Early Life and Education
K. G. Balakrishnan was born at Kaduthuruthy, near Vaikom, Kingdom of Travancore, into a Malayalam C.S.I Christian family. According to Balakrishnan (originally named Pappachan), his parents were the only source of inspiration for him: "Though my father 'Mr Joseph' was only a matriculate and my mother 'Pennamma' had her schooling only up to the seventh standard, they wanted to give their children the best education. When father being a Christian he approached the Poikail Yohannan and embraced from Christianity to Hinduism and change his name as Gopinadhan through Gazette notification and obtained a certificate as Scheduled Caste and get a job as a clerck His father was a clerk in the Vaikom munsiff court and was a classmate of K. R. Narayanan who also hailed from a Paravar caste family in Uzhavoor, a village near Vaikom. "
After completing his primary education in Thalayolaparambu, he finished school at the Government High School, Vaikom for which he had to walk 5 km every day. Subsequently, he joined the Maharaja's College at Ernakulam, where he studied for his B. Sc.. He took his Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree from the Government Law College, Ernakulam, and enrolled as an advocate in the Kerala Bar Council in 1968, beginning practice at the Munsiff's court, Vaikom. He then completed his L.L.M. in 1971.
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