At least two Rhodes scholars (Tom Sebastian and Niranjan Venkatesan) are barristers in London. Tom was with a firm for several years before transitioning to the bar while Niranjan practiced in the Madras High Court for a couple of years before heading back for a Doctorate and the London Bar.
Agreed. Anyone spending 3 years or more at an Indian law sweat shop is bound to be institutionalized- they talk the same, eat the same, look the same (stressed, anxious and mostly unfit and overweight), have the same lack of hobbies and are equally dull and unimaginative, without a clue of anything beyond their firms. That's what happens when you spend 16-17 hours a day staring at your laptop making money, and let life pass you by. I've seen people at office on sundays simply because they didn't know what else to do with their time. The firms ensure that their "resources" are dependent and can't imagine a life (let alone living one) beyond the office.
No one with a semblance of intellect or self-worth will ever work in a traditional Indian law firm, except as a short term way to pay back debts, or to earn some money and move on to better things using that money as seed capital.
Your gpa means nothing after your first job. People from the bottom of my class are finishing higher education at top universities and people who topped are working the same law firm and stagnating.
Abroad: Magic Circle firms/academics/think tanks/NGOs.