'Follow Kabbadi Raider's Discipline In Profession': CJI Surya Kant To Graduating Law Students

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday urged graduating students to follow the discipline of a Kabaddi raider in their professional lives, emphasising the importance of ambition balanced with restraint, humility and a constant connection to one's roots.

Delivering the convocation address at the 12th Convocation Ceremony of the Central University of Haryana at Mahendragarh, the Chief Justice used the example of a Kabaddi raider to explain how individuals should pursue success without losing sight of their values and limitations.

Drawing from a sport deeply associated with Haryana, the CJI described how a raider enters the opponent's court “in a single breath,” continuously chanting “kabaddi” and attempting to touch a defender before returning to his side. The chant, he said, represents discipline and self-control.

“The moment he takes a second breath on the wrong side, he is finished,” the CJI explained, adding that the chant reminds the raider that he may advance only as far as his ability to safely return.

According to the CJI, the finest raiders are not those who venture deepest into the opponent's territory, but those who judge the precise line between ambition and overreach. “Their greatness is not in the distance they cover, but in the precision with which they judge the line between ambition and overreach,” he said.

Extending the analogy to professional life, the Chief Justice told the graduating students that their careers would be their “raid”, their upbringing would remain their “court”, and their education would be the “breath” sustaining them. Staying connected to all three, he said, would ensure that they are not “out” in life's challenges.

Reflecting on his own journey, the CJI noted that he grew up and studied in different parts of Haryana and began his legal career without the benefit of professional networks. Many graduates, he said, come from similar backgrounds where a university degree was not a certainty but a shared family aspiration.

He emphasised that success in professional life often depends less on classroom talent and more on the seriousness and resilience shaped by upbringing. Those who grow up observing their families manage scarcity with dignity and understanding that hard work is a permanent reality often carry a sense of responsibility and composure that formal education alone cannot teach, he said.

Highlighting the role of higher education in a democracy, the Chief Justice observed that universities are funded by the public exchequer and therefore create a structural obligation for graduates to contribute to society. The resources used for higher education, he said, come from citizens' taxes, many of whom may never have the opportunity to attend university themselves.

In this context, he stressed that educated citizens must actively engage with institutions that sustain democratic life, whether in public service or in private professions. Engineers who build responsibly, teachers who teach honestly and professionals who refuse to cut corners all play a role in strengthening the republic, he said.

The CJI also congratulated the university on its growth since its establishment and noted that out of fifty gold medallists this year, thirty were women, calling it a significant step toward narrowing the gender gap in higher education.

Concluding his address, the Chief Justice urged the graduates to remember the sacrifices of their families, the discipline of their upbringing and the education they had received. Success, he said, should be pursued with ambition but guided by the judgment to know how far to go and the wisdom to return to the values that shaped them.