bangalore hes been practising law since 1981 but never once has ashok haranahalli raised his voice in his own home not even to argue his wife usha vouches theyve havent had a single argument in their 26 years of married life even when she forgets to add salt to his favourite dish ashok quips thats because i dont have the capacity to quarrel to quarrel i need to prepare myself and now i just dont have that timehis mother also recalls how as a student and even in law college he was quiet and reserved he even refused to meet people she used to wonder how her son would ever become a lawyer i dont know what happened thereafter says the bemused son laughing aloud so what was the turning point as a lawyer i was always shy today i dont mind arguing a case but i cannot take any complaints against me in court even as a boy i was always careful not to make a fool of myself this made me work harder over the years perhaps this habit has changed me he explains the family is now three generations into law ashok took up law after his father haranahalli ramaswamy who was also a freedom fighter the trend continues with his two sons abhijit is a lawyer while anoop is studying lawwith three lawyers around how is it for the two women in the house luckily its all outside the house they dont bring it inside so we are safe says the wife the couple has a lot in common including patience ushas father was also a freedom fighter an advocate from shimoga he was an mla during the tenure of devaraj urs they got married after a casual chat between their fathers but the dividing line for them is politics ashok had planned to contest the last mla elections but cancelled the idea as opposition started right at home my mother was fed up with politics so was usha i had no go but no regrets he says was it their legacy that took them into this profession ashok is quick to reply perhaps one of the reasons but the other common factor is that its an independent profession ashok explains im a bit of an independent person im not the type who can work under somebody besides you dont just earn money you also get some sort of public life and a lot of social interaction my father was into social work even during his student days but how independent is the job of the state advocategeneral sometimes i do feel really unfortunate about it as a professional you can work independently but as an advocategeneral you need to work under certain constraints there are challenging situations every day but it is a great learning experienceashoks recent challenging cases have been the medium of instruction and the bbmp elections nowadays people are more aware of their rights almost every project attracts public interest litigation