Meet Sundip Meghani, an energetic and dedicated man who values family, friends, and life. He lives with his Blackberry firmly attached to his belt but never looses sight of what really counts in life.
On 5 May 2011, Sundip was elected Labour Co-op Councillor for Beaumont Leys ward in Leicester. He looks forward to representing his home ward at the City Council, and pledges to work tirelessly on behalf of local residents, is determined to make Beaumont Leys a safer, cleaner and happier place to live and work, and … he tweets!
1: What is your most favourite part of the day?
I’m definitely an evening person. It’s a good time to unwind and catch up with friends over a nice dinner, or perhaps get out there to meet new and interesting people. I love being out and about in a big city at night, blending into the background surrounded by skyscrapers, lit-up landmarks and a buzzing atmosphere. I also enjoy being at home and working away late into the night as everyone else sleeps – I find it very peaceful.
2: Something you always wanted to learn but never did?
When I was young I really wanted to learn how to play the violin, despite having no musical ability whatsoever. I think the violin is the most beautiful and romantic instrument. I had promised myself that I’d learn to play the violin and learn to speak Japanese whilst I was at university. Sadly I did neither.
3:Your worst vacation experience?
I’ve been to Madrid several times and I nearly got mugged on two separate occasions. The first was when I asked someone for directions near Gran Via (the equivalent of Oxford Street or Times Square), only to be briefly led astray to a dark alley before realising what was happening and quickly heading back in the other direction! Another time I was helping an elderly friend get to her hotel via the Metro system and I noticed that we were being followed by a group of people who were acting suspiciously. We ended up getting off at a different station to the one we needed, before I bundled my friend and her bags into a taxi and sent her on her way. I think like most large cities the trick is to have your wits about you and stay alert. Madrid is still my favourite city in the world, outside of Britain of course.
4: Which trials / cases still haunts you till today?
Well I can’t go into anything specific from my previous job for fear of identifying a client. However speaking generally, and with reference to cases that make the news, cases that I find particularly heinous are when a man (and it almost always is a man) is involved in the murder of his wife or girlfriend. With so many legal avenues for dispute resolution, and having come as far as we have in human evolution, I struggle to understand how any person could be so callous to someone they supposedly once had strong feelings for. I for one hope to see in my lifetime the kind of world they had in the film ‘Minority Report’; not in terms of being able to predict crimes before they happen (impossible?), but a world in which homicide per se has become an extremely rare occurrence.
5: If you have a blog, how did you get started? Who or what inspired you to blog?
Yes I do have a blog, which I publish from time-to-time on my web site. Before becoming a lawyer I was briefly a journalist and television news presenter. I’ve always really enjoyed writing. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to publish anything substantive for a couple of months now. I decided to set up my web site in order to collate my online activities and social networks, and also to link to various articles that I’ve written for newspapers and political web sites.
6: Did you end up in the profession of your childhood dreams?
In a manner of speaking – yes. My childhood dream, if you can call it that, was to become a lawyer and a politician. I’m now a lawyer (or to state the correct title, a ‘Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales’). In early May this year I was also elected as a City Councillor for Beaumont Leys in Leicester, which is the area that I’ve lived in for most of my life and where I went to school. I wanted to attain these positions not for money or status but so that I can help people, promote democratic socialist values, and ultimately change our society and our country for the better. There’s a lot to do, but I’m feeling very optimistic about the future.
7: Tell us about your most embarrassing experiences in a restaurant, opening a bottle of wine, or do-it-yourself projects. Pick one and tell all!
A few days before Christmas, I joined a number of colleagues after work for dinner in a French bistro. Regrettably, having had far too much scotch over the course of the previous few hours courtesy of a very grateful client, I was visibly the worse for wear. I was trying desperately to sober up and settle my stomach. After my fifth brief departure from the dining table within an hour however, I opted to excuse myself from the evening and leave before I embarrassed myself any further. It was a very tense and nerve-wracking train journey home that evening. I haven’t drunk as much as that since that day!