The snake which advised Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in Eden was in fact the first advocate in the world, he said. ``Without him we would not have been here,'' he said while addressing a meeting organised by the Cochin Stock Exchange here on Friday.

His speech was peppered with other witty comments. He wondered why the stock exchange called a lawyer to address the meet. Even his Ministry was not connected in any away with the capital market, he said.

``Usually people call a lawyer, when they have a problem. I suppose you have a genuine problem,'' he quipped.

JETHMALANI'S LOVE FOR KERALA: Kerala provided a `turning point' to the Urban Affairs and Employment Minister in his career as a lawyer-cum-politician.

``It was a speech made by me against the proclamation of Emergency at the Kerala lawyers'conference in Palakkad which led to my imprisonment during the Emergency,'' recalled Jethmalani. He was speaking at a civic reception accorded to him by Kochi Corporation at the Town Hall here on Saturday.

``After I became a Central Minister, I chose a controversial bureaucrat from Kerala Alphonse Kannanthanam as my private secretary. Many persons advised me against the selection, but I stood firm,'' he said.

`'The way he (Kannanthanam) helped me run my Ministry has vindicated my stand and enhanced my love and affection for Kerala,'' Jethmalani added.