Experts & Views
Everyone dreams.
In India, it's preferable if a student dreams to get into IIT or study medicine. Those who dream of studying law form a part of the distinct minority. As someone who has had the luck (or the lack of it) to have performed well in science, even thinking about switching streams was an uphill task. When you have friends who are studying for IIT entrance exams, teachers who tell you to aim for IIT, relatives who want to see you in IIT:
1. You get sick and tired (pardon the cliché) of the abbreviation (IIT, I mean).
2. You have to work really hard to explain to these people why you choose to ignore all that they say.
So I finally did manage to make my point clear. Law is what I intend to study. Period. Paragraph.
One of my slightly deluded classmates then told me, "Dude! I wish engineering was as cheap as law." Does that get your blood boiling? It sure did get my ire on the rise. Here is an individual who doesn't know what the IPC stands for. He believes that his choice of career isn't 'cheap' while mine is. Why? Because the intelligentsia doesn't opt for law. That's what I was told, albeit in slightly more crude manner: "Eh, very few proper people do law, da! You'll get in, no competition only." I'll go to my grave disputing that statement.
I'm told that society is finally opening up to inevitable change. If every beta/beti became an engineer, life would be boring as hell. I have nothing against the conventional careers (Actually, law is more conventional a career than engineering, but *hush* they'll get angry if you tell them this!) , but WHY are we incapable of accepting those who choose NOT to do what most are doing?
I know at least two people who'd make amazing lawyers. They think they'd do well in this profession too. Yet both are off to study engineering because it's safe and they are good at science.
I don't think I'm alone in experiencing this alienating behaviour. You tell someone that you're doing law and they look at you as though you're below their dignity. Any rank in IIT-JEE is GREAT while this two digit rank that you got in CLAT seems to be of no value. Yet the best conversationalists I know, the best informed people I know are lawyers or journalists.
Another new fad that has come up is "Law? Oh! You'll make a lot of money!" Yes, I know that corporate law is a big thing and it pays well, but that's not why most choose to study for a grueling five years. Not for just the money. There is so much more to law than crisp Rupee bills.
Cracking CLAT was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. While I may not have been amongst that elite 55 who got into NLSIU (Yes, that is my dream school as it is for thousands of others.) I have managed to find myself a place in NALSAR and that's good enough for me. It's one among the top three law schools in the nation, yet I have to explain to people what NALSAR is and why I'm going there. And I'm expected to know what they are talking about when they say "I'm joining PESIT."
*sigh*
Such is life.
threads most popular
thread most upvoted
comment newest
first oldest
first
At what point did u change your stream? I did after my boards this yr. Had been prep fr IIT JEE fr the past 2 darn yrs but finally realized that law was my field :)
When I was in ILS last year, a lotta people asked why I was in Pune when the country's best law college in Blore. They fail to understand that it's not that easy to make it to one the premier institutes in the country.
It's high time, people changed their mindset about the whole concept of law and law schools.
Also, I forgot to mention, very well written :)
Sandipan, you have no idea how lucky you are in that regard...And it's not about which college is better, NLSIU was just a dream. Don't ask me why. Just one of those things you really want...
Anonymous Guest 2, it's alright. A lot of my acquaintances have made in into amazing colleges in their second attempt with ranks like 5, 13, etc. So you'll get there, just you wait! =D I chose to do law around the end of 11th Grade. But I studied for it in the one month after the boards. Stupid of me, but that's how it is.
But the good thing about not being numero uno on most people's career lists is that you have only people interested in law getting into law( well, compared to engineering/med atleast), which translates to a lot less disgruntled law students. And when you like and are good at what you're doing, who needs recognition from people who don't understand?
Jamaica FTW!!!
You are SO jobless.
I'm not talking about just the average engineering student. I'm talking about most of Indian society and its take on a non engineering + non medicine career.
Also, seeing that you passed out of the same Bangalore school that I passed out from, don't talk.
#1 Sacrilege. I might be a single victim here, but don't do this to anyone ever again. It's just plain EVIL.
#2 Most of Indian society is a bit bigoted. So to hell with their views. But then, I'm Jamaican, so I wouldn't know for sure.
And yes, I am an engineering student if you must know.
But I firmly believe in the moral that this article brings to the fore. Take what subject you like and respect others if they take a subject that THEY like. It's solely a matter of opinion - likes and dislikes. One cannot make inferences about a person (least of all their level of intelligence) by merely looking at what stream they opted to follow.
Beautifully written.
PS: I didn't know what PESIT was either, until very recently...
Everyone feel that there is no competition & one will make it easily.
People still know about NLSIU,but other law schools they really dont know.
I got through NLU-Jodhpur & people where like y r u going jodhpur,study in delhi only.
Im sure this thinking will change,but just want this change to happen soon.
well written piece
Entire engineering populace may not be as good as you are. I am not discounting the brilliant engineers in the IITs or RECs or other places but it seems that anyone can become an engineer these days. My engineer friends at IIT Delhi / DCE tell me how bad the situation is in the mushrooming colleges, where anyone with money can get in. So let us not get into the debate whether engineers can be idiots. The majority "engineering-students" we meet are people who got into some obscure college on "capitation" or pvt. funding or whatever. ("majority" since there are more non-REC/IIT engineers than REC / IIT engineers I guess). Have no doubt, that I respect engineers. And I am only defending the author here, who is a very junior law student.
Of course, I am not saying lawyers are great people. Except few law students, most are pathetic :)
And dude (or dame) Let us not kid ourselves by saying engineers know what law is. Most non-lawyers have no clue about the law, and even CA / CS know limited law. Most laymen pee in their pants when a cop stops them and they cannot enforce their small rights. Most engineers just know that law is a set of rules at max. So do not get on that slippery grounds.
Your post reminds me of my friend who bagged a seat in NUJS but at social gatherings her parents' acquaintances used to ask her "Oh you're studying in Kolkata? Didn't you get admission into some nearby college?"
She has stopped giving explanations now.
well written piece....
Ok, firstly, I know the author personally, and I hope she realised that my comment was mostly satirical. Besides, even if I were serious, she'd have you believe that she's extremely capable of defending herself. :P So, I'm not really pissed off, my blood isn't really boiling at the injustice of the article, because there wasn't any to begin with.
My only gripe is that the article seems to somewhat neglect that are a reasonable number of engineering students who are aware about the existence of law as a very credible career option- which is what I meant by 'know what law is', not actually knowing its entirety.
However, I understand that the author is talking about people who take up a stream because they either are forced into it, are ignorant of or consider other career options lowly. To which I had said that if people held such bigoted views to begin with, their opinions shouldn't ruffle your feathers. But then, you can't really go around explaining to your relatives that they possibly are bigoted idiots, so I understand the angst. Happened to me to, as an engineering student, when I took up a branch considered 'uncommon'. So, good job, haathi! (last bit not directed at #24)
Like you, I am glad to note that people do talk like adults in a way that is not based on egos / personal attacks.
My very best wishes to you.
#24
If you want to study IP law for the sake of learning only, then IIT is a good option. But remember, it is not an IP law degree / diploma. It is a general law course with IP focus i.e. you will need to study contracts, criminal law, constitutional law and many other general law papers, and also specialize in IP by studying some special IP papers.
You can read about the institution (a department of IIT KGP) at www.iitkgp.ac.in/departments/home.php?deptcode=RG
As regards job options after IIT’s law program, do note that IP is not as big as some other areas of commercial law practice. Its niche. There are some boutique law firms who practice IP law and some big firms who have an IP practice group. The former do not pay that well (less than 50K a month) while the latter pay well (a lakh a month). However, I have noticed that they tend to prefer students from the various national law schools for internships / recruitments. But then, some law firms recruit engineers. You may want to explore that option i.e. work as an engineer in a boutique IP firm and study an IP diploma alongside or take the patent attorney exam that entitles one to practice patent law (I did hear though that this concept is non-existent now, though you may like to check on the Internet). Some law schools offer distance learning / 1 year diplomas in IP law which you may wish to consider.
this is really well written =)
Hathi? You contradict yourself. Pigasus one moment, hathi the next. Make up your mind, little boy.
@#24
Awesome stuff! =) You stole the words right out of my mouth.
@#32
Thank you! I really didn't know how to answer #26's question, inexperienced and clueless as I am.
Shreya, thank you! =)
@#34, I totally get what you're talking about. I scraped 95.6% in my boards, and all that people could think of saying is "Why law when you do well in science?"
Being sheep is something Indians are good at, but I think with each generation, there are more people wanting to do out of the box things...
And that's a good thing! =D
And you "scraped" a 95.6? And these animal welfare people claim that mahouts mistreat your kind.
even i had to here constant taunts on why was i ever thinking of law such a waste of brains.
its so pissing when some ill informed people think you are going to nalsar because you didnt get in mumbai.
i really wish people would open there mind a little and accept law as a challenging and evolving field.
When my cousin didn't make it to NLS in the first attempt he joined engineering.The year after,he got into NLS.The first thing another relative said was "Why did he leave ENGINEERING just to do law"
As #37 said its only the ill informed people.
And the stuff that you said about IIT, is exact... My twin brother was preparing for IIT while I was preparing for the CLAT... I got a lot of those questions and looks from people.. :P
Have a great time at lawschool.
we know wat r we doin and why....so lets not bother bout wat other ppl think...
moreover one thing is certain....be it be an engineer, doctor r neone else.....once a person is on wrong side of the law the first thing he ll look for is his "lawyer's" phone number!!!
..got 97.25% in boards....got 491 rank in aieee....and 95 rank in CLAT......bt ppl here r congratulating me only for d ENGINEERING rank....such is d mindset!!!!!!!.....every1 seems 2 b telling me dat u r a fool 2 choose law over engineering...(thank God my parents support is dere...)
one of my classmate actually took bak his congatulations wen i told him dere were 17000 candidates in CLAT......
Ppl feel as if dere's no competetion in CLAT...as if i scored in CLAT widout studying.....
dey give strange luks wen i tell dem i m going 2 nalsar....
Anyways....we can always go ahead wid our choice and PROVE 2 d society 5 years later dat our career choice was much better dan DONATION ND PRIVATE ENGINEERS!!!!!
@Anjali, we really are lucky to have our parents' support... I wrote only two entrance exams. That itself made me an oddity. Then there was the fact that both were law entrances. Goodness, don't get me started on the kind of looks I garnered when people found out that I'm not writing CET and all the rest! :P And I'm looking forward to meeting you at NALSAR! :D
Even i wud be luking forward 2 meet u soon.......!!!
see ya dere...
they even tried to organise an intervention when they learnt that i was not writing cet!!
eh..whats new?
In a far less dreamy style than mine, yes. But more
But couldn't agree more with the sentiment :)
threads most popular
thread most upvoted
comment newest
first oldest
first