'I’d never know when or if he was coming back': Top divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag on how her charming but absent father shaped her life

In a highly personal piece, Ayesha Vardag wrote for The Daily Mail, about how her charming but absent father shaped her life. She wrote about how her the glamorous but fleeting presence of her father, a Pakistani senator, had influenced her life.

Reminiscing about her childhood, she considered how his sporadic visits led to her to drive herself "even harder to succeed, perhaps because only with extreme achievement could I see myself as having any value". The results of that hard work speak for themselves, with Vardags widely recognised as Britain’s top family law firm and Ayesha herself dubbed "The Diva of Divorce".

Ayesha also talked of how her upbringing helped to to develop her firm:

"I began to believe I had a real place in the world and something that I could contribute – moving the law forward and making it work for the individuals who needed me to fight for them when their families fell into disarray. 

I understood their sense of fear and loss, the ache of longing, the guilt of leaving a relationship and the pain of being left, and what it takes to rebuild oneself, survive and become strong. 

Finally it felt as if it all had a purpose."

Ayesha went on to discuss how her flourishing firm and the family she has made for herself has renewed her sense of self and brought huge joy to her life. Reflecting on her life, she said "I have had the most wonderful existence, full of love and happiness, fun and children, dancing with babies to the radio around my drawing room, swimming with dolphins at dawn, winning legal battles, building communities about which I care passionately in my family, my firm and my home." as