In his farewell speech at an event organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud shared a poignant memory with his father, former Chief Justice YV Chandrachud, about a flat in Pune.
“He bought a small flat in Pune. I asked him, ‘Why are you buying a flat in Pune? When will you stay there?’ He replied, ‘I know I’ll never live there. I’m not sure how long I’ll be around, but keep this flat until your last day as a judge.’ When I asked why, he said, ‘If you ever feel your moral or intellectual integrity is compromised, I want you to know you have a roof over your head. Never let yourself be compromised as a lawyer or a judge because you have no place of your own.'” The Chief Justice noted that his father was a disciplined man, yet he did not impose strict discipline on his children, believing they should learn from his own example.
The event was attended by the Chief Justice’s family. Remembering his mother, he shared, “I was a sick child, prone to illness, and my mother often stayed up through the night to care for me. I still remember her words, ‘Medicine is like the Ganges, and the doctor is in the position of Narayan (God).’ She would say, ‘I named you Dhananjay, but the ‘dhan’ is not material wealth—I want you to acquire knowledge.'”
The Chief Justice’s mother, Prabha Chandrachud, was a classical musician for All India Radio. “Like many Maharashtrian women, she was a powerful figure. Our home was women-dominated, and my mother was at the helm,” he said, drawing laughter when he added, “Women from Odisha seem similar. My wonderful wife Kalpana calls all the shots at home but never interferes with my judgments.”
Reflecting on his childhood, the Chief Justice said he was disciplined, though not overly so. “I was allowed to have my own childhood without my parents imposing their dreams on me. They never tried to live their dreams through me.”
He also shared memories of Bhimabai Bhanu Kamath, a household help who played a big role in his upbringing. “Bhimabai was completely illiterate, learning to write her name only after joining our family. Despite my father’s status as a judge, she helped me form friendships with children from the margins of society. My closest friend wore two pairs of shorts—not because he had extra, but to hide the holes in them.” He added that he and his sister think of Bhimabai almost every day.
The Chief Justice also recalled his father’s guidance when he had to select a subsidiary subject as a student at Delhi University. “Most of my friends chose philosophy, a subject you could read for a night and pass. But my father insisted I take Hindi, despite my familiarity only with colloquial ‘Bambaiya’ Hindi. It was a tough decision.” Learning Hindi introduced him to the works of great writers like Mahadevi Verma, Jaishankar Tripathi, Nirala, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and Munshi Premchand. He later realized the importance of this choice when he served at the Allahabad High Court. “Advocacy in English often ended with ‘please, your lordship,’ but when I spoke in Hindi, lawyers connected with me. Despite my imperfect language, they saw I was reaching out to them in a way that mattered.”
Today, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud retires after two years in the nation’s top judicial post, which he assumed in November 2022. Justice Sanjiv Khanna will be sworn in as the next Chief Justice tomorrow.