The Us Judge Who Rolled Beedis Was a Kerala School Dropout

The US Judge Who Rolled Beedis Was a Kerala School Dropout

To pay for his legal studies, Surendran kept a hotel house. Surendran Okay Pattel, 51, who was just sworn in as a district judge in Texas, claims that working as a maid and rolling beedis helped him succeed in the country. Surendran, born and reared in Kasaragod, Kerala, left school and started working day jobs to make ends meet.

“I dropped out of school after Class 10 because my family had no financial means to continue. I rolled beedis for a year as a daily wager, which changed my perspective on life,” Mr. Pattel instructed NDTV.

The Us Judge Who Rolled Beedis Was a Kerala School Dropout
The Us Judge Who Rolled Beedis Was a Kerala School Dropout

Surendran requested financial assistance from his friends in his hometown to finish his education, including his law degree, since he was determined to turn his life around. He also supported himself by working a housekeeping job at a nearby resort while he studied.

After completing his LLB, Mr. Pattel said, “Once I finished my LLB, the practice I got there helped me survive in the United States,” adding that his voyage to the US had its challenges.

“When I ran for this position in Texas, comments were made on my accent and negative campaigns were run against me. My party didn’t think I could win when I ran for Democratic Primary,” Surendran said.

“No one believed that I could achieve this. But here I am. I have only one message for everyone. Don’t let anyone decide your future. You should be the only one to decide it,” he mentioned.

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This US judge once rolled beedis in Kerala

Surendran K. Pattel, a Keralite who had immigrated to the United States, realized a lifelong desire on January 1 when he was sworn in as the judge of the 240th Judicial District Court in Texas’ Fort Bend county.

In the US, district judges are chosen through elections, and Pattel, 51, became the first Malayalee district judge by defeating the incumbent judge in the first round of the election.

Pattel wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so his road to the position required a lot of hard work, perseverance, and willingness to fight his way up. His parents worked as daily wage workers. Thus he had to become an exceptional “bidi roller” to make ends meet. After graduating from Class 10, he took a year off but found life complicated.

While working part-time, including as a daily laborer, to support himself, he completed his additional education and earned his bachelor’s degree, never allowing it to interfere with his studies.

After enrolling at a Kozhikode college for an LLB program, he worked in a hotel. In 1995, he graduated with his law degree and began practicing law.

Then he married Shubha, a nurse by trade, and transferred his base to Delhi, where he began practicing law at the Supreme Court. His wife received a job offer in the US in 2007, so he also followed her there. Since the law was his passion, he passed the Texas bar test after working at a supermarket for a while.

He then received admittance to the University of Houston Law Center’s LL.M. program, completed it with flying colors, and started working as a lawyer. He etched his name into history on this New Year’s Day.

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About Karen Millions 1183 Articles
Karen Millions was born and raised outside the city of Charleston, in the beautiful mountain state of West Virginia. Karen considers her faith and family to be most important to her. If she isn’t spending time with her friends and family, you can almost always find her around her sweet yellow Labrador retriever, Tupelo.
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