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Growing up in poverty, rolling beedies to earn a living, and now serving as a judge in the United States (US). Surendran K Pattel's life is nothing short of a Hindi film script from the 1970s.
Born to daily wagers in Kerala's Kasaragod, Pattel was sworn in as a judge in the 240th Judicial District Court in Texas' Fort Bend County on Sunday, 1 January.
The 51-year-old took the oath of office by swearing on copies of the Bhagavad Gita and the US Constitution.
Having migrated to the US around 15 years ago, Pattel's life has been one of constant struggle to beat the odds.
A Life of Poverty
Pattel grew up in Kasaragod in a poor family, and was forced to take up odd jobs while he was in school to keep his family afloat financially.
Circumstances became so dire that he was forced to drop out of school in the 10th grade to become a full-time roller of beedis at a private company named Bharat Beedi.
However, his desire to study did not leave him despite financial hardships.
"That period changed my outlook on life. I wanted to go back to school and continue my education. So, after a year's break, I restarted my studies," he was quoted as saying by The Week.
Despite multiple obstacles, he decided to become a lawyer and borrowed money from his friends to enroll in university. He also took up a housekeeping job to make ends meet while pursuing law.
In 1995, he obtained a law degree and began practicing in Hosdurg. After around 10 years, he became a lawyer in the Supreme Court.
Journey To the US
In 2007, Pattel's wife got a job as a nurse in a prestigious medical facility in the US. With their daughter and another baby on the way, the couple decided to move to Houston.
While his wife worked as a nurse, Pattel, then jobless, took care of their daughter and later took up a job at a grocery store.
"From being a successful lawyer in the Supreme Court of India to being a salesman. You can see the emotional issues involved in that transition. I went through a lot of emotional frustrations and a state of depression," he told The Week.
Later, however, he decided to continue pursuing a career in law, and appeared for the bar exam in the US – which he passed on the first attempt. However, he was not able to secure a job despite sending out around 100 job applications.
Thus, Pattel enrolled in the University of Houston to study international law and graduated in 2011, following which he took up cases pertaining to family law, civil litigation, criminal defence, etc.
Being Elected a Judge
After working as a lawyer for a few years, Pattel acquired US citizenship in 2017 and decided to become involved in politics.
He first tried to become a district judge in 2020, but was unsuccessful. He decided to run again in 2022, but was dissuaded from doing so due to his ethnicity.
"But I thought that America is a great democracy and that one's country of origin or accent, culture or appearance should not be an issue to be elected here. So, I thought let people decide whether all these are issues in electing me," he said.
When he went ahead with the election for judgeship, Pattel was criticised for his accent.
"When I ran for this position in Texas, comments were made on my accent and negative campaigns were run against me. My own party didn't think I could win, when I ran for Democratic Primary," he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
However, despite all odds, he beat the Republican candidate to become a judge in Texas' Fort Bend County.
"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."Surendran K Pattel
(With inputs from The Week and NDTV.)
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