NUJS Kolkata
Newcomer NLU Delhi earned a whopping thirty points to lead the MPL 2 standings after defeating the veteran NUJS Kolkata mooters in Sunday’s finals of the Surana & Surana Jessup North India Rounds.
NUJS Kolkata has announced the 2011 CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) with radical changes, including distribution through the Indian post office network and the ditching of static general knowledge and legal knowledge questions. Meanwhile, the law school diversity project IDIA has pledged to fund admission fees for all students in need.
NUJS Kolkata won the Oxford International Media Law Moot - India Competition after defeating NLSIU Bangalore in the finals, taking both colleges to third and fourth in the Mooting Premier League second season.
NUJS Kolkata won the India Rounds and the best memorandum award at 12th Commonwealth Moot Court Competition, scoring 15 MPL points and a ticket to the international rounds of the Commonwealth Moot next year.
Campus Law Centre Delhi University emerged victorious in the 4th Nalsar Justice Bodh Raj Sawhney Moot Court Competition with Nuals Cochi finishing as runner-up and NUJS Kolkata bagging the most points of any team in this competition and its MPL debut.
I have always been thrilled by entrepreneurs. The first entrepreneur I came in ‘virtual’ contact with was Sachin Malhan who was our legal aptitude mentor at LST and used to teach through VSAT sessions. Seeing him in real life always evaded me. Thankfully, he once came to NUJS for a talk on his entrepreneurial journey which I attended. I loved the talk. I also love to track the growth of his ventures: LST, Rainmaker and now Inclusive Planet.
Prof. Shamnad Basheer of NUJS again is an entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur. His two initiatives ClaM (Collaborative Law Making) and IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education) are especially brilliant. I have been fortunate enough to get to see him at work and work under him, at times.
Kian Ganz’s LegallyIndia.com (where we all are now) has been a fabulous success too. He, in his own words is letting it develop like ‘an organism’ and believes that it is just a beginning of a revolution.
Ashish Arun, a student at NUJS starts his own LPO. Ramanuj Mukherjee, another student of NUJS starts an online CLAT preparation platform. A student at NLSIU becomes an author. A few more armed with law degrees from Harvard and the like start Moolis, a restaurant in UK. GoSports is yet another interesting venture of Mr. Nandan Kamath, again from NLS.
I too am a wannabe entrepreneur and love reading about the whos, hows and whys of this field. Here is a little piece for your consideration.
A request: First, please read the poem in its entirety.
Then come back to the tips in bold and read the paras which follow.
It will make for a better reading.
Tip 1: Think over it. Think big. And while thinking, haste while you wait.
When thinking what to think,
The hollow éclair that your soul is,
Yes it drinks,
A glassful of ecstasy, so vivid,
That for ‘that thing’, so unique,
A recipe is laid.
Tip 2: You are informed. Now take the plunge. Go with the pulse. Don’t wait for things to be perfect.
The heart is not here, not there
Of mind and kind, you aren’t able to find
And then slowly, but suddenly
A sensation, so unearthly,
Guides your pulse, to ‘that thing’.
Tip 3: Books are good. Your mind is better. Be your own chef. Make something different.
The recipe isn’t fixed, sorry chef.
You can pamper it, to pamper yourself.
For ‘that thing’ is for you
Not for them
For them it’s just another read
For you it’s your soul’s creed.
Tip 4: Don’t worry too much. If you have the beat, the song will play on.
Worrying about rhyme? That’s not her need
For this little wonder
Compliments to your feel, your beat
And as the rivers, rhyme with the hills
Playing your game, to the team’s win
So does ‘that thing’, with your being.
Tip 5: Don’t be too proud of success. Keep up the passion. When the passion ends, the entrepreneur will die.
Till the thirst, the drink remains.
And as the last draught, dies inside
A drought sprouts; a cacophonous chime.
You lose your vain, she retains her pride.
And then Alas! The lines they end with that sip
After you recover yourself and lose the zing.
5 Good Websites
www.nenonline.org (National Entrepreneurship Network)
www.headstart.in (They have ‘Startup Saturdays’ in many a places)
www.legalrebels.com (Legal Rebels who think very very differently)
www.dare.co.in (An Indian magazine on entrepreneurship)
www.entrepreneur.co.in (A foreign magazine on entrepreneurship)
(Please add if you have some others in mind).
NUJS Kolkata professor Shamnad Basheer and two students have threatened to complain to the Press Council of India about the law school rankings of national magazines Outlook India and India Today, which they allege suffered from "gross inaccuracies and methodological flaws" that violated "canons of journalistic ethics" and did a great disservice to students.
NUJS Kolkata saw almost a third of its batch snapped up by law firms as Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co, Luthra & Luthra and Trilegal together made 30 offers two weeks ago.
Amarchand Mangaldas' Mumbai region offices have made 2011 job offers for 41 students, most recently picking up 12 each from GNLU Gandhinagar and Nalsar Hyderabad, nine from NUJS Kolkata and eight from NLSIU Bangalore. Last year the firm had recruited the equivalent number of freshers from only three campuses more than a month later.
The IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education) project, conceptualised and spearheaded by Prof. Shamnad Basheer (IPR Chair Professor, NUJS) aims to address the concern of NLUs becoming elitist. IDIA endeavours to help students from rural areas, poor backgrounds, vernancular medium schools etc. make it to the top NLUs.
That NLUs are becoming elitist was previously an anecdotal speculation. However, results coming from a survey conducted with 87 first year students (batch of 2014) at NUJS prove it to be a fact:
ü 97.7% of the students studied in English medium schools.
ü Schools of 88.51% students were in an urban area.
ü 82.76% of the students took coaching for CLAT.
ü Only 4.6% of the students have family incomes less than 1 lac rupees pa.
The rural-urban/rich-poor divide becomes clearer still: there are no students (0 %) from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J & K or even Punjab while 2% of the students are from Chandigarh alone. Nine students (10.34%) are from Delhi (NCT).
Now LST, a leading coaching institution has atleast 4 centers in Delhi and 2 centers in Chandigarh. It is not difficult to see what makes students in cities tick. There is no LST center in Himachal or J & K.
That CLAT is in itself is a pro elititist/english-educated entrance exam is shown in this superlative piece by Prof. Basheer. He argues that a logic reasoning based CLAT with less emphasis on English language, static GK etc. will not only result in better law students but will also ensure a level playing field for all students.
Here is the proverbial last straw: 10.34% of the students are from Maharashtra (a very rich/urban state) while none of the students are from Chattisgarh or Orrisa (poor states) [1]. The reasons are not hard to find: the CLAT form at 2500 bucks is expensive, CLAT coaching at 25000 bucks is expensive and the fees at NLUs is very pricey too.
Another useful insight: A large number of students are from places where the top NLUs are situated. Their presence seems to have contributed towards increased level of awareness. The division is: Karnatka (NLSIU) 9.2%, Andhra Pradesh (NALSAR) 5.75%, West Bengal (NUJS) 16.09% and Rajasthan (NLUJ) 4.6%.
Finally in rural/poor regions of our country, there is a deplorable lack of awareness about law as a career option; NLUs or CLAT are an unheard commodity. Pilot projects in Pelling (Sikkim), Tumkur (Karnatka) and Shanti Bhavan (Tamil Nadu) prove this empirically.
The IDIA project wants to change this around.
Awareness programs about Law-CLAT-NLUs; identification of students with an aptitude for law and finally establishing tie-ups with coaching institutions to train students free of cost are some of the steps IDIA takes. To those who make it to the top NLUs scholarships, stipends and mentoring too will be provided.
We believe that the top-notch education and career opportunities the students will get in NLUs shall ensure grass-root human resource development. It is hoped that once successful the students will invest back in the communities they represent. Also our law schools will nurture more diverse ideas and research.
[1] However, 5.75% of the students are from Bihar, 3.45% from Jharkhand. Students from this part of the country have done well in other competitive exams too (IIT-JEE, Civil Services). An interesting case study?
Part II- IDIA: Helping Potted Frogs (Kup Manduka) Thrive in Seas
KupManduka is the story of ‘the frog in a well/pot’. The frog jumps from wall to wall of the well/pot and feels proud. However, when he finds itself in the sea, he comes to know that frogs in the sea jump much further. He is crestfallen.
I take out the element of pride. My frog can jump from one wall to another because of the constrained environment he is in. His vision is limited by the walls and so are his jumps. The body achieves what the mind can conceive. You cannot hit a target which you cannot see.
When my frog is thrown into a sea, he finds himself lost. With no one to guide him, he is unable to find his way. The harsh environment and the cut lung competition stifles him. However, when a mentor guides him, the frog thrives.
THE FROG OF THE POT
Once upon a time a frog
Croaked aloud in an earthy pot.
The croak was of victory for
The dear frog had jumped from one
Corner to another corner
And in the pot there was
A loud, a resounding murmur.
A farmer, swarthy dark and strong
Impressed and obviously happy
Took the frog, his pet, his chappy
To a big, blue pond.
There the frog jumped;
Jumped forward and ahead
And his confidence took that many steps
………………………………..backwards!
And then the fission of dreams
In the tough, mad competition.
But hail Muse! The farmer came,
Touched a vein and knocked his brain
And said aloud “Jump Again”!
Though alone, he clapped- resounding claps!
The frog remembered the house and its chaps,
The farmer and his swarthy skin,
The earthy pot under the tin.
And hail him! The dreams did fuse.
And fusion does ten times produce-
Energy. Energy to jump far and wide
Which in time proves true and right
So that the frog of the pot
Can be a winner in the pond
And croak aloud, croaks that resound!
And those resounding croaks
Shall one day break
The earthy walls; the boundaries laid
And create a space, a boundless space
Where frogs can jump; jumps that astound
And croak aloud, croaks that resound.
The IDIA family is growing well with law firms, lawyers, NGOs and law schools coming out in support. Here is the Facebook page to keep you updated. Here is how you can help.
PS- Wow! I didn’t even speak of the unaffordable fees at NLUs.
PS 2- Please do follow the blog and join the Facebook page. Also, cartloads of thanks to LegallyIndia for fantastic support to IDIA.
The law ministry, law firms Krishnamurthy and Co, Trilegal and Wadia Ghandy, CLAT coaching institute IMS and law schools NLSIU Bangalore and NUALS Cochin have pledged financial or other support for NUJS Kolkata professor Shamnad Basheer's project to increase diversity in the legal profession, which visits poorer rural secondary school students to train and encourage them to apply to top law schools.
Nalsar Hyderabad is the undisputed winner of the first season of the Mooting Premier League (MPL) sponsored by Clifford Chance, after Legally India has confirmed citations and honourable mentions in the season's final Tier 2 events winning further points for NLSIU Bangalore, NUJS Kolkata and GNLU Gandhinagar and shuffling up the final ranks.
NUJS Kolkata won the ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO law last Sunday (30 May) beating GNLU Ghandinagar in the semi-finals and topping 14 other international teams, according to the winning team.
NUJS Kolkata has won the NLS International Arbitratition Moot Court Competition for the third time in a row, defeating front-runners Nalsar Hyderabad in the finals and continuing its run in the twilight of the Mooting Premier League (MPL) sponsored by Clifford Chance.
The new bar exam for law graduates is understood to be held in late August with the Bar Council of India (BCI) set to announce the syllabus in a matter of days. Meanwhile, NUJS Kolkata final year students and Professor Shamnad Basheer have petitioned BCI chairman and solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam to postpone the exam until 2011 because they argue it prejudices students and is unconstitutional without amending the Advocates Act 1961.
Crib means ‘to bicker’, says my dictionary.
NLS cribs about its hectic schedule: the trimester system which doesn’t allow them to lead a sane college life. NUJS cribs how claustrophobic the 4-5 acre campus can get. NALSAR cribs how the college is in a village, far from the city and gets mundane at times.
This cribbing has been going on for ages when LST’s forum used to be a battle-field. Many a time law aspirants are misled by such debates. I pity them and detest the anonymous posters of false, advertorial comments.
The two biggest cribs are: ‘my NLU stronger than thou’ and ‘Non-NLU students are given a biased treatment’. I humbly ask, why? I suggest you hit your heads against a bric(k). It even sounds anti-semantical to crib. Or maybe heed to this advice, as you should to Bahz Luhrman’s ‘Wear Sunscreen’.
Advice no. 1: There are no right decisions. You have to make your decisions right.
Advice no. 2: Don’t say ‘NO’ to ‘what is’.
In NLS ‘there is’ the trimester system. The academic rigour is what makes NLS, the law school. At NUJS ‘there is’ a small campus. But then the entire posh and happening Salt Lake is your home. And ‘NALSAR is’ far from the city. But with 400 college kids at one beautiful place how can it ever get boring?
Now let me take care of the two biggest cribs through a poem and multiple post scripts. See what God has to say on ‘who is the strongest’. (BTW the bolden part in the poem is by God; the holy man whose advice you can’t ignore).
Who is the strongest of all the beings?
One day I just tried to see
As to who is the strongest
Of all the beings?
I called the Elephant and thus spake he
“Oh! Not me! The Lion! The Lion!
He is my King!”
Off he went and the Lion came
With his foot long claws
And a big, bushy mane.
“Of course not me! Though I’m the King
The Elephant I fear.
His trunk, his tusks! Oh my dear”
Bewildered and confused I sat in my room,
“Ummm...Perhaps the snake
Big and Cruel”!?
The big black snake, his voice he lent
“Oh! The Mongoose thanks he is in Kent
Or he in the bushes, means my death”.
Over my life I pondered and pondered
Reached God and there I thundered
“Oh! God tell me! Who is the strongest of all the beings”?
In a voice so unearthly.
In an ambience so heavenly.
The lord began to answer:
(Now, the part below
Do slowly you read.
Here is where God
His message he reveals).
Where are you son?
"Heaven", I answered.
What’s the time son?
"Seven", I answered.
The sun had gone down,
The clouds were yellow.
The Lord had gotten up,
And I turned mellow.
See this map here...
Where does it lead?
Where? I asked, Your lordship
Where you walk towards, he answered.
(Read the above para. I am trying to sound profound J).
PS 1- Where you walk towards. Yeah! It doesn’t matter in which law school you are, but what you end up being once you have completed your college that does. I know students in ‘weak’ law schools emerge strong coz they walk on the right paths and vice versa.
2- Here is another useful analogy- There is a 25 floored building. The terrace signifies the highest point a lawyer can reach. All of us begin from the floor. Students of the top NLUs start on a lift. Others have to take the stairs.
If you take the stairs leisurely you will be left behind. If you are aggressive about the ascend you will be as quick as the NLU guys. And well, law schools can only take you up to a certain floor; say the 5th floor. After that, it depends on how good you are at your work.
3- My animals are humble. Law students, especially when anonymous are arrogant. Otherwise there is a nice healthy rivalry among these colleges.
Manfred Lachs Space Moot defending world champions NLS Bangalore lost very narrowly to National University of Singapore in the Asia-Pacific finals in Sydney, while NUJS Kolkata crashed out in the semis and Nalsar Hyderabad and NLIU Bhopal made it to the quarter-finals.
NUJS Kolkata moved into the top 5 and Symbiosis Pune edged back into the top 10 of the Mooting Premier League (MPL) with honourable mentions at the 17th Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna.
The NUJS Kolkata recruitment committee has almost doubled finalists' job offers this year with a new policy, having placed 84 per cent of students and enticing a Bollywood studio to recruit from campus.
NUJS Kolkata scored a major win at the funding rounds for the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot, defeating the hosts NLSIU Bangalore, giving both teams huge boosts in the Mooting Premier League (MPL) rankings.