As
soon as I became fluent in my language,
I decided to ‘assault’ my
father’s bookshelves whenever he
was away. So, one day I picked up a thick
volume, which I had seen him handling,
and I started, at eleven years old, to
be acquainted with the marvellous, full
experience of a human being. This was
Emil Ludwig’s Napoleon. When I
finished reading it, two years later,
now domiciled in Rio de Janeiro, I reflected
for a long time and asked myself if some
day I would find my own Elba.
Years passed by, many a book I read, some of them containing sad stories, others
merry tales, some of them featuring philosophical depth, others rather
literary, either light or didactic. In them, I found my best friends, who
led me in wonderful trips to magnificent worlds derived from the human
intelligence, and I could then verify Father Vieira’s thought:
“A book is a dumb man who can talk, a deaf man who can answer, a blind
man who can guide, and a dead man who can live.”
However, the recollection of that great man, lonely in his exile on a far-away
island, in the middle of the ocean, always returned to my mind.
Then,
one day I had my first face-to-face encounter
with Elba. There were other innumerable
meetings, which I’ll tell you about
later on, but this particular one, as
it was the beginning of a long, convivial
engagement, was most remarkable and significant.
I
was in my Judge chambers when a talented
young lawyer came in and asked for a
hearing, to which I promptly acquiesced,
as it was my duty. He told me then that
a gentleman, in the waiting room, wished
to make am affidavit to me, whom he had
specifically selected (for reasons he’d
rather not specify) from the whole panel
of judges in my County.
He
told me that the unhappy gentleman, having
casually witnessed a narcotic drug unloading
at a certain hiding place, recognized
among the delinquents one of his neighbours.
All lived in a slum well known for the
violence. The particular young man was
born and grew up in there, dreaming of
becoming a ‘Medical Doctor’ but
little by little seeing his prospects
of a better life decay and seem ever
farther, given the poorness of his family,
his little brothers hardly with any clothes
to wear. He had then been recruited by
drug traffic bosses in exchange for some
money to help him sustain himself and
his loved ones.
The
worker also told me that he was well
advised about the risks his life would
run if he ever gave the intended affidavit
and named the members and the M.O. of
the band, which everybody in the slum
knew well, but kept silent, fearing violent
reprisals.
The
gentleman came to my presence and I then
explained him my trouble in affording
him life guarantees as our country still
did not have a witness-protecting programme
(this happened over 15 years ago, fortunately
Brazil already has nowadays such a programme).
The
man looked deeply at my eyes for some
time and replied, calmly and serenely:
“Your
Honour, my life would be worthless if
I didn’t give my contribution to
better the lives of my equals and remove
our boys from the claws of violence.
I love this youngster as if he were my
own boy. I saw him be born, and grow
full of illusions, now that everything
has been destroyed for him I’d
rather not see the same thing happen
to other boys like him.”
I
then called the Clerk, and we began the
long affidavit. Later, having been promoted
and having exchanged the County for the
Capital, the judge who replaced me at
that Criminal Court told me that the
man had been indeed instrumental in helping
to disarray the band that used to terrorize
the inhabitants in that community.
The
following day, again the young lawyer
called on in my chambers. This time he
was alone. He crossed the threshold of
the door (which, during my whole commissioning
as a Judge, always remained wide open,
being closed only on very special occasions)
and entered the room silently, with a
grave face. He greeted me gracefully
as usual and told me:
“Your
Honour, I came today to inform you that
the gentleman of yesterday has been found
lifeless in an alley, full of bullets.”
He
greeted me again and courteously left
the chambers.
A
knot in my throat prevented me from replying
to his graceful nod. Feeling what was
going to happen next, I stood up and,
for the first time, I locked the door
of my chambers. I sat down, and cried
copiously.
Suddenly,
someone knocked at the door. It was the
voice of another young man. A lawyer,
requesting a hearing. I asked him to
wait a little, went to the toilet, washed
my face and retouched my makeup. I then
picked up my sunglasses from the purse
and put them on. I took a deep breath,
and prepared myself to receive him.
I
opened the door, and he entered. I offered
him the sofa and, as both of us sat down,
I reckoned that at long, last I had found
my Elba! Yes, at that moment, despite
being in the company of a human being,
surrounded by several employees from
the Notary Public next door, I was feeling
myself the loneliest being of the Planet
Earth. I could tell no one how terrible
was the drama crossing my conscience
and I could not show to that worker any
sign of feebleness, because right there
I was the representative of both the
State and Human Power, just like they
have been conceived from the times of
the Pharaohs and the old Roman Caesars,
I should definitely not indulge in half-heartedness.
The fact is, people place themselves
under the protection of a sovereign,
nowadays replaced by a regular leader,
therefore they must always feel in their
rulers the capacity to exert their defence,
and this should always be reflected by
the people who represent them, as a guarantee
of citizenship and nationality.
I
then prepared myself for the future innumerable
meetings I had always feared since adolescence
and which finally became real. Nevertheless,
Elba did teach me a number of things,
especially that, just like that venerable
gentleman and many other human beings
in our dear planet, I should offer my
life for the shaping of a Better World.
When
the young lawyer withdrew, rather tranquillised,
I looked into the blue sky of my country
and remembers the verses by Manuel Bandeira:
“O
the Divine One! O the Omnipotent One!
Allow our earth
To live merrily in peace!”
In
my heart, the seed of the Instituto de
Estudos Jurídico-Sociais Aplicados
was thus planted.
At
10 a.m., when the underling of Mr. Ricardo
called on me to proofread the articles
for the website’s links, she already
found these pages written down, with
copies to the agency that translated
them into English, French and Spanish. |
