Vishal’s story, however, really begins about a decade earlier, when, one New Year’s Eve, his mother walked out of their home and never returned. He was barely five years old. This, he says, is one of the reasons he chose a career in law. Despite reports to the police, his mother was never found and there was no follow-up from the authorities. It made him curious. “I always wanted to be in some part of the law to see how it really works, firsthand,” he shares.
The other reason was “status... to have some sort of respect, because [people] used to look at me like I was a nobody”.
Because of his family’s circumstances, in particular, his father’s drinking, which saw him moving from “house to house, from my grandfather, to my grandmother, to my father”, young Vishal was stereotyped by those in his orbit who deemed him destined for failure.
“No one ever had respect for me,” he says.
Instead of falling victim to his situation and the naysayers around him, Vishal found motivation. It was rough. His house shifting sometimes meant he had to change primary schools, but it was in high school, he says, that his challenges really began.
His father’s drinking got worse. The older Persad was quarrelsome, sometimes becoming violent, and rarely gave his son money for school. Vishal knew he had to do something to help himself.
“I started to work when I was 14, 15 years’ old,” he shares.
He got a job at a grocery store, which gave him some comfort financially. “It wasn’t much,” he admits, but he had enough for school. He also started taking kickboxing lessons, which helped build his confidence and make him “a little more tough”. Then one day, Form 5 fast approaching, he and his father had a falling out and he left.
“I went by my grandmom,” Vishal says, sharing that, although his grandmother didn’t have enough money to support him fully, he was able to have his meals there.
He also had the support of his grandfather, who lived elsewhere and also had little to give, but would “pass and drop food or give me a little hundred”, even helping him with his school fees sometimes. “Which I appreciated,” he says. “He was the only one who gave me any sort of assistance.”
Vishal went to school during the day, and worked evenings and weekends. He wrote CXC and did well, then took it upon himself to enrol in CAPE. Next was UWI. He signed up for Law, and Criminology and Criminal Justice, but only got through to the latter. Despite his disappointment, he registered for the Criminology and Criminal Justice degree, and in 2019, graduated with First Class Honours – all while still working at the grocery, as well as in construction with his grandfather on weekends, at one point even picking up a nightshift job cleaning floors.
His ambition knowing no limits, Vishal wanted to apply to the Faculty of Law again. He took a year off to make the money to pay for what would be his second degree, working at his friend’s Chinese restaurant, as well as in construction. He saved up and was able to pay for the first semester – this time he was successful, and this being his second degree, was admitted to the programme through the direct entry route.
Then, the new law student added the title of Salesman to his portfolio, selling electronics for another friend’s business. Knowing that after completing his LLB (Bachelor of Laws), he’d need to sign up for the LEC (Legal Education Certificate) at Hugh Wooding Law School, he soon accepted an opportunity extended by that friend to work at and invest in his business.
“When I started to invest with him,” Vishal says, “I started to make the money to pay for Law. I even bought a second-hand vehicle” – something he was proud to share with his grandfather. “He had seen potential in me,” Vishal shares, adding that his grandfather, Roopnarine Persad – “I always used to tell him he has two last names”, Vishal jokes – always encouraged him to finish his education and get a good job.
The grandfather shared his grandson’s strong ambition and motivated Vishal to keep pushing in spite of his challenges. “We always used to have little bets,” Vishal says. By the time he was 34 years’ old, Roopnarine Persad had built his house, bought his car, and had money in the bank. “So, I used to tell him I’m going to achieve everything before 34.” Vishal was 23 when he bought his car and he recalls, “I was really happy to go and show him I bought my car with my own money.”
In 2022, Vishal graduated with his LLB and First Class Honours, and entered the Legal Education Certificate (LEC) programme at Hugh Wooding – the final step on his journey to becoming an attorney. These would have been more big accomplishments to share with his grandfather. Unfortunately, Roopnarine Persad passed away before his grandson could graduate.
Too soon after, just as he began his LEC, his grandmother passed away. Then, right before his exams, his father had a stroke.
Vishal pushed through, excelling at his studies while he worked and now helped with his father’s care. “I always used to think ‘you have to do what you have to do’. Everyone who knows my story would tell me I went through a real hard life... and I know, but I just used to keep pushing. I never really used to sit down and feel sad. If I know I have to get something done, I would get to it.” Vishal simply tried his best to manage his time and set goals.
“I would set small goals for myself,” he shares. His ultimate goal was to become an attorney, so he took it assignment by assignment, then broke that down even further by deciding how much of each assignment he wanted to accomplish each day and, “I would make sure and finish it, until I reached that final goal.” Vishal admits that he never actually thought that he would be successful. “I always used to doubt myself, but…I still put my best foot forward and try.”
Although he may not have seen his own potential, others did. “Vishal is the sweetest, most charming, also brilliant mind,” announces his friend and classmate, Melanie Richards, who also claims him as her adopted son. A mature student with a 15-year career in the oil and gas industry and a family of her own, she enrolled in the LLB programme at the same time as Vishal, and like him, was granted direct entry.
Vishal with classmate and friend Melanie Richards at the Call to the Bar ceremony on November 22 at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain.
Their introduction was shaky. Melanie recalls her first encounter with him where she found herself in Zoom class – their cohort coincided with the COVID lockdowns – “with a bunch of kids” and one of them, Vishal, said something that she found “so inappropriate”.
Then, she started to interact with him. “I realised it’s a generational thing,” she admits, and “[that] this guy knows his stuff.”
“He has a really uncanny ability to remember and recall information... like amazing,” she asserts. “He would think and he would make connections that oftentimes, I wouldn't make. He would make connections between courses… between different parts of the law, and I thought ‘this guy really has so much potential!’” He asked questions, clarified and challenged, and was a pro at finding cases. “Nobody could find a case like Vishal could find a case... and sometimes the lecturer hadn’t read the case,” says Melanie. “I think Vishal is going to be a brilliant attorney.”
In November 2023, he celebrated his graduation and call to the Bar Association of Trinidad and Tobago, an experience he feels fortunate to have shared with his close friend.
Though he thought of his grandfather as he was preparing for graduation, he found solace in the knowledge that he would have been overwhelmingly proud.
To those going through their own struggles, Vishal tells them the same thing he told himself: “This wouldn’t last forever. It’s up to you to remove that problem. Set logical goals, and you will achieve.”
