time passed by and the ladies still had a hidden agenda for the evening. When they told us, Neal and Lorenzo decided to skip that part of the tour and meet us directly at the apartment.

It seemed like Yvonne had told Kaitlin about our last Christmas’s hansom cab ride at the Central Park and now she wanted one too with Daniel. So we just tagged along to Central Park for the ride. Odd enough, the ride didn’t feel the same; in fact I felt that there was a strong odor of horse crap in most of the places. Maybe the circumstances in which I met Yvonne that Christmas was what had made the ride special.

The tour was a lot fruitful in the end, all of us agreed on that. It gave us a slightly different perspective of the city and its people as we found that in most cases, the people were kind to help us, the tourists. There is a lot we can learn by becoming tourists in our own city. We reached home and simply crashed on anything soft that we found. It was a tiring day and hence, we decided to skip cooking and order the old American way; pizza and bear.

The Orchid Show is an annual event that takes place during the time of February till April; this year it was going to be held between March 5 and April 25. The article I was reading promised an exceptional set design by Tone-award winner Scot Pask along with image-maker Drew Hodges and the botanical garden curators. This year it was named ‘The Orchid Show: On Broadway’.
The agenda of the show this year is to showcase the Great White Way’s legendary theaters in iconic architectural elements which will be interpreted dramatically in he Enit A, Haupt Conservatory by thousands of orchids.

The show will present various art forms as well with the show which is the country’s largest curated orchid exhibition. The Orchid Show, which will be the ninth annual show of the Botanical Garden promises mesmerize the audience and leave them gasping with delight and amazement. As if they knew how much I loved orchids and were teasing me, the article further that it was a not-to-be-missed event for orchid lovers and Broadway enthusiasts.

I was at my chairs end as I kept on reading as the article further mentioned in details about the show. I was and almost a hair’s breath from falling when Yvonne came close to me, pushed me in my seat and went back to doing what she was doing. I went on reading again. From what it I read, it is going to to be a great show. Now all I have to do is convince Yvonne to come with me as it wont be that exciting and mind pleasing without her.

I was supposed to pick Yvonne at 7 for our ‘date’ which I had promised her would be special and secretive. She had agreed to play along. The Limo picked me up at 6.30 pm and I was at Yvonne’s door by 7. As she opened the door, she seemed more than surprised to see me in a tux but decided to play along. But I; I was mesmerized at the sight of her, the blue, flowing cocktail dress, the hair tied up , that glowing face, she was dressed so perfectly for the occasion that for a moment I thought that my cover was blown. I later learned that it was Kaitlin who had coerced her into buying that dress. When she saw the Limo, she flashed me a look and I just smiled without any questions. That’s one of her great qualities, she can be real patient when you need her to be.

When we reached the venue, she finally asked what we were doing and I told her that she’d see for herself. I took her hand and guided her to the hall where the setup had been made. I approached the big ballroom door and pushed it open, it was quite dark inside and I took  her in just as the lights came up and the music started to play, instead of “surprise…” there was a loud applause and she looked at me and all that I said was, “Welcome to your prom Yvonne”.

The planner had done a fantastic job and the ballroom was decorated just as a prom, even with a band. A waiter approached us with a corsage and boutonniere and we honored each other with the traditional ornament of the prom. I then took her for the first dance, to the tunes of her favorite song. Everyone slowly joined in and we thanked Daniel and Kaitlin for helping make this day so special for the both of us. But the special part of the night was still pending and I was already getting butterflies in my stomach.

After sometime of dancing and mingling with the guests, Daniel pulled me to the side and asked if I was having cold feet. I swallowed hard and told him that I was just nervous. He gave me some boost talk and handed me the ring box. So, now filled with confidence, I approached Yvonne and told her that I had one more surprise for her but she has to be blindfolded. She agreed and I tied the satin blindfold and slowly guided her to the place.

I took her into other room which was pure white and was adorned with nothing but loads and loads of beautiful Violets decorated immaculately. There was just one other type of flower in the room and that was the orchid that law on the center table. I positioned her in the room and took my position behind her, knee to the wooden floor.
I asked her to open the blindfold and saw that she couldn’t express herself on seeing the sheer beauty around her. She turned around to see me, one my knees, ring in hand. She couldn’t help it but shriek.

“You have brought nothing but peace, luck, life and happiness to me and I am ever so grateful to you for that. Now I want that with you for the rest of my life. Yvonne Reynolds, will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes. Definitely yes.”

Later…
“I swear to you Dan, I really think that orchid bloomed a bit when she said yes”.

The day before Valentine’s, Daniel came up with a concept. He proposed that we have a ‘Single’s Day – Couple’s Night’ kind of thing. The rules of he game were simple. The guys and the girls go their separate way during the day and meet up only in the evening to celebrate the day, in this case night, of love. The girls didn’t agree at first and we knew they wouldn’t; luckily, we had a secret weapon. I ran to the bedroom and returned with two cards. Yvonne and Kaitlin’s eyes widened. After all we had booked them appointments at one of the best spa in the city.

Daniel and I had taken the day off from work on the 14th, and unknown to me, so had Jason, my assistant, Neal and Lorenzo – our college friends, Nasir – my colleague and Damien – Daniel’s colleague. He called me up at 4 in the morning and asked me to get ready, with a bit of argument, I did. It was only when I got into Daniel’s SUV around 5 am that I saw the other guys and realized that Daniel had a much bigger trick up his sleeve. I remember every word of Daniel’s reply when I questioned him.
“Dude, tonight, you are going to lose half your rights as a bachelor. You don’t think we’d let you walk to the other side without a proper farewell, do you?”. It was about to be one hell of a day.

In about half hour, we were leaving New York behind and I began protesting and the guys all at once ganged up and shut me up. I was warned strictly that this was supposed to be fun and I have to play along and enjoy it, there was nothing I could do. Then they told me that we were heading for Atlantic City. Although Daniel promised me that he would get me to New York on time for my Valentine’s Date.

Once assured, I relaxed and the kid in me was jumping to come out. If the trip was about fun, I might as well enjoy it to the fullest, I thought. It was going to be a whole lot of craziness that was going to follow. Six-packs were being emptied at a rapid rate (except for Daniel of course) and we began talking about the stuff we missed out in college and I accidentally let slip that I had never taken a leak out of a moving car. I should have kept my mouth shut because these freaking baboons actually made me do it; luckily we were on the Garden State Parkway and there was no cop in sight. That one crazy act resulted in various crazy acts that we had seen only in a road trip on television or in the movies; and we hadn’t even reached
Atlantic City.

Atlantic City – the miniature Vegas; we were there by 8 am and I didn’t have a clue what these guys had in mind. The one thing I kept reminding myself was that I HAD to be sober for this evening, else all the planning would be going to the dogs. And It seemed that these guys had just one motive, to get me all high. They had everything planned, right from the rooms to the games we’d be playing. To mention all those things in this blog would really stretch it, so lets keep it for next time.

In the end, it was the best time I had had in my lifetime till now. The gang did adhere to their promise and we left Atlantic City by 1400 hrs. The sudden traffic occasionally did take my breath away, but knowing the driver Daniel was, I still had faith in him (and the God) that I would reach in time. The guys dropped me home by 1700 hrs for getting ready for the evening.

Back in New York, I later learned that Kaitlin had planned something similar for Yvonne and even they had enjoyed their part of the day to the fullest.

Yvonne and I are really lucky to have such great friends even in the busiest and fastest city in the world.

When at Times Square, I just needed a good vantage point to sit and have a look at all the human traffic.  I was looking around when I found just the perfect place, the Starbucks Coffee Shop. I went in and stared at their menu for some time. A lot of people think that the way they have their coffee and the way they design it is their unique way and is based on what defines them. Whereas, the real scenario is that the company knows that there is a set of base product and a set of add-on product and there are a set number of combinations of these products from which the customer will ask for the product of his/her choice. Think on it a bit, if this was not the case, would the company have survived all these 40 years. By the way, did you see the new logo they will be rolling in March this year to mark their 40th anniversary. Now no more name, just the mermaid, sorry – ‘siren’.

Well, Starbucks apart, I took my coffee and sat at the table which would give me a good view of the whole square. I watched as the people moved around for some time. Being at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, plus due to its own quality as a commercial center,Times Square receives a lot of traffic. The place was named so when the New York Times shifted its office to the newly constituted building. This became ’1, Times Squares’ and the building also became famous for displaying ads of various products. Advertising on these billboards costs a considerable amount.

As the day draws to an end, Times Square comes more to life. The place even has its own theme for entertainment like the ‘Naked cowboy’ and other such things. Let’s not forget the annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop, a tradition that has been followed since 1907. Maybe owing to its diversity and its importance, the Times Square is also rightly known ‘the crossroads of the world’.

Apart from Times Square, New York is also proud of its Madison Avenue. It was very well known for its advertising arena with hordes of advertising companies at one point of time. However, over the years, many of the big companies have moved shop to other parts of the city. But still, Madison Avenue remains a heavy pedestrian area with some of the top shops located here.

As I moved along ‘the fashionable road’ as it is also known, I passed Asprey, BVLGARI, Ralph Lauren (which instead of reminding me of clothing, reminded me of Rachael from Friends, weird) and even Brook Brothers which is the oldest retail clothier in America. And how can I forget Barney’s with it being the chain’s flagship store.

As I moved along, I noticed the high class people of New York shop their way around these shops. Makes you think how in a time of post recession these stores still manage to sell their products without much problem. That’s one aspect of New York I guess, the rich and famous of New York (especially Manhattan) are hardly affected by the global things and maybe that’s why New York still stays the way it is even in such financial hardships. When you notice the people here, you will find that the life has gone so fast and at times so mechanized that like a huge machine, the functioning goes on even if there is a problem in one section.

I guess that is what makes these two places in the city such such famous ones. In some sense, they are not part of just New York but are also global spots that have their own importance in this city and the world. After all, most of the ads we see on television are streamed in Times Square for top dollar and most of them come from the businesses that have their offices on Madison Avenue. If you stop and think that the television series we enjoy so much were created just to host these advertisements, it may make quite an impact.

Like most New Yorkers, I too am a creature of habit; particularly when it comes to my Saturday breakfast or Sunday brunch. Brunch on a Sunday in New York city can tend to be everything other than the food if you don’t plan in advance, and especially reserve a table with your preferred restaurant in case you want to be at a fancy place. Fortunately, I don’t have to go through the drudgery of fishing for a great restaurant and a good table every Sunday as I have a fixed place that I frequent. They even, almost always have my table set aside for me. Let me be a bit selfish here and refrain from disclosing the name in order to preserve not only my table but also maintain the ambiance of the place, as I like it. For addressing sense, lets call it Tiffany’s after the lovely waitress who serves me most of the times.

Situated in the financial district, Tiffany’s is an outdoor restaurant which offers a splendid view of the city and at the same time presents an atmosphere which is devoid of the continuous droning of city traffic. Most of the time, I ask myself as to what is it about the place that keeps attracting me every so often and all such times, I fail to get an answer. It has become an integral part of my life just as I have become a ‘New Yorker’ over the years. But I didn’t realize this until that fateful day.

Every Sunday morning (or on a holiday) I walk the 15 or so blocks from my apartment to the place for my usual cup of coffee, a muffin and my usual burger. This particular Sunday was no different. Accompanied by my girlfriend Yvonne, I started my usual walk to Tiffany’s and we were passing by a book stall when Yvonne stopped to pick up the newspaper. I paid the guy and waited for her to resume walking. But something caught my attention and I grabbed the tabloid from her. I was shocked to see the front page displaying an ad that Tiffany’s was closing and hence was holding its last Sunday brunch that day. I didn’t understand the immediate sinking feeling I had but started pacing towards Tiffany’s without realizing that Yvonne was with me; she tried to keep apace and kept asking what the matter was. I just showed her the newspaper as I continued pacing. The sinking feeling intensified and hit rock bottom I approached the restaurant.

The place was packed to the brim and there was actually a waiting line. A waiting line! Never in my years frequenting this place had I seen a waiting line, even on a Sunday. Seeing the look on my face, Yvonne chose not to say anything; she just went in and asked them to reserve a place for us. Being the understanding person she is, she just came to stand by my side as I lost myself in thought.

I hadn’t realized until that day the importance this place held for me. I tried to remember the first time I had been here but was finding it hard to recollect. Instead I remembered the first time I met Yvonne here, I looked at her and it seemed that even she was remembering it. It slowly came back to me clearly. It was our second date and a very concrete and crucial one at that. Yvonne and I had met the week earlier and had decided on the brunch to keep it casual. During the course of our conversation, I had begun to like her and learned that she really condoned violence. To add to the ironies, as is the case with me, a blood-boiling situation was taking shape right in front of me. A man (who later turned out to be her husband) was troubling a waitress  and was getting rougher by the minute. After being unable to sit quiet for some time, I got up and approached the couple. From her place, all Yvonne saw was me approaching the man, having a few words, handing him my card and patting him away, talking to the waitress, handing her my card and returning to our table.

After I explained to her what had conspired, we began talking and she loved the place and the ambiance and ended up asking me how I came to know of the place.

Falling off the flashback, it was then that I remembered how I first came in relation with this place. It was during my first year of college that given the law nerd I was, I wanted to visit the financial district just to dream of the job I’d be having there. It was during that frequenting that I had come in contact with Tiffany’s due to its location and the view. I would sit there for hours during brunch and watch at the surrounding buildings, visualizing myself working in those. Those were the days really. The great law school days.

I soon as I came back o reality, the sinking feeling simply intensified realizing that all those memories with this place and the attachment all would be lost to something else like some other fancy restaurant. After some waiting, we finally got a place and Tiffany came to take our order. I asked her how she was and how she was dealing with the closing of the place. To our great surprise, we found that it was all a hoax, Tiffany told us that the newspaper had got it wrong and mixed two ads. Tiffany’s had placed an ad for their latest offerings which the newspaper got confused with some other restaurant’s closing ad. But she said that she was happy as the restaurant was getting a lot of business.

Yvonne burst out laughing seeing my face as it flushed remembering how naive I had behaved since seeing the ad. But that day taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me not to take the everyday things for granted and to appreciate what I have, even though I have been having it for years.

I switched off the television as Yvonne was repeating the words of Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. It was her third time watching that movie and I was getting a bit sick of it. I got ready and headed for work with no idea that those words of Elle Woods were going to affect me in quite a powerful way.

When I got to work, Jason, my assistant reminded me of my schedules, first of which was a pro bono case. Mrs. Doubtfire (as I will call her to protect her identity) wanted me to file a suit against one of the finest and well known restaurants of the city for ‘killing her son’. He worked there as a chef and died because he ate meat contaminated with E.Coli bacteria. She further told me that after winning the case, she wanted to go against the meat producer as well.

She had come prepared and handed me quite a bunch of documents of year full of research and along with it a copy of a documentary called ‘Food Inc.” which she duly asked me to return after watching. I talked to her in further details and got the whole story. After hearing everything I asked her why she had not gone to other well known pro bono lawyers and she told me that she had indeed gone to some but they had declined as it was rumored that the restaurant in question was backed by the Italian mafia, even in today’s world.

These days, the Italian mafia was being a thorn in my wrong side which gave me all the more reason to take the case. I told Mrs. Doubtfire that I would do everything in my power to get her justice and would call her as soon as I reviewed her case. It was for such cases that I had gone to law school and I loved taking them because they helped me actually give something back to the society.

That afternoon, a senior partner called me to his cabin and told me to drop whichever case I was on and take the case of a European client. This client was quite famous in the firm and billing him meant that the lawyer was on a fast track. I told the partner that I had just taken a pro bono which would have a strong impact on my career and the firm and yet he told me to give it to someone else. I didn’t understand what happened but the moment he said that, my temper began to soar and I once again, in a controlled tone told him that I really wanted to work on the pro bono. He, in clear tones explained to me the implications of denying the European client and gave me noon’s time to reply to him.

I went to my office and took some time to calm down. Once I was calm, I picked up the bunch Mrs. Doubtfire had given and began streaming through it. We had a pretty strong case there and when it stood in court, I was pretty sure that I could tip the scales in our favor to win or at least get Mrs. Doubtfire a good settlement. Now the only question was of the European client. When he had specifically asked for me on reviewing my track record, denying him would mean a big blow to my career as well as pulling me out of the race for partner, or worse, getting fired. But would they, as a firm, fire their upcoming star who had great personal relations with everyone in the firm?

It was then that the words rang into my ears, ‘The law is reason free from passion’; and I knew that the firm believed in those words. Whereas I believed in the latter part that Elle Woods says.
So the big question was, to pro bono or not to pro bono?