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My 3 Semesters in CNLU, Patna: Life And Times

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My 3 Semesters in CNLU, Patna: Life And Times

This article is written by Priyanshi Srivastava of CNLU Patna. Feel free to share your law school stories by emailing [email protected]

“No dad, you got to be kidding me. Patna! No. Never. ” I screamed. One year of hard and religious preparation of the Common Law Admission Test and all I was left with was CNLU, Patna. Patna was not at all an appealing place to study at. I was not ready to accept this reality for I had only dreamt of studying in tier 1 elite national law universities. I sniveled for almost a week after the results were out and constantly bothered God by questioning him whether I was sulking and asking for too much. “Am I not brainy enough to get to NLSIU, NALSAR or NUJS?” was the only question that was dancing and boogying its way from one corner of my mind to the other. My dad, being the darling that he is, consoled me all the while and praised Patna continuously in order to perk me up. He incessantly reminded me how proud he was to have a daughter like me and that had he been me, he would have not been able to clear a national level examination in his first attempt. I told him that CNLU was not a problem as it was better than NLU-O and NUSRL but the main problem was PATNA. Patna isn’t the place that people have always thought it to be.

Two days after the list was out, we left for Patna. I was embarking on a new odyssey of my life. Needless to mention, I was skeptical, scornful and disparaging (and all the other adjectives that can be used in the same) about Bihar. From the moment I boarded the train till the time I got down, I recollected how I dreamt of my college life and wondered how it would be in CNLU. I reached the college and somehow liked the college campus. Dad and I went to the registrar’s office and I found him to be a humble and sweet person. We strolled through the college campus and I realized that I had formed notions about the college only because it was in Bihar. Dad left that very day and I geared up for my first day in college. I couldn’t sleep all night in anticipation of the next day. The day came and I put on my best clothes in order to leave a lasting impression on my batch mates and seniors. That very day, I bumped into a strikingly handsome man and I knew I had found my first college crush. Yes, I was totally disarmed by his arresting looks and wondered in which semester he would be.

My heart started pounding faster with every step I tread towards the classroom marked as ‘BBA, LLB 1st year’. As I entered the classroom, I saw the teacher already in the class which made me realize that I was late for my very first lecture. “Wow! He is on time.” Aren’t college teachers supposed to be late for the class as shown in those typical Bollywood movies? Aren’t they supposed to give the potential lovers in the class some time for romance?” I cut the soliloquy short and looked around the already settled class. I finally sat on the very first chair I stumbled upon. I survived two lectures. (Yes, I am pristine in using the word ‘survive’ because the lectures were so soporific; it was as if the teacher was shooting a sleeping pill at with every word he spoke.) After the break of half an hour came the bolt from the blue. I was flabbergasted and rendered speechless to see my very first college crush entering the class room. “What! Is he a lecturer here? No way. That’s not possible. I mean really!” another gush of monologues. Till date I have no idea as to what my Legal methodology class was about for I was knocked for a six by his looks. I thought he resembled Clark Kent, the nerdy alter-ego of superman.

Days passed and I started liking my college irrespective of the “Patna, Bihar” tag because I realized that the city was no different from any other city in India. In fact, Patna has some of very exotic spots to visit. I liked the college more because I became friends with almost everyone in my class and the seniors liked me a lot for they got to know in the so called “intro-sessions” how well I could sing, dance and mimic(I don’t mean to brag!). I, being the only girl in my college who could mimic and ape almost anybody, got pretty much attention. I was enjoying the limelight and everything was going well from friendships to academics to hostel life to night outs but good times don’t last forever and in my case they ended a bit too soon than they should have been. Three months had passes and the seniors were all enthralled in planning our Freshers’ when on one forgetful day, one of my classmates hit a senior on his head with a fire extinguisher and lodged an FIR against him, accusing him of ragging. As an ugly consequence, Freshers’ 2013 was officially called off and the whole batch was boycotted by the college. ”Amazing! No freshers’, no intro-sessions, bad reputation among teachers and to top it all – embargos, boycotts and bans on our batch.” My college life was not treading the right path and had detracted from its avenue. Anyway, all these restrictions did not last long and we became as much the college members as the seniors within a month.

Everything was back to normal and college became even more happening for me. From getting ready for Dandiya and Diwali nights to pulling all-nighters for snaps and mid-sems, from late night boozing to classroom hangovers, from scary debating sessions to plummeting CGPA in exams, I was living every moment to the fullest with the CNLU clan. It was in these times that I came across Aman, Rythum and Shikha who became my closest friends. We used to hunt various hang-outs in Patna, spent hours sitting at the banks of Ganga and often dropped by Maurya Lok to have the famous Sudha cold coffee. Our whole batch used to regularly meet in the garden by dusk and played a lot of games till the curfew time for the girls, which was 9 p.m. Abhilasha and I used to conduct a bitching session for the girls at night (Girls need bitching as a vitamin, very necessary for their survival). Amidst so much of merriment, came the daunting end-semester exams. The exams which seemed to be never ending finally ended and all of us left for our homes for a long winter break. During the vacations I interned at an NGO in Dehradun with five of my other classmates who were mere acquaintances for me before the break. My first internship proved out to be a blessing for me as I made friends with those “mere acquaintances” and Sushant became my best friend. We both used to lurk and loiter together in every street of Dehradun and he even once took me to a restricted area near Missouri which was so mesmerizing. If I were to write about my days in Dehradun, I could go on writing forever as those were the best days of my life till date. As the college days were coming near and the internship days were waning, I felt a chill in my spine- I was afraid our friendship would lose colour in college as people might envy our bond and try to weaken it. Internship came to an end on the 20th of January and we left for college on the 21st of January. The six of us had only four confirmed reservations and two had to adjust with the other four. Sushant, Suvi and I shared the same berth in a 24 hours long journey. The three of were on each other, literally, Suvi slept after some time and Sushant and I talked the whole night about how things will get different in college and promised each other that we would stay best of friends forever and never indulge in any kind of college politics. Today, all my train journeys are reminiscent of my train journey from Dehradun with Sushant and Suyi. After reaching college, 2nd semester felt like a bed of roses for a few months until something happened which compelled me to change my personality completely. In the month of April, I had to leave for Banaras to present a paper at BHU, Faculty of Law. I had somehow become habitual of having Sushant with me where ever I went. I never used to go anywhere without him because somewhere down the line I had become addicted to him. I realized it the very moment I got a confirmation from BHU that I can’t spend 4 days without him. I convinced him to accompany me to Banaras but he was obstinate and in his decision of not coming along. Even my tears could no persuade him. I left for Banaras the next day and on reaching Banaras I was taken aback and bowled over when I saw Sushant standing on Lanka gate. He wanted to surprise me by coming along with me and spending those 4 days with me. That very moment I discovered that I was in love with him. With every passing day, he made me go even weaker in my knees for him, even more head over heels for him and even more topsy-turvy for him. I never dared to propose to him as he was already in a long distance relationship of 4 years. We were like a family to each other at college. He became my support system and I emotionally supported him for everything. I knew and the whole college knew that we were in love; I wonder how come he never discerned that. In the fall, I confessed my love to him and I was disheartened when he told me that he never had any feelings for me and that I was just a best friend to him. I was left shattered trying to pull myself together after the heartbreak. From the very inception of our friendship, I knew that he was as much into me as I was into him but things went against my conjecture. Heart break was not the end; there were some more tittle-tattle and humiliation yet to shatter me completely. The whole college started bad mouthing me and accused me of throwing myself on a committed boy and accused me of trying to break his relationship.

I was left in shambles and not even my friends came up to console me and pull me out of that cyclone of depression. I kept on twirling and descending in the web of melancholy and dejection with every new made up gossip about me and my character. It was then that I decided to tell my mom about the pathetic turmoil that I was going through in my life. I realized how correct people are when they say that if ever life betrays you, shatters you to the core and renders you hopeless, there are parents behind you to always show you that silver lining. My mom supported me and encouraged me to move on and get serious in life. She made me realize that this was not the age to fall for someone but to make yourself knowledgeable and worthy of being a distinguished personality. She helped me in getting over all the dramas in my life and giving my college life a fresh start. In order to live up to my mom’s expectations, I participated in the intra moot competition with Raina and Nisha. I tried to keep myself busy with the moot preparation so as to let no thought of Sushant traverse my mind. Nisha was the first speaker and I was the second speaker. On the day of the competition, I was keyed up and animated to present my case to the judges. As we were anticipating our turn, I envisaged the judges to be grumpy and corpulent enough to scare the nightmare out of us. The mooting fear is the biggest fear that I have ever had in my life. The word fear fails to give that essence; I would rather call it a superlative degree of phobia, if there is any. The three of us tried to remember all the Gods and Goddesses that we could in order to help us overcome that fear of being grilled and roasted with oodles of twisted questions inside.

“Holy Christ!” My eyes popped out at the sight inside. There were three really handsome young men waiting to judge us. That point in time I couldn’t help chortling and sniggering at my fortune for I realized how ugly I was looking that day. “Why on earth did I not condition my hair today and wear them loose. Only if someone would have told me about these three hunks!” I lamented and bemoaned over my plight. I mounted and precariously perched on the ledge of the podium to present my case. The Judge in the middle was so fair, pink and handsome that I couldn’t stop blushing and beaming even while presenting my case. There came a point when I got sweat beads tripping down my forehead and wrinkles out of what is called a grilling process. They grilled me so much that after 20 minutes I was left with no points to rebut and I started giggling, leaving everyone in the moot court hall aghast. After 10 seconds of my solo laughter, the whole hall and the Judges started laughing with me and I turned the whole intimidating ambience of the hall into a very sparkling and lively one. The entire hall reverberated with laughter. Contrary to my expectations, the moot went really well and my team ended up bagging the 6th position out of 30. After the moots, I realized that I managed to find another crush for myself and he was none other than one of the three judges. Life again seemed to bring a breath of fresh air and this time in my favor.

As life was slowly acquiring a semblance of normalcy, the college was pepped to give us a formal Freshers’ 2014. It was too late to throw a Freshers’ party as we were about to become seniors in the fall but nobody actually cares about the time before planning a party at CNLU. The college does not need any reason to party. The students here are such party freaks; they can throw a big bash for the pettiest of the thing. All of us were looking forward to attending the Freshers’ 2014. We were given various exciting tasks and challenges before the final day. The theme of the day was “PROM” in which the girls were to pull on red dresses and boys were to don a black suit. The whole batch looked amazing. Everyone was looking perfect. I was called on stage to ape different bollywood actors. I managed to make everybody laugh. My performance that day made me win one of the three titles of Miss Freshers’ which further buoyed up my previously dwindled morale and confidence. Freshers’ chased by end-semesters, brought an end to a much thwarted second semester.

After a break of one month all of us returned with a lot of gusto and zest as we all were keen on grilling the juniors. The college this time felt something different- may be because we had an attitude and outlook of a senior. I was more fastened and glued to the college this time as it felt like a home to me. I didn’t like the arrival of the juniors as they were like some intruders into my territory. With time and interaction with the juniors, I became callous towards their presence in the college which used to bother me in the beginning of the session. Till now, two positive things have happened to me in this semester. Firstly, I was selected to be a part of an NGO named IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access) which works towards training underprivileged students for the CLAT and once they get through an NLU, their college fees is sponsored by IDIA and secondly, I got an internship under senior advocate of Supreme Court for my 5th semester breaks. Semester three lacks luster and is very mundane as most of the students have become very competitive and serious about their careers. Even I have realized that every single day in a law school has to be utilized to its fullest in studying, writing papers and applying for internships. That is how a few days back I sat with a bowl of honey chilly potatoes in my room, beside my black dell laptop, to hog in while applying for internships in various firms and under various senior advocates when I came across I-PLEADERS and applied for it only in anticipation of a positive reply. I am hoping that the end of 3rd semester will bring some thrill and elation in my life.

I knew it from the very start that these 5 years in the college will be really arduous and grueling but somewhere I only had the knowledge of it and was not prepared for it. CNLU and its students have managed to teach me a lot in these 3 semesters. I have become a lot more mature, serious in life, competitive and most importantly this, college has taught me that true friends are really hard to find and there is no one behind us to shore us up and buttress us except our parents. How could I not mention the key mantra I learnt after coming to PATNA- “Break the stereotype: Never form judgments about the place you have never been to.” It was my fate to come to CNLU and my destiny will be what I will make out of it.

The chronicles of my rocking and swinging 3 semesters in CNLU, Patna foretold.

 

 

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Mooting Tips: First Things To Do When You Get A Moot Problem

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Jurisdiction is what determines whether a court will hear the case on merits or not. If a court does not have jurisdiction over a matter, they will throw out the case and tell the petitioner to go to the right court or tribunal which has jurisdiction. For this purpose, you need to be able to clearly answer these questions

Which court/tribunal are you appearing before (the moot court problem should clearly mention that)? Under what law does it have jurisdiction over the matter? Can jurisdiction be challenged<!–more–> on some grounds? Is it appellate or original jurisdiction?

Identify the issues from the problem

It is unlikely that a moot problem will not identify the issues for you. The most common practice is to identify 3-4 issues that you are supposed to argue on. All major moots like Vis or Jessup, and even major Indian moots do that. However, it is possible that some moot problem did not do so. If that is the case, you have to identify the issues. Be careful there – think of the points of conflict of interest between the parties and decide on issues based on that. Jurisdiction must be established first before you can argue case of merits, and even in memo you must argue on jurisdiction unless issues are specified by the problem and jurisdiction is not one of the issues, which is again, not heard of. Similarly, Quantification of damages/ extent of sanction is often a major issue

Read the facts and argue from both sides

You need to know the facts backward, and you should be able to use the fact to your advantage. Be clear about what facts helps your case and which ones are against you. When there is no law to argue in your favor on a point, or if there is a clear judgment against you, you get down to wrestle over facts and show that the specific case which appear to be against you actually does not cover the fact scenario in hand.

Know the arguments and counterarguments

You need to be acutely aware of each argument, both of the legal and factual kinds, from either side no matter which side you are going to argue from. After that, you have to prepare a response to those arguments. Knowing the first level of arguments is just the beginning, you can not do well unless you go into the next level – counter-arguments. It is your ability to engage in logical arguments and counterarguments (with judges in most cases), especially when it comes to a moot in India, is what wins you great scores. You need to engage in arguments and counterarguments, I repeat, logically, calmly, and politely. Counterarguments are not to be presented in a belligerent manner, but more in a form of an answer, as if you are trying to satisfy the curiosity of the judge.

Preparing for this is very important – you can not engage a judge in this way unless you are truly confident, and confidence comes in large measures from knowledge and understanding, apart from self-esteem.

 

Pay attention to details in the memo, make it look great

Memorial is a written version of the arguments. It will have common sections such as a statement of jurisdiction, statement of facts, the summary of arguments, pleadings, and authorities, and of course, not to forget the prayers. A good memo writer must have tremendous attention to details – such as formatting, definitions, list of abbreviations and glossary, proper formulation of headings and sub-headings, flow of arguments and use of authority, adequate and uniform footnoting. Content, of course, is important, but not as important as how the memo looks and feels when someone tries to glance through. Yes, most judges tend to glance through the memos and mark you on the basis of that. Therefore, the task is to make a beautiful and professional looking memo that seems to be well researched – from the number of footnotes, structure of arguments and coverage of issues. Look at some good memos before you start writing on your own – they are available on the official sites of moots like Jessup and Vis (Vienna and Hong Kong). Just look up the best memos of the yesteryears.

You need not write every argument you may take up during oral rounds in the memo itself – especially counterarguments, <i>i.e. </i>arguments used to answer questions. Just try to ensure you are not missing any major argument or an authority in the memo. If you do, you can still use them up in the oral rounds.

One more time, how the memo looks matters a lot.

Speaking – how to handle oral rounds

This is the most important part. if you do this well, you may get away with many mistakes everywhere else. If you don’t do this very well, mooting would not be as much fun.

Do not think whether you are a good speaker or not. Some people may have been born to be effortlessly good speakers, but there are the rest of us who can match them if we learn the basics. Here are some things on which no one will tell you to work on, but you need to.

1. The tone of your voice –

Try speaking out loudly imagining that the room is full of people. You need to be heard by everyone. Are you speaking in your most impressive tone? Try a few different tones. Which one sounds best to you? Take suggestions from friends too, if needed. Practice speaking in that tone as you speak to people. Yes, this will help you in the moot, and help a lot more in your life generally.

2. Mannerisms –

most people put on distracting mannerisms while they try to give public speeches. Verbal mannerisms. Body language. Distracting fidgeting. These can take away a lot from your speaking. Get yourself filmed. Analyze your mannerisms. Ask others for their opinion. Then go watch “Thank You for Smoking” or “Scent of a Woman”. See the mannerisms everyone loves. Copy if you can – hopefully over time you’ll develop your own endearing mannerisms. These subtle behavioral nuances can go a long way in making a powerful impact in front of the judges. Although adjusting speech and mannerisms for Moots sounds vague and inconceivable, this online course can help you with exactly that, and more.

3. Don’t drag, don’t be monotonous, engage –

It’s a fatal mistake to be monotonous. You’ll turn off the judges. They will get so bored that they will not even hear the brilliant arguments you have come up with. They will be so disinterested that they will not ask you questions except as a matter of routine maybe. If you don’t want that – try and make sure you have life in your voice, an energy in how you carry yourself as you proceed through arguments and never drag. Condense your arguments. State and argument, see what can be asked by a judge based on what you just stated, and then think if you can say it in a way to preempt that question altogether, of course without launching in a long rant but by being economical with words.

4. Use examples, analogies and common sense.

Without these, law is dry and arguing is boring. Use the liveliest examples and your effort in making the courtroom experience more enjoyable for you and for the judges will be rewarded.

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My Experience Of Studying At Lloyd Law College For 4 years

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My Experience Of Studying At Lloyd Law College For 4 years

This article was written by Amit Sagar. If you want to share your law school stories, write to [email protected]

I cleared my 10th and 12th from Bharti Public School. I took arts stream in 11th. No, percentage was not the reason to take arts, I had enough percentage to take commerce as well but I was interested in commerce with math. The percentage I had was not sufficient enough for the school management for commerce with math. I believe it’s all destiny that I would have been given commerce with math I would have taken it, but I was getting only commerce. So I don’t know what came into my mind that I decide to take arts and that spontaneous decision was the best decision of my life I believe because of which today I am in the law field.

I cleared my 12th with a great percentage of 71. Yes, I had an interest in law but it was not at all clear that what further step I should take, as I have no background from the law field. My elder brother, with whom I always have competition, one day he came to me and suggested me about Lloyd law college. Me, my father and elder brother decided to visit Lloyd Law College. We were on the way to college and I was so scared that I would I commute to college and on other hand I was demanding my father that If you really want my admission in this college then you would have to purchase me my personal car. And he was like yeah sure will definitely buy you a car. Then on the same day I had my counseling with Ms. Sarita. All the formalities were done and I got admitted in Lloyd Law College.

After getting an admission in Lloyd Law College, a tragedy happened with me. I got an accident with my bike. My whole face was damaged and both the legs were fractured. Somehow I recovered from that injury but till now I have a scar above my lips but I had to look after my studies as well. But the accident had manipulated my mind to that much extent that I started believing that no one will b interested in talking to me. So it was the first day of my college life. I was scared, as an accident had manipulated my mind. I went to the classroom and sat alone on the bench and started attending lectures. Even in recces time I was sitting alone. But there was one guy who was noticing me. Before the start of the fourth lecture of the day, that guy came to me and introduced himself to me and attended that lecture with me. I didn’t know that the same guy would become my best friend. That guy has helped me a lot in every field and I have lots of memories with him. I remember the day when it was my sister’s engagement and the next day of it I had an exam of economics. I didn’t study at all and moreover I slept only for three hours only that too in the morning from 4 am to 7 am.

I didn’t know even a single word of my syllabus, but it was my best friend only who taught me the subjects for one and a half hour. Because of him only I cleared that exam. There are many more memories like this. But now I miss him as after his completion of B.A. he shifted to Delhi University for LLB of 3 years. But we are still in touch and moreover recently he again helped me out in my personal problem. So the best thing Lloyd Law College gave me is a best friend. And moreover the faculty and crowd of the college vanished away my misunderstanding, which was created due to my accident. I started building up confidence again. It was going all great initially, moreover I visited High Court as well from college side.

Yes, the most memorable experience, which I had, and can’t forget is that when I was in 6th semester my section got changed from B to C. I was not at all happy as my best friend was still in B section only. Somehow I attended the classes. Internal exams were coming near. I started preparing for that. Again it was my best friend only who helped me through notes and recommendation of books. I just took internal exams very lightly and gave it in a very way. But when the results were announced on the display board, I was the one who got first position in C-section. Oh god!!! What a day it was, I felt very glad. But that day motivated me so much. From that day only I started working hard and stopped being dependent on my best friend or someone else. And till today I work hard whether it’s about semester exam or anything else. I had no experience of law till my 12th. Somehow I managed to get into this field and today what I am, I am so glad and proud of me that I choose such a royal profession for me and my life.

Four years of my life at Lloyd Law College were very great, enjoyable and bit adventurous as well. Though initially like all other students I also had the curiosity to get into the college life but when it came to the admission in Lloyd Law College, I was bit scared. Lloyd Law College’s campus is 45 km away from my home situated in Greater Noida so it is approximately 90 km of up and down from my home to college and then back from college to home. I am pursuing with B.A. LLB, which is of five years. The first three years of the course are of B.A. and another two are of LLB. So I never had any of the problems in first three years. Moreover, I enjoyed giving semester exams. Lloyd Law College gave me a best friend as well. I still remember my first day of college.

The first three years at Lloyd were very smooth. The fourth year is a real lifetime experience of college life. In this year, I met with two guys and a girl namely Prikshit, Aman and Prerna respectively. The activities I did in this year I think I should have done earlier before in the first three years. I had a company fitted CNG car. While going to college, I used to pick up Aman, Prikshit and Prerna from Mayur Vihar and we all go together to the college. We used to attend hardly two lectures and after that we used to bunk. During 7th and 8th semester exams there used to be a conference of all of us on the call. In that we used to discuss any of the topics and of course at the end of the conference, the timings to reach the center. Though the exam was supposed to start at 12 pm but we used to reach the center at 8 am. We used to park the car outside the dominos, Greater Noida and study in the car only. If anyone of us were not getting any topic, we would use to teach the topic to that friend. Sharp at 10 am we use to order pizzas from Dominos and they were so kind that they delivered the order to the parked car.

Initially, Lloyd Law College was not developed as much but gradually they have progressed well. Now the college is consistently organizing various activities like Moot Court Competition, visit to Courts, etc. I remember when I was interned in High Court; I was going to my chamber from the courtroom. Suddenly I saw one of my favorite professors Mr. Anil Thakur. I met him and asked him about the college so he told me that today he is on a visit with the students of 2nd semester. He asked me to show the court to the students so I along with the students visited some courtrooms and mediation center and explained a bit as well regarding them. Mr. Anil Thakur appreciated the way I explained to the students. Recently I heard that my college is organizing moot court competition at National Level. I felt proud on myself on my college that such a big opportunity is given to my college.

My overall experience of four years at Lloyd Law College is great. I still miss some days and moreover the college has progressed and developed a lot. Exams have never been tension for me in my four years at Lloyd. Thanks to Lloyd Law College that in first three years it gave me a best friend and in the fourth year it gave me three fun-loving friends who taught me the real meaning of college-life and also it gave some unforgettable memories as well. I believe that the spontaneous decision taken after 10th and 12th for LLB in Lloyd Law College was the right and true one. It’s not about only profession, but the experience and friends which Lloyd law college gave me, I am really thankful for that to Lloyd Law College.

 

 

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My Experience of Studying Law at Amity University, Lucknow

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My Experience of Studying Law at Amity University, Lucknow

This article is written by Arunima Bose, a student of Amity University, Lucknow.

I was a core science student. Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science were my subjects at 10+2. All these subjects were never interesting to me. No matter how hard I worked, how many hours I studied, I never succeeded in excelling them. I was hopeless in Mathematics. I always had a weird urge to debate, talk and have discussions, but, there was something which stopped me from doing so. I don’t know what it was, hesitation or fear to go wrong and make a fool of myself. In 2008 when I was in class 9th, I went to the Republic Day Camp. I did a lot of public speakings. A lot indeed!! After this golden experience of mine, I developed an inevitable love for public speaking. I never left a single opportunity to get out of my hold, when it came to debating. When I was in class 11th, some career counselors named “CAREER LAUNCHERS” came to my school and gave information regarding how law has emerged as a profession and the way it is improving by the tick of the clock. The salary package was very fascinating too, but more than that was the skill of speaking one gets to learn. I knew, it requires a lot of reading, discipline, dedication, passion, perseverance, determination, skill and a stoic will on the part of a law student. Intelligence is just not enough to excel at a law university. Studying law is not a left-hand job; it has to be taken very seriously. The greatest challenge I ever accepted was to study law but I knew it from the very moment that it was never going to be easy. I was prepared for this new phase. THE COLLEGE LIFE OF MY LIFE!!! I was ready for this challenge in earnest. Life at a law university is not only full of opportunities but colossal amount of experiences too.

I am pursuing B.com LL.B (H). So, I study commerce subjects along with law subjects.

FIRST YEAR
My experience began on 16th August 2011. As soon as I entered the college, there was this strange emotion of nervousness and joy. In short, I was perplexed. There was a small orientation programme organized by the college itself to provide us with the information we will need as beginners. It was quite an interactive session designed to know the faculty and resources. As a first year student I should have been more dedicated and focused on my studies which I was not, as I took part in sports, dance competitions and various other competitions including an intra moot court competition too. My subjects during the first year were Business Organization and Management, Financial Accounting, Business Mathematics, Microeconomics Law of Contracts, and Legal Method. In addition to these subjects, Legal Hindi and Legal English were also taught so that we can learn what a particular legal process is termed as, in English as well as in Hindi. The subjects of commerce are some from first semester and some from the second, but the core subject like Contract lasted for the entire year. Contract Law is one of the most interesting subjects I have ever read. The terms which earlier were just dictionary words now started having a completely different meaning to it. For ex: sale. Earlier for me Sale was shopping on discounted items but now it had a more technical meaning to it. The complete year was full of such technical terms in law. Law of Contracts as a first-year subject was really motivational for me, as it never required hours of study. The professor who taught us Contract was strict and expected us to be prepared with the topic a day before. He used to ask questions in front of the whole class and so the fear to go wrong and get insulted in front of 44 students gave a good push to me to be prepared for my lessons. The toughest part was to cope up with all the commerce subjects as most of the students were having a commerce background. The subjects like accounting, business mathematics needed daily practice. It took me a while to get acquainted with subjects like microeconomics and Business organization and management. I got acknowledged with so many new things. I started gaining confidence slowly and steadily, as firstly, the subjects were no more alien to me and secondly, to think I knew more than any of my science ex-classmates knew. I knew things about science, commerce as well as Law. They say, “Knowledge gives you confidence.” I second it. My academic performance was going excellent till the day I involved myself more in co-curricular activities. Dance is my passion and being a trained classical dancer I never leave any opportunity to dance and showcase my talent. I enrolled myself in the Dance and Drama Club of my University. All the seniors who were already there were really impressed by my talent. I started skipping classes, missing lectures and got myself engaged in dancing and rehearsing for different programmes held at our department including fests and seminars. I also participated in an intra moot held that year which was only to acknowledge, guide and teach myself the science of mooting. All this affected my end semester examinations. The people with whom I used to roam around secured 8 pointers and I was stuck on 6. It was like an eye opener and I decided to prioritize everything.

SECOND YEAR
As soon as the first year ended, most of the students started looking for internships during the summer break. In most of the places, internships are not available to first-year students. So I applied at a local firm through a source. It was a small firm but the experience was huge. Sticking on to the topic, my second year was the busiest year to say the least. My second year began with back to back classes, and really strict faculty in terms of academics and attendance. The only free time we had was the lunch break as there was no free class. All the teachers used to come on time and leave late. Earlier I had a habit of writing my notes in a single diary but now I made different sections in the same diary for different subjects. I used to attend all the classes, and take all the notes like an ideal student does. The lectures were clear and the faculty was very welcoming if we had any queries to discuss. My subjects in second year were Constitutional Law, Family Law, Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Administrative Law, Macroeconomics, Investment and Auditing. I never missed a single class of Indian Penal Code and Constitutional Law, as they are my favorite. Though, Cr.PC is my weakest area. Among commerce subjects I enjoyed studying Investment. The share market and its technicalities are really interesting to read and know. The subjects in my second year were really interesting and the best part was that in spite of mugging up the sections, I had an in depth understanding of all the subjects. It all resulted in good grades and 6 pointers from the last semester improved to 6.6 straight. It’s not like I didn’t participate in any of the departmental activities, but now I realized how important it is to get good grades at law school to stand with head high. I also participated in an intra moot again this year. Moot courts are really important for the budding lawyers as it gives a true insight as to how a court is like and how one has to face and deal with the questions asked by the judges. During winters, this year, I had a wonderful experience of working with an NGO called PUCL (Peoples Union for Civil Liberties) which changed my thinking from viewing law as a profession which gives you authority to a profession which can change the world, help the needy and give justice to people who are not only poor but unaware of their rights. I conducted surveys in police stations, night shelters, Aangan Badis, Nari Niketan, Mahila Thana. It was terrible to see the characteristic cluelessness and unawareness of the people about their rights. Most of the poor and needy people just said one thing “Kachheri k chakkar kaun kaate”!!!

This transformed my thinking as lawyers can not only sit in a cabin and earn lakhs but also help by giving free legal aid to people who are poor and belong to low-income groups. I experienced how lawyers can make a difference to the people and to the society. Earlier I knew it but thought how, but, this time I experienced it. This year offered me great number of joys, interesting and educational activities which rejuvenated me from time to time from the busy class schedule and tedious academics. All in all it was a great learning year.

THIRD YEAR
The third year of studying law at Amity University was fun and the most enjoyable year. It was equally crucial for my career as I had to perform really well in my academics and score so that I may reach my target of 8 pointers. My subjects for this year were Law of Torts, Code of Civil Procedure, Law of Evidence, Labor Law, Property Law, Company Law, Cyber Law, and Statistical Methods in Research, Financial Marketing, Corporate Tax Planning and Cost Accounting. Studying Company law is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It is because Company Law is applied in all businesses for the objective of creating wealth and identifying and mitigating risks. My goal for pursuing law was to work in the corporate sector. Company Law is the one subject which deals real-life and business-related problems. It furnishes one with an array of analytical, critical thinking, communication and comprehension skills that are required in the management of both corporate legal and non-legal affairs. This year brought forth many a brilliant opportunities and experiences which include MUN’s, a National level Parliamentary debate and a National level Moot Court competition in which we stood amongst the top five. Though we didn’t excel in it but I am highly contented because it was a life time experience as I gained so much confidence and even after such a wonderful level of competition offered by the NLU’s we were amongst the top five. This very year I also was assigned with the cultural coordinator ship of the law department of our university. My grades improved from 7 to 8 and finally I was happy with the year. Overall this year brought multiple joys and valuable experiences in my law life. It added very many wings to my personality and enhanced my dimensions as a future lawyer.

FOURTH YEAR
Generally most of the universities offer specialization and elective courses in the second or third year but our university offered it in the fourth year. I chose those subjects for specialization which come within the periphery of Business Law. I always had a longing to work in the field of corporate law and by that means in the corporate sector. I take great joy in studying these subjects. It is in light of the understanding of these subjects which dawned on me this year I think my future as a corporate lawyer is up and coming. Now law is not just a subject for me but it is my stage upon which I have to perform and outshine my own self each day.

CONCLUSION
Law is such an enlightening subject that it doesn’t really matters from where you study it. Be it an NLU or a private university. It enlightens one so profoundly that learning doesn’t renders one in ennui and understanding it is not cumbersome if you think about the perks it has in disguise. Though theoretical but this is one subject which has some veritable practicality about it. It gives one an insight about how this world works. It gives one the wonderful insight about how India in particular functions judicially, administratively, executively and commercially and what not wise. It gives one the massive legal superiority, the very power of which gives one a sense of justice and righteousness. It gives one the power to not only defend oneself but also others when in crisis or under an atrocity either active or passive. It has amplified the entire intellectual, emotional, spiritual, lingual and colloquial dimensions of me. This is one subject which is a teacher also as it not only gives knowledge about itself and how one can attain prowess in it but also teaches one rectitude and gives an infinite depth of an abyss of confidence.

 

 

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My Experience of Winning Two Debates And What It Takes To Win Formal Debates

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My Experience of Winning Two Debates And What It Takes To Win Formal Debates

This article is written by Sunil Kumar Yadav of CNLU Patna. If you want to share your debating stories, write to [email protected]

Debating for me earlier means just giving counter argument to what your opponent is giving and if your able to counter that argument by anything like questioning its existence or providing an example totally opposite to the nature of statement that was given by the other person, this was the thing which I used to do in the school but when I joined CNLU within few days I came to know, that what I was doing is a community type of Debate not a formal kind of debate. In CNLU, I came to know about the Asian Parliamentary Debate and its rules like manner and role of a member for his team and the basic pillars of debating in the guidance of my seniors. In the way of this process I learnt a lot and only thing that I could make out from all this process of debating is that you just have to develop your understanding and express your thought on the given topic in a systematic and structured mannered highlighting the points according to your understanding which you consider important and which should goes to the person judging the debate known as adjudicator by explaining and clarifying those points to the extent that no question of understanding or confusion should remain in the mind of adjudicator. With these golden rules keeping in my mind I started debating and with one more rule that was advice by my senior that just be yourself don’t restrict yourself in any bondage just go out there and openly express yourself in way you think it should be said or represented and never judge yourself, let others judge you. As the basic principle of natural justice is: “You can’t be a judge in your own case”. That is the most vital thing which I always remember when I go to the podium to speak I may forget all the rules but I cannot forget this one that is the real basis of all the debates that I have done and will do in the future. That is how I started debating the Asian Parliamentary Debate and in the course of it I got a chance to go to Ram Manohar Lohiya National Parliamentary Debate 2014 conducted by Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow .

As we as a team were preparing for the debate, as it was our first National Debate totally unknown about this type of world of thinkers and expressive people who has been well versed in the format with a establish legacy of their own and we were going to challenge them and leave our mark in this fraternity of debating and to let others known that we have entered into the field, ready to play the game and give our best shot which will startle them. With this type of thought in our mind with a motive to have good debates and to win some of them, we were on our way to Lucknow and I was the first member of our team to arrive at the station and other two namely Rishabh and Suryansh joined me late that night and after assembling our team.

We all with another team of CNLU, all first timers with great enthusiasm were waiting for the next morning to go out there and debate. The next day in the morning we get up early which usually don’t happens, got ready and hit the hall at 10 A.M as the time was prescribed by the organizers but then we got the message that the after fulfilling the formality and the procedure of registration, inauguration ceremony debate will start at 4:00 P.M.

A lot of time was still left and as the time passed our enthusiasm started to fade and finally at around 4:30 P.M the first match-ups of the teams were released and our first debate was with University Of Allahabad as we entered into the room, suddenly an adrenaline with a blend of fear and enthusiasm passed into my body and we were on our way of preparing as an opposition on the topic “This House believes Malala and Kailash Satyarthi should return their Nobel Prizes”. And moment later we were out of the room walking proudly opposing and winning with margin victory of five backing our claim and as result of this in the next match up our contest was with the team “Lady Sri Ram”(LSR) which was one of favourites of winning the debate competition and it just pumped us up to put a good show and the topic on which we have to debate was “This House will ban the censorship of film on social, religious and political basis”.
Our Team at RMLNLU Debate
We were acting as proposition on this topic I laid down the case from the proposition side and when their Leader of opposition came she totally shattered the entire basis of our stand and honestly speaking as we were debating with such kind of debaters for the first time, firstly the problem arise that we were not able to understand and connect what they were speaking relevant to the topic but still thanks to our last debater Risabh he gave us some hope as he was the only person who understood most part of the debate and was able to prevent us from a humiliating defeat , we were defeated scraped down totally and he was the only person who cut some margin of loss but we learned a lot from this debate and this was the debate which showed the real level of debating as it was the last match up of the day, we had got whole night to introspect and come out strong the next day, almost most part of the night I was eating up the brain of Suryansh about the debate we lost to LSR and was just asking for one more match with them, so that we can show them what we are, after talking all this thing with him I went to sleep and in the next morning I was ready to take on anybody and in the next match up with KIIT we buried them in that debate won with total consensus given by the adjudicator and in the next match up it was like blessing in disguise as we were once again debating with LSR and we all were pumped up ,only thing that was going through our mind that we are going to make this match the most difficult one and let not go this opportunity a waste to bring on the biggest upset of the RML debating rounds, again we were contesting with them having the same core adjudicator Pradyumna Jairam with the topic “This House will prosecute Amitabh Bachchan for inciting riots of 1984”.

What happened in this was that there was allegation by one of the victims of riots that by raising the slogan of “Khoon ka Badla Khoon”, he incited the riots against Sikh but there was ambiguity whether it was Amitabh Bachchan or not, On this topic we were opposing that he should not be prosecuted. As we were on our full throttle to breath the sign of win against LSR we literally gave everything what we have into that debate, totally giving our everything and every understanding what we have and at the end made the best debate of RMLNLU rounds by any team but still after doing all this thing our best was not enough to cross the finishing line first , we were still on the losing side.

We lost again to the same team and by losing this debate we realized our potential and our limitations for which we should be abide to it but still we had to go for one more debate and it was just a formality for us and we had it this with Punjab University. We just did it as a formality and in this performing lower to our potential which put us on the losing side by a very close margin. On the whole it was a very good learning experience we didn’t get anything from winning those two debates except some confidence but we learnt a lot by losing those two debates with the best team of the tournament who went on win the RML debate, LSR, we learned a lot from that two matches that we had with them and the best thing which came out with those two debates was that believe in ourselves and bonding as a team that we found debating against them we took it as the positives and the other debates that we did they didn’t have that much impact on us and whenever we will look back and remember our first debating experience it will only be those two debates that we did and it seems like that we wanted to prove something that we do exist in this fraternity. And I think we made a mark out there in the first tournament nobody would have called us out that we were first timer. Yes, we lost but we fought with pride and humbly accepted the defeat.

After this mind- boggling experience of a National debate tournament what I have decipher is that “Idea is greater than Knowledge” you just have to keep upon what you are following some technicality, develop your understanding and have a simple but unconventional approach to any topic that you are provided, always be in a stable state of mind, don’t let yourself go along with the circumstances always be in control and keep your ears and mind open just make a stand based on the rationality and stick to it by giving the analogy assertion and reduce the matter into the most simplest form in which you can so that the adjudicator will easily notice your point which you want to make and the most important thing is to connect your speech in which it makes sense it should not be like scattered grain on the floor rather it should be like systematically arranged as the books are kept in the library. So that it becomes easy for the adjudicator to decipher your speech.

This is formal debate so there should not be too much of flamboyance , there must be but you should be aware of where you are crossing the line, sounding like a speaker not as a debater and there is one thing which people think it’s irrelevant but it’s create a mark on adjudicator when you start and end your speech well , you may be a very good debater but you don’t start and end your speech nicely, it can cost you a lot and never under speak than the prescribed time limit that has been given to you ,if you don’t have matter just repeat your speech but complete your full time.

In the formal debate if you want to rebut their point rebut it by giving another better point not by giving examples because examples just don’t fulfill the criteria of assertion, reasoning and analogy and you can’t use an open ended statement which can interpreted differently from both side and make one of the point of speech. The best thing in formal debate is that you don’t have to have some special knowledge about something, if you are coming out here and saying that “America is the most powerful country of the world” and are not giving this assertion with reasoning, analogy and example just stating the facts and facts and I am not getting the answers of How’s and Why it is so and someone is coming up and saying that “America is the worst country in the world” and he is backing his assertion with the reasoning, analogy and examples providing with the answers of How’s and Why .

In formal debate, the adjudicator will take that the “America is the worst country of the world”. So you have an Idea first backing it with rationality behind it. And the simplest way to win is to convince the adjudicator that your points are better than the other side. A speech should be presented by always keeping in mind the basic of debating of matter, manner and method. And when you think you don’t have to be in any bondage and want express yourselves beyond the rules prescribed just do that and justify yourselves because at the end your satisfaction matters , how you want to represent yourselves and never hesitate to ignore some rules because these are just rules and rules are subject to interpretation and change.

 

 

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My experience of working as the convenor of the Moot Court Society at Lloyd

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My experience of working as the convenor of the Moot Court Society at Lloyd

This article was written by Aditya Narayan. Want to share your law school experience? Email your write up to [email protected]

Before even becoming a law student, I had gathered information on things to do at a law school. I was told to focus on improving my resume everyday and things that would help me improve it were Internships, Paper Presentations and Moot Courts. Moot Courts are the things that give a student an exposure on how to practice at the courts of our country. And if one wants to indulge into litigation after Law School, moot courts are just like the icing on the cake. Hence it is rightly said, “Mooting is an art of argument”. Keeping all this in mind and with dreams of touching success I started my law school journey by joining Lloyd Law College.

Ever since my school days I was pretty much involved in the co-curricular activities like debate club, quiz club, maths club etc, so I did the same thing in college as well. By the time we were 3 months old in college, there was an intra college moot court and I participated in it as well. Thanks to the team I got we entered the finals of the competition defeating many seniors of our college. After the completion I became an active member of the mooting society of our college. By the time I was in my 3rd semester I was made the Convenor of the Moot Court Society. That was the best reward for me then.

On my 1st day as the Convenor I was introduced to the faculty and student members of the club formally. I had thought that it would be an easy job for me. But trust me it was tougher than one could expect it to be. Right from day one there was work, work and a lot of work in the club to do. After getting my team we were focused on our work and our motto was to make every single student to be perfectly eligible to participate in a moot court competition. We were allotted the moot court room to conduct our meetings and discussions and selection of students. The teacher who was in charge of the committee was the most important person of the club. On my first day, she guided me on my work and made me understand the meaning of patience and it’s magic. I was also told about the obstacles I had to face in my path. She gave me an insight of things do and to refrain from doing. After the meeting, I had a clear picture in my mind about how I have to perform my duties.

I thank all those who choose me as a convenor of the moot court society as it also helped me improve my managerial skills. I also had to talk to a lot of people which further enhanced my communication skills. The stage fear in me had disappeared and I became a more confident person than I was. All those meetings and information about moot court competitions were told to the rest of the college by me. All the notices were sent by me. I and my team were selecting people to take part in various competitions. I learnt on dealing people and that improved my personality.

I took a note of who were present at the meeting, see if their attendance were taken, answer their queries, help the ones weak in communicating , improve mooting skills of people, give guidance to people on mooting, encourage students to voluntarily take part in mooting.

We had successfully conducted 3 moot court competitions from where we choose the best students and sent them to various moot court competitions. We also had a dozen moot court camps where we invited students and taught them the do’s and dont’s of mooting. Later I came to know from some of my friends those camps helped many improve their skills and they also won awards in competitions. We were also successful in beginning weekly moot court classes for students’ right from 1st year. Fortunately those classes are still very much going on.

Our job didn’t end just by selecting students to take part in competitions, we also sat with them to prepare their memorial, gather the statement of facts, find the related cases and do rehearsals with them so that have enough of practice before the real match. One of my main tasks was to inform the students about the upcoming moot competitions and for that one has to be very much active. Every morning my first task was to check the email regarding any invitation for moot tournaments and then to update the members with the details. The other important task was to serve notice to the members regarding moot court society meetings from time to time. For a society to work properly, meetings must be performed on regular basis to keep the members up to date about the society’s activities.

The task was never easy but then there was fun working at that place. The college management gave their full support to us or else working would have been very painful. We were provided with wifi facility, a moot court room and another classroom, books from library, food in case we had to work till late, and a teacher to guide us on mooting skills. These things motivated us to work even harder. We never faced any problem whatsoever when it came to college management.

 

For things to get on track, you need a great team. I was fortunate enough to get a team comprising of dedicated and passionate workers who gave their 100% for the growth of the club. This experience taught me the value and importance of team work and how to be a good team member. Things become difficult when your team is not supportive but I feel grateful that my team was an example of an ideal team. Every member stood in support of each other at times of joy and sorrow. Even on days of holiday, every member responded to my calls and came up for quick meetings and discussions. I feel privileged to have such great people as my colleagues.

I was very much aware of the fact that in spite of all these things, the society’s success to a great extent is dependent on the efficiency of the convenor. If a convenor is efficient and putting his/her full efforts, no one can stops the team from getting success. The previous convenor of the moot court society of our college was an example of hard work and dedication in front of me. I took her as my ideal and tried my level best to maintain the standard she was maintaining and also I had a wish to set an example for future convenors like she did. That was really motivating and I started working with great efforts.

Keeping this fact in mind I gave my 100% and I was very much satisfied with my performance as our team won so many prizes during those days.

I can’t forget the help lent by other clubs for the growth of the moot court society. The debate club members helped in communication skills of students who were not so good in speaking English. Sometimes, even they helped in preparing memorials. One of the memorials prepared by the help of the debate club secretary went on to win the best prize at a moot court competition. For that I shall always remain indebted to the debate club secretary.

Our club was lauded by everyone from students to the director general of our college. So much so that during my regime, we went on to win the best club of the year award. Those memories can never fade away from my brain.

While working as the convenor of the moot court society I realised the value of this position. I found that a convenor is the main link between board and the society members. The link should be strong enough to fetch good results. That realization inspired me to do my work with more efforts and to control the society’s administrative procedure more effectively.

The convenor must be enthusiastic, an effective communicator and he/she must have the ability to make decisions. My decision making capacity has improved after this experience and I personally feel that this experience has improved my personality and made me self dependant in all aspects. The interactions with team members as well as with different people during moot court tournaments helped me learning the way to interact. I learned how to handle different situations in different circumstances.

I have developed good leadership skills throughout this experience. The convenor is the one who coordinates the work of the unit. I was the one who has to give directions and manage the activities of the society and this improved my leadership skills and made me a person who is now able to work as an effective leader.

Our society was active in intercollegiate moot court competitions and for that the responsibility to schedule and coordinate travel arrangements was on my shoulders. The management of funds and tickets for the participants was completely my area of work and one has to manage things reasonably when it comes to travel and I was handling this with the best of my knowledge.

For the management to be effective it must be organized and systematic and this thing was clear in my mind. To carry out the management in a systematic manner I put forward an idea in the meeting of the debate society. I suggested that we should make a checklist of responsibilities so that everyone knows who is responsible for what. This idea was appreciated by the society and they allowed maintaining the checklist and everyone was directed to put the signature in front of their respective tasks for better understanding and management.

To get good participants for the intercollegiate moot court competitions our team decided to organize intra college competitions and we decided to give cash prizes to motivate the children to come forward and show their talents and the main purpose of this was to set up a strong team for intercollegiate debating tournaments. Slowly and steadily we came up with a brilliant team which won many prizes and made the college proud. And this is not just the. Our college is excelling in every moot court competition it is taking part these. I feel so very proud writing these down over here.

My overall experience as the convenor of the moot court society at Lloyd Law College was a great one. I learned a lot of things as I have mentioned. This experience helped me developing my personality, improved my communication and management skills, made me a good team worker and above all it gave me a sense of responsibility. It was also fun to go to different places for different competitions with such an enthusiastic and supportive team. The opportunity to see so many places, to meet different people and to learn about different things was a golden one for me. I would never forget this experience and would appreciate it throughout my life. This experience transformed me to a great extent and improved my personality which I know would help me in things I do in future.

I think every small thing we learn add up to our personality and transform a part of us which finally leads to an ideal personality. Knowledge comes with experience and we should be active enough to try even small things which at the end would leave us with some sort of experience. All the nitty-gritties of Mooting are tough to capture right away, and luckily, this online course makes it much simpler to ace the art of Mooting.
My experience of working as the Convenor has been something like a life time opportunity to me. Some may consider this position as not so signifying one, but this position helped me improve not only mooting at my college but also my own self. The earlier shy guy in me has vanished and I have become a more confident person in real life ready to face the cruel world that awaits me when I step out of law school.

 

 

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My Experience of Working With Navjyoti India Foundation and Dr. Kiran Bedi

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My Experience of Working With Navjyoti India Foundation and Dr. Kiran Bedi

Author of this article is Tanya Shrivastava, a student of UPES, Dehradun. Want to share your law school experiences? Email your write up to [email protected]

A month at Navjyoti taught me so much more, about life, than what I have learned in the 19 years of my life, combined. From meeting one of the most successful women i.e., Dr. Kiran Bedi to communicating with hundreds of people deprived of, even a proper shelter, this one month internship gave me the real picture of India, so much better than what most people get to see in their whole lifetime. Wandering through the basti and communities and observing the condition of living there, my appreciation for Kiran ma’am and her associates, for initiating this successful Foundation, increased each day.

I joined here with tons of doubts in my mind as to whether my decision to come here was right or not. Being a law student, I was confused whether this internship would be helpful for me towards my career as lawyer, considering the work of this organization was mainly based on the basic level of social service. But after just one meeting with the Executive Director of the Foundation, I was sure that I am at the right place. And towards the end of my internship period I realized that I have got everything out of it, all that was promised by her. As elucidated by her, we learned how to connect with different people, how to communicate with them, what are the traits which a lawyer must have.

The first few days were just learning about how the organization functions, how it started, etc. then once we got our respective projects in the groups of two, we were required to visit different communities, and when I say “different” I mean people living around half a mile from each other and bearing nothing but the feeling of sheer hatred for each other. So much so that they didn’t even consider it safe to send their children a little far from their houses to Navjyoti Community College that guaranteed them a bright future and promised a life away from the hellholes they were stuck in. The folks around were unaware of the importance of education, skills or even hygiene. And in those backgrounds, we had the opportunity to meet the most talented people who were completely unaware as to what the world has to offer in exchange of their unique and exceptional skills. They considered their lives entrapped between the invisible bars around them, the bars of society, responsibilities, fear and in most cases, being born as a female!

Our work there was to interact with these people, try to assess their problems (if they were not apparent enough!) and work to get them out of those problems. During the beginning days of our field visits, we were almost blank as to how we were supposed to start up a conversation with a bunch of people who were so different from the ones who we usually interacted with.

We were too conscious about saying anything to them. Actually that would be putting it lightly, in reality, we were scared to death. What if they took, whatever we had to say, as an offence? What were they capable of doing to two persons knocking on the doors of a deserted street in the corner of the city (to which most of its population was oblivious to), with nothing near to a weapon except for umbrellas, (which they would not remove in the terror of getting tan.) telling them that they need to change their lives? But entering just the first house changed our conception about everything. We were welcomed like guests, and instead of getting annoyed, they were actually interested in what we had to say and what the Navjyoti had to offer! In fact, using “interested” would be undermining the expressions on their faces. The lady in that house got so excited that she called her neighbors to listen to us and soon we were standing there addressing to a crowd of around 20 people! (and none of them wanted to kill us!) At that moment we believed that it was not them who were responsible for their condition, given an opportunity, they would welcome changes around them. And with that feeling of professionals, our first day of field visit ended. But from the second day we were struck by the harsh reality. That’s when we realized that we certainly were not the first ones to have tried to work towards their wellbeing. To summarize, from the second day we realized that things were not as simple as we presumed them to be. We were going to have a hard time dealing with them. (Considering no one even opened the door for us) But we continued anyway. We just had to make them understand about the opportunities they would be missing out on. (or we would be missing out if we failed and got bad remarks on our certificates.) So with this new inspiration and zeal, we started afresh and tormented the people to listen to us and convinced many to come and visit the counselor in our office. We took two children to the Community College ourselves for which we had to almost fight with their mother and wait in front of their house for around an hour. But in the end it all turned out to be good. We walked away from Navjyoti India Foundation after handing them a huge list of people who wanted change (or were convinced by us that they did) and were willing to join Navjyoti for same(and yes our certificates had pretty good remarks).

The center of Navjyoti India Foundation where we worked had a Community College functioning in its premises which basically took the children or adults of the surrounding communities as its students and worked towards polishing their skills. Basically these were the people identified from the lot in the communities and were already working towards the, much required, change. Once we were asked to take a session with them and teach them (which to our surprise turned into a discussion) about whatever we knew about law. During the session we observed that not only these people have accepted the new dignified life but also, they wanted to do anything they can to provide the same to the other people. This gave us the idea to arrange for a mass awareness program with the help of these students. And what could be the better way of doing so other than a Nukkad Natak? And within a week we formed a committee of students of all ages (which we were promised, would become the official committee), wrote scripts, taught them acting and addressing people (which basically meant shouting) and finally we had a group who were difficult to be distinguished from professionals. The Foundation helped us in organizing the Natak(s) in all the areas that the interns were working and as expected we got remarkable response from the people as well as our heads in the office.

But the best part of the whole month of working with Navjyoti has to be the celebration of Dr. Kiran Bedi’s Birthday, where we had the opportunity to meet Kiran Bedi herself! She chose to celebrate her birthday with the staff and associates of Navjyoti which itself depicts her modesty. The celebration was not with any lavish party but just her spending the whole day with us. Playing games and having a mass Yoga session. The whole country is aware of the huge examples that she has set. Moreover her mantra that “if the god has given you something, it is because he wants you to provide the double of it to the less fortunate than you” is the foundation of Navjyoti India Foundation and makes her an inspiration for the whole world.

I would remember Navjyoti India Foundation for a lot of things, but, one thing that I am sure I will not find anywhere else, which truly makes it unique, is the work culture there. The way the staff interacted with each other and with us, was exceptional. For the small period, that we worked there, we were included in every major meeting, asked to contribute ideas in every major decision, allowed to interact with the highest authority directly, so basically, we were treated equal to the working staff there. Moreover, we were added by them in their social groups! In short the staff of Navjyoti Community College, Karala works together as a family, and are always ready to welcome any new member who wants to be a part of this family. One thing that I am sure is that once I complete my studies, I would work to help in this cause in any way I can.

 

 

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My Experience of Working With The Red Cross Society

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My Experience of Working With The Red Cross Society

This article is written by Sumi Trvedi of UPES, Dehradun. If you want to share your law school related experiences, feel free to share them over email: [email protected]

Red Cross Society: An association which inspires encourages and initiates, at all times, all forms of humanitarian activities so as to create a climate for peace (although I came to know about the mission of this society on the first day of my introductory session).

Those 21 days of my life taught me how to love people, not only our near and dear ones but also those, who not being a member of our family, not our friends,

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My Four Years at Army Institute of Law, Mohali

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My Four Years at Army Institute of Law, Mohali

Written by Pragati Sharma. If you want to share your law school experience, write to [email protected]

Stomach rumbling with half eaten breakfast and anxiety, on a humid July Sunday, I made my bed, my mother sat on a chair, sparsely dusted by my absent roommate I had not yet met, she tapped her feet, looking at me like I was still a five year old, hoping I’d let her make my bed, but I didn’t let her. She watched as I tried to act like a responsible adult, who probably could wake up without her dad calling her out at six every morning.

That was not just me but sixty seven others, our faces torn between the departure of adolescence, and onset of adulthood; the things we’d left behind and what we were here to achieve – between the future loss of innocence and the lessons we were here to learn in life. Army Institute of Law, for a vast majority it was more or less a continuation of our school life, since they were all coming from defence backgrounds, it was easy and at the same time difficult. I somehow sat through the orientation which included a basic introduction of oneself and their hobbies, a part I had come to hate every tastefully over the years. I hated the first days of everything, when I met new people I wondered if we could directly time travel to the second day where I already knew them. There were others like me, who hated the introductions and chose to sat in the far back of the hall, and then there were those who could not get enough of being a public figure – the over enthusiastic social butterflies.

In many ways I’ve come to learn that this college is a thriving paradox, with both extremes existing in the same space, with and without conflicts. I suppose then everything in life is – a coexistence of dualities, but here it is in the same moment, two things, entirely opposite, together at once.

I think when you throw in eighty people from all over the country together, for five years, they become a strange kind of joint family, with their peculiarities, the annoying habits, the unity, the conflicts, the resolution, it all becomes not only a part of one of those college stories which a junior after five years would retell with most of it their fiction than the truth that actually came to pass. But, in many ways, it becomes your own story, your life, it shapes you and if you let it, it defines you for the rest of your life.

As a first year, I was mostly scared and over-cautious, curious all the same, watching from side lines, learning second hand life lessons, for e.g. don’t drink more than you can handle, or throw up at the gate if you do.

However, I learnt later during my college year, well, to be honest more recently, that every other law college is like that – throw in eighty people with varying degrees of curiosity and their own idiosyncrasies together for five years and watch what happens. It’s a recipe for endless drama, competition, and gossip. I really wish there was a TV show on law school and its five years, at least five seasons. It’ll have the highest ever ratings.

As in every Bollywood mafia movie, the novice is taken under the wings of a gangster lord and there begins his journey to the top where he becomes the gangster’s left hand. I was taken in by a couple of third years, which by the end of my first was up to five and one to of them till date is my best friend and in many ways, a guide and mentor. I guess that was the turning point, because in later years, you’d realise that life has strange similarities with Goodfellas – “sometimes the good guys gotta do bad things to make the bad guys pay.”

Being a wallflower and being a complete outsider in the legal world is pretty terrifying for any first year, especially when you’ve been medical school bound throughout your life until the moment you sign the admission forms of a law school. Anything that wasn’t E = mc2 didn’t make sense, but after four months and three exams later, it made more sense than everything else.

The one thing that makes a mark more permanent than someone telling you that they have faith in your potential is someone telling you that you cannot – that is a driving force like no other. In a typical military fashion, we were subjected to the ‘do you have it in you?’ lectures and scolding sessions every other week, by the seniors who were more focused on their prospective careers than living in the present. Well, obviously it was bona fide and was intended in our benefit, it did nothing for us. It was like adding fuel to a dying ember, it’ll glow brighter in a moment then go back to fading into the dark eventually. Such sessions always threw me into the dark pit of self-introspection where every achievement seemed to be insufficient. However, once you know where you want to stand, it gets easier. It always does.

In four years you learn a lot, and then you unlearn another lot of it. There are times when I’ve sat with my head in my hands wondering what I was even doing with my life, and then there were extremely paradoxical moments where I felt as if I had everything figured out, the good old five year plan, everything in place, except probably it wasn’t but then, that was not the point. There are moments of victory, when you see the entire student body cheering for you, you are the object of everyone’s envy; then those strange lows every human is susceptible to.

I have spent a major part of my four years in a continuous whiplash of emotions which the college and its people has inspired, struggling to overcome the awful ones, then just stumbling around with whatever shards of positivity you could collect. To simply say it, there isn’t much of legal education as compared to the life education you get, I suppose that’s why colleges are there, after schools. I personally believe that everything a person has to learn in their lives, they have already learnt it in their school years, rest is just application of it all – and I, more than anyone else, am pathetic at it. If I had to list the most stupid decisions ever made – coming here would be one of them, but well, since medical school would have kicked me fairly in the gluteus maximus, this is better than that.

There’s a popular saying in the college, “these are going to be the worst five years of your life, but once you get out of here, nothing bad in life would ever compare to it, so all in all, your life should be easy.” Of course, we learn how to thicken our skins, develop muscles, and be so tough that literally nothing can permeate our conscience unless we let them. Unfortunately for myself I’ve left quite a few gaps, thanks to which my conscience refuses to shut up and sit down.

I remember a class moot proposition wherein I was to side from the defendant’s side, who had been charged with rape and causing grievous hurt, so in order to defend my client, I was supposed to say things like, “why had the victim left her office building at 0330 hours without anyone to accompany her, when she was going to attend to her seriously ill mother, she must’ve needed help, however, the fact that she left alone, casts a serious suspicion over her intended destination – was it to rendezvous with a paramour?” for half an hour after writing down this argument I battled with the idea of slut-shaming a fictional deceased person, who had allegedly been raped, but then a close friend said, “it’s a court of law, not of ethics and morality.” Such things seriously make me wonder if my super soft and insanely sensitive conscious are fit for such a world wherein ethics and morality are mere guidelines typed on a booklet which is stuffed away in bags and pockets.

But then there are those days, when law is the best form of adrenaline rush, a pop quiz on Indian Penal code sections, winning a moot court competition, being able to defend your fictional and incredibly imprudent and stupid client of yours successfully every semester.

The best parts are when you do know something and your opinion matters, when you try and you understand something you hadn’t previously – when something that Supreme Court says resonates your inner activist. Our driving forces are Palkhivala, KTS Tulsi, Arun Jaitley, Soli Sorabjee, Ram Jethmalani and Harvey Specter!

There is something inherently attractive and tempting about law, and that precise thing which I have still been unable to put a finger on, is the reason I’ve persevered through four years at law school – and the fact that I have no other options.

I’ve had the best, and the most life changing moments happen here, while simply walking with a friend with a cup of terrible cafeteria coffee in the parking lot, discussing life options and courses, what we can do and what we are capable of. Saying things like, “I want to be a lawyer, practice law, be an author, a scholar, and an interior designer at the end of the day in this one lifetime, there’s too much to do, but not enough time.” and how you want to turnout five years from now, and someday probably becoming the Chief Justice of India (that’d be quite something, eh!)

Law school, is five years of a kind of life which is not possible elsewhere, a random assortment of people who are so different yet so alike, the debators, geeks, mooters, scholars, coexist with the dancers and the sportspersons. In law school, being a nerd is not that much of a taboo as it used to be in school, I guess, here everyone is cool, in their own way. Some of us continue the way we had, some change drastically, acting like tough guys who shouldn’t be messed with, and some get a second shot at life which they perpetually keep blowing up.

In my case, I’ve changed, in many ways, too much, but for the better. I have friends I can say with a great degree of certainty that they will last a lifetime. I have professors who believe in me, who think that I will make something out of me, as will my remaining batch-mates. It’s nice to have someone believe in your hidden potentials for once. There are things, like being a united front during exams, arguing over things that will not matter after the weekend, choreographing performances, organizing things, partying so hard that the next morning everyone has literally the same level of hangover – learning that everything is transient and yet, all the more same.

There is no way I can sum up the experience in a few hundred words, it’ll never suffice, there is something so much deeper than just tangible things that we learn. You learn that there’s more to law than shouting “objection!”, or “lawyered” or “you’ve been served!”, it’s something different. And law school is so much more than Indian Penal Code, Constitution, Contracts, and Evidence, it’s about friendships, heartbreaks, big life changing choices and then a billion inconsequential ones. Mahatma Gandhi, who was one of us, had aptly said, “Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it because, you can’t know; you can’t ever really know the meaning of your life, and you don’t need to. Just know that your life has a meaning.” Ironically this life altering quote was in a much obscure indie movie called Remember Me. Yes, law schools are also about binge watching series and Woody Allen and Wes Anderson movies, finishing Star Wars in a day, courtesy the ruthless exploitation of the college wi-fi.

 

 

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In freedom of speech more important than religion? In context of Ram ke Naam

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In The Name of God; Stop Curtailing Our Freedom of Speech and Expression

This article is written by Inayat Dhanda. Republished from A First Taste of Law archives.

Ram ke Naam, which literally translates to In the name of God, is a documentary film on the events prior to the Babri Masjid demolition. It is directed by Anand Patwardhan, who is known for social activism through his films. I had the privilege to appreciate the film while I was studying Media and Communication, as a part of my Journalism module at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (UG), a few years back.

The film was supposed to be screened on the 27th December, 2014 at ILS Law College, Pune, where I am currently pursuing my L.LB.

Posters to this effect were all over my campus, which very proudly announced, that the director himself would also be present for a ‘Q and A’ round.

The documentary has coveted awards to its name; the National Award, the Film-Fare Award, various international awards and has also been showcased on Doordarshan. It carries a “U” certificate by the CENSOR board. Also, the Honorable Bombay High Court had ruled that it must be screened at prime time in the national interest.

With such distinguished accolades and appreciation in the documentary’s kitty, one eagerly awaits its screening followed by a session with the director himself. I too was one of those waiting.

Unfortunately, my beloved ILS Law College cancelled the screening just one day before its scheduled run.

If we go by the director’s Facebook page, he says, “This afternoon they (ILS Law College) called to say that after receiving threats, their faculty decided to cancel the event. They are refusing to say where the threats came from or to divulge the names of the faculty who cancelled the event. Obviously the students are themselves under threat”.

Later, I read that another student had called up Patwardhan and said that the screening did not fit into their schedule. A student on the organizing team of the festival who did not wish to be named stated that the college faculty members had called off the film screening. They said that the time slot they had planned would not have been enough for any film to be screened. They were quick to clarify that no threats were received and it was actually a miscommunication and an organizational error on their part.

Indeed an amazing answer to the director, who had booked his tickets to Pune. How responsible on part of the college, I must say. “This is business as usual,” said a senior student at ILS.

The reason stated above is a hard pill to swallow.

So, what exactly does the film portray, that allegedly invited the wrath of some group resulting in the cancellation of its screening?
Taken from Anand Patwardhan’s website
The film opens with the proposed Rath Yatra to Ayodhya with a voiceover announcing that after 1000 years people are finally awakening to religion and that they will fully awaken on the 30th October, 1990 when the Ram Temple will be constructed. The music used in B.R. Chopra’s Ramayana plays in the background. The film then focuses on a poster which welcomes L.K.Advani and has, Chalo Ayodhya, Mandir wahin banayenge (Let’s head to Ayodhya, we will build the temple there) inscribed on it. It then progresses to a somewhat familiar voice of a political leader who rallies, “I appeal to you. Ram’s flame will give you all the inspiration needed for the betterment of life”.

The film has always been a source of unrest among the Hindutva groups in the country.

This is not the first time that Patwardhan’s films have invited trouble. In August 2013, ABVP activists attacked students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune for inviting members of the Kabir Kala Manch- a Dalit protest music group to participate in a discussion with the audience after his film Jai Bhim Comrade was to be screened. Incidentally, both FTII and ILS Law College are just a few meters apart, on the same road in Pune.

While the students at FTII took out a procession against the attack in 2013, the students at ILS easily gave in to their faculty’s decision. “Jo hua, galat hua, (Whatever happened, was wrong)”, said a student. It ended there.

We live with this culture of accepting what the college prescribes to. I sensed this right from the first year at college when a female Professor pinned me down for wearing a crop top (not an inch of my skin was visible and I was wearing a long top underneath). ”Lady, go see the dress-code in the prospectus,” she said. When I respectfully replied, “I have carefully read the prospectus Mam. Kindly let me know how exactly I am improperly dressed?” she walked away. I was later counseled by my seniors and fellow students to follow what the faculty members asked me to and that I would unnecessarily invite trouble if I go to the Principal voicing my dissent. I couldn’t sleep properly that night. I cried, felt helpless. Look at the irony, we talk of women empowerment, we are headed by a Lady Principal, and a student gets shouted at, not once, but twice by two lady teachers on separate occasions for so-called “inappropriate” dressing.

It saddens me to see the state of affairs in one of the top law schools of the country. Day in and day out we are taught about Article 19(1) (a) – Freedom of Speech and Expression and its importance as a Fundamental Right. Seminars are organized, research papers are written and judgments are quoted by teachers and students. It has always felt good, that our constitution makers realized the importance of speech and expression and bestowed on us this freedom. I have always felt proud at this salutary provision.

The Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression is one of the basic Human Rights which is enshrined in all the major International Human rights instruments; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to name a few.

It is an inseparable element of our democratic society that we boast of, while belittling other authoritarian countries. Little of what rights we are guaranteed by the Constitution and taught in the educational institutions, are actually practiced.

Abraham Lincoln had said “Let the people be aware of the facts, and the country will be calm”. I’m patiently waiting for the day when this holds true for our country and its citizens.

The film merely shows the various events prior to the Babri Masjid demolition without colouring it with any opinion. So where was the problem?

What disturbs me even more is that the political events of today are exactly mirroring the happenings portrayed in the film. The Hindutva outfits are all riding high; just as they were in 1992, when the film was released.

For instance, Ram ke Naam covers the popular campaign of the Vishva Hindu Parishad to demolish the mosque and built a temple of Rama in its place. Even today, the Parishad proudly indulges in religious conversions all over the nation. They ram moral policing down the throats of others, direct the women of this country what to and what not to wear and beat up my friends when they are seen celebrating Valentine’s Day. Has anything changed? Improved? Changed definitely, but not for the better. Is this why my college allegedly received threats and had to give in to their demands?

Not just this, the film concludes with a byte of the BJP supporters who are seen justifying the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. As of today, the Hindu outfits have elaborate plans to cement a temple dedicated to Nathuram Godse. Has anything changed, a decade later?

Lot many parallels can be drawn between the documentary and the contemporary political events. A few days back, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat publicly defended incidents of conversions as a ‘homecoming’ for non-Hindus to which the Central Government did not react. Raam ke Naam captures how these outfits were backed by the BJP back in the 1990s.

I apologize to the director on behalf of all those students and faculty members who were scared to stand up. The college could have resorted to police protection and set an example. And the students could have voiced their dissent freely and pressurized the college authorities to continue with its screening.

As Voltaire said, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”. Only a society that keeps questioning itself can ever truly move forward. And the questions come from the freedom of dissent, which is the very soul of the Freedom of Speech and expression. There will be dissent: in fact, there should be. Till then, we will remain imprisoned in our own gilded cages.

 

 

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