A daughter remembers

He was a direct descendant of Tantya Tope and among the privileged few who worked closely with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar during the drafting of the Indian Constitution - which is why it must have felt like a sign that his first child was born in the centenary year of India's first war of Independence. This time it's the turn of eminent educationist and legal luminary Dr Trimbak Krishna Tope's daughter to commemorate his centenary birth anniversary. What better tribute to the man who authored the seminal and much referenced Constitutional Law of India than a galaxy of judges and jurists to discuss how Constitutional mechanisms can correct flaws in the system.

Though the late Dr Tope's daughter Mrunalini Deshmukh is herself one of the city's leading lawyers, she's expected to join the ranks of the audience because the likes of former Bombay High Court chief justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari, former Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramaniam and former High Court judge Narendra Chapalgaonkar are among those who'll be taking the stage on February 28 at the convocatoion hall of Mumbai University. Incidentally, Dr Tope served two terms as the vice chancellor of the University after a 17 year stint as the Principal of Government Law College - among his students were former President Pratibha Patil and the redoubtable Soli Sorabjee. At least for the city's legal fraternity, all roads will lead to Mumbai University this Thursday.