Experts & Views
A Murderer’s Interview: Nitish Saxena- He is Killing the NLU Pride
Not many people here will know who Nitish Saxena is. But with nearly 850 facebook friends and many more in real existence, he is a popular chap. Add to that some amazingly deft hands at painting, an articulate mouth which shuts every other and a great brain at work; Nitish Saxena makes for an interesting profile.
Presently in 2nd year at UILS (University Institute of Legal Studies) of PU (Punjab University), he is doing enough to put the slackers at NLUs to shame. Here is his story:
CLAT
For Nitish preparing for CLAT never felt like carrying a burden but was like a trip meant to be enjoyed, a breezy journey in which he learnt from all; the LST modules, the tutors and his classmates. He kept is cup empty and it got filled; every time.
Clutter and Struggle
Alas! It seemed he should have had more helpings of the drink in the cup. With a rank of 442 in CLAT he had the option of GNLU, an option he had never thought upon. NLS, NALSAR, NUJS were the words he had sworn by. However, he still felt the uncontrollable urge to grab an NLU seat; as strong as the need of a drowning man for Oxygen.
Oxygen! Inhale!
But Nitish Saxena grew gills. Also, fresh air came through an expected quarter. With a rank 3 in the PU’s combined entrance test there was a dilemma before the young lad. PU’s UILS offered him the comforts of home, the closeness to his family, the luxuries of being a day scholar and the love of a city known to him for over 15 years!
The Decision (very corporate)! Exhale!
Both GNLU and UILS were new institutions then, barely 5 years old, still making a name for themselves and placements hadn't happened yet in any of these colleges. His family adopted a very corporate style approach to solve the kid’s dilemma. A pros-cons analysis was drawn up (Wonder if PPT slides and laser pointers were used too) J.
GNLU attracted him because of the NLU brand. Other reasons hinted loudly towards UILS (Loud even by Punjabi standards).
Never Stop Dreaming
“Here I was, at UILS, and there was no looking back now. At this point, it was sheer optimism which made me feel that it hardly mattered whether one dream was shattered [CLAT-NLU dream]. What mattered was that I must never stop dreaming”.
UILS: an amazing amalgamation
“There is something to this place [UILS] which makes you look forward to come to college every day, sometimes even on lazy Sundays. Perhaps it is the campus and the crowd. Most of my time was of course taken by studies (your exams aren't that easy), projects (which involved field work too) and presentations”.
“The best thing about PU has to the amazing amalgamation of a students coming from various streams of education. Facilities in the university including a huge library (Asia's largest), a gym, cricket/football grounds, swimming pools, and lots more make PU far better than many of the NLUs”.
Things to do
“The other opportunities which UILS provided me, and which I immediately grabbed were seminars, research papers, conferences, moot courts and internships”.
Moots
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Came 2nd in the Surana & Surana National Trial Advocacy Moot Court.
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Participated in a National level Human Rights Moot organized by NHRC.
Paper Presentations
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Presented a research paper on "IPRs: Bio Piracy" at the National Law & Technology Seminar.
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Presented a research paper on "The Maintenance & Welfare of Senior Citizens Act 2007: A Bold Legislation or Mere Eyewash" at the All India Law Congress.
Internships
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A 6 week summer internship at Punjab SHRC, Chandigarh.
Extra-Curricular Activities
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Came 1st in the inter-college on-the-spot Debate held at PEC's Literary Fest, Chandigarh.
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Came 1st in the Business Marketing Plan Competition held at PEC Fest, Chandigarh.
The worst thing about NLUs
“The worst thing about NLUs, undoubtedly, has to be the intense competition which students face. It is so severe that most of them are unable to cope with it. Although the place refines you and makes you a person ready to take on the monstrous corporate world, it also takes a bit of life out of you”.
“I often hear my fellow NLU students brooding about too much pressure, studies, exams etc. NLSIU has a trimester system to add to the miseries of the poor souls”. [Ha!]
Familial drugs, fatal distances?
“Moreover, they are away from family which too affects them. Another rampant problem is drug abuse. Almost 8 out of 10 friends of mine who went to NLU's took up smoking, drinking or drugs. They call it a measure to break free from stress. I call it self-destruction. I fail to understand why NLUs compel them to resort to such means”.
Envy
However Nitish doesn’t deny being envious; envious of the practical training that NLU students get, the academic atmosphere of an NLU, the intelligent pan India crowd and their desire to be the best.
The murder
Nitish didn’t opt for an NLU by a conscious and deliberated choice. There he had stabbed the pride. And when you realise that he has no qualms about not joining an NLU and actually believe that he is better off at UILS, you can’t help but ponder, wonder and pat on the back of the murderer.
Nitish can be reached on Facebook here www.facebook.com/nitishsaxena
Disclaimer: Please, this is nothing against GNLU which I think is a top notch law college. Please note that I am of talking about 2-3 years ago. And Nitish too is a sort of 'rebel', who goes against the normal and then succeeds. Anyone now in his situation would prefer GNLU, of course. (Except him, maybe. That is why I interviewed him). :)
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One such example is "Me"..hehe!btw congrats!u will def.win the Blawging compe!
@6...i have put the disclaimer now. and frankly speaking...I don't think I will win. Presently, I rank myself 2nd or 3rd...god knows if we have a superstar waiting to pounce and change the rankings further. :)
And I agree, ILS should have many such stalwarts.
I'm glad to see people appreciating it. The disclaimer is timely and yeah, before anybody gets ideas, my views and opinions in the interview are in no way demeaning any law school. This post seeks to achieve a purpose, a purpose which would shape a law aspirant's life and future. Its all in good taste. The blawg yells out aloud the basic mantra, "You can do it if you wish to".
However, comments, positive or negative, are always welcome!
Thanks to LegalPoet for making this turn into reality. And thanks to all who spared their time to read this and perhaps received some food for thought.
Dear CLAT aspirant,
if you don't get an NLU,
don't fret and fume.
Be cheerful and confident
And bloom! bloom! bloom!
(bad poetry...sorry)
Another awsum piece dude..may i know who actuall you are..Are you an NLSIU paas out? what you doing in Zimbabwe ,job?
16, I am not from NLSIU...and Zimbabwe is a country I like a lot
17, Nitish is an inspirational guy...he has inspired 151 'likes'. :)
Glad you liked it!
#17
Thanks a lot Teju. Your words are really motivating. I'm glad the decisions I took 2 years back have the capability to inspire people now. This is the best I could ask for. Success depends on your DESIRE to achieve it. An NLU or perhaps any college is just a means to an end. :)
Thank you EVERYBODY who has liked this post. Spread it to your friends or juniors who are probably in a dilemma over what do after CLAT result. Hope it helps them!
And for anybody who wishes to contact me for ANY kind of help, suggestions or guidance can do so through Facebook:www.facebook.com/nitishsaxena
Yes, i'm open to the grilling session too! :P Thanks for emphasizing on it!
Best
Kian
Thanks! Great to know that the article helped. Wishing you all the best for the CLAT result! :)
And to CLAT aspirants...all the best for the results. May success be yours through and through!
But I'm sure people will want to know the other side as well. I feel it my duty to caution prospective law aspirants as regard to ground realities. See if you are someone keen on litigation, then i feel you can shine no matter where you are. Its more of a personal effort there.
If, however, you chose to follow a more money-oritented corporate path, being in one of the top law schools will certainly add a premium to you. I have interned in law firms where there has been blatant discrimination based solely on the college you come from. Right from the giving of internships, and the work assigned to you there to the PPOs given. At the end of the day, the college tag still is a huge shot in the arm. It comes as a harsh reality check but your college does matter. The standards of education apart, the brand value of these national colleges is so high that that alone can ensure you a better future.
Further, being in a national law school also opens your avenues to just so many opportunities that would just not be possible elsewhere. Trust me on this one - all firms - ALL firms - have a soft spot for students from the national colleges.
I am not shooting down the example set by Nitish. I am really proud of what he is doing. But half baked information can be dangerous. My advice would be that if you really want to succeed, slog as much as you can, like there is no tomorrow. It will be every bit worth it!
@31...Nitish loves sour grapes...he is enjoying them.
"Almost 8 out of 10 friends of mine who went to NLU's took up smoking, drinking or drugs. They call it a measure to break free from stress. I call it self-destruction. I fail to understand why NLUs compel them to resort to such means”.
this is laughable..ppl have too much free time and its fun to do drugs and alcohol
no one is stressed and does drugs..ughhh
we hardly have 5 classes in a day..usually much less...
and by the 3rd yr. if u cant write a decent project in 2 hrs ur an idiot!
drugs/alcohol/ciggies...jus help in passin time!
No doubt you present a very realistic image. However, I feel that corporate houses do not think beyond NLUs because they aren't exposed to the calibre of non-NLU students. And non-NLU students do not get a chance to come out in the open because from Day 1 they have been told that they are studying in a local level lesser-known college which has nothing to offer them except for a B.A. LL.B degree. That's where we go wrong. The mentality of these very students gets shaped in the wrong way. They may be having enormous potential but it does not get channelized in the right direction as they conceive in their minds the idea of subordination. Batch after batch passes but none of the students dare to ride the corporate bandwagon. Thus, the vicious cycle continues. THIS must be changed.
They need to know that if THEY wish to make it big, THEY have to struggle and make a mark. Corporate firms will not be a far-fetched reality if these students start participating more on the national level. It will of course take time for that to happen, but if more people realize this and strive towards this goal they can surely set long lasting revolutionary examples.
And its not like everybody entering the legal field plans to venture into the Corporate arena. If one's interests are otherwise, he can make a good career in his respective field by lots of individual effort regardless of which college he goes to. And as you remarked, a great deal of slogging and relentless effort is required from us all to make it big.
The fight is between an NLU and the NL(YOU), if I may put it that way.
Sour grapes? Its not that I could not get through CLAT. I made a conscious decision based on some very sound reasons. As LegalPoet put it, yes, I am relishing these 'sour' grapes, because they will leave a sweet taste at the end. :)
Perhaps you should read Robert Frost's 'The Road not Taken' to understand my point better.
Anyway wishing you a healthy life ahead!
@38...I'm sure there ARE people who go to NLUs and graduate without falling prey to drugs etc. But yes, I would like to get back to you in 2013.
Nitish will get back to you and he will then be ahead of you. :P
@36
No. I am the LegalPoet. I. Me.
Its highly unlikely that I'd be suffering from a dual personality disorder. The last my doc checked me, I was pretty much okay.
@Bihari Babu and others, instead of blaming the system (technical faults), look at the positive side of things, the fact that Nitish has maintained the closeness of relationships on Facebook that most of us seem to miss out on a 'social networking' site.
It is the students which make a college good/bad... Winning moot courts, internships, etc.. This is precisely the point, why NLS/U s are better institutions. A good parrot always makes another parrot good and vice versa. The majority wins.
Legal Poet, perfect timing to write this post. Will surely help all those who miss the 'better things' by just a whisker (Which always happens).
Let me explain.
When there are more good parrots who are conscious of what they want to do in life then they will obviously influence the minority. Which happens in NLUs
In other law schools, day 1 of law school, principal or VC or Dean (as the case may be) comes into the class and tells us indirectly that we are inferior to the ones at NLUs. 1/10 of the class in 'other colleges' have just come there to obtain a degree and the next 5/10 is disillusioned on day 1 and then subsequently the rest too are pulled into that bracket.
Disclaimer: This is nothing against anyone whatsoever. This is just a true life experience.
Nitish, thanks for replying
Another thing: UILS is not some local college of punjab university and is rising steadily. But, of course you are entitled to your opinion about which colleges have brand values and which colleges don't.
That would probably happen to me if I were residing in a hostel. But with my family around me, I'm sure I wouldn't be inclined to indulge in drugs et al. Setting your priorities is imperative.
Thanks for appreciating the post and my inputs. Yes, you are right, we suffer because of lack of exposure. For having pre-conceived notions. For not being risk takers!
The 'parrot' analogy is exactly what I described in #34. It is indeed, the root cause.
Terming my decision as a wrong stand would be justified had I been regretting it. Which, I'm not. I see no reason why we should be afraid of making our own paths.
Moreover, I believe in changing blunders to wonders. :)
I completely agree with you. That is in fact a new angle you have acquainted us with. Thank you for the in depth analysis. Your approach is very encouraging.
p-s - cute pic.............
"Its a privilege for us to have NLS students like you pick our firm to intern in!"
Its that respect which a UILS cannot give you.
I recall having met Nitish at a moot, eventually beating them...Great guy...but if i remember rite..he himself had confessed that the top 3 NLS's were in a different league of their own..
58, our contention is this: by being proactive and working really hard a non-NLU student can nullify the brand value of a NLU
@ 58... The top 3 NLUs are indeed a class apart. Not because they were 'top 3' from their very inception, but because 'students' have made them so. The ability to excel lies in a student and not in his institution. An institution is only responsible for providing you with opportunities. It is for us to seize them.
Moreover, in reply to the example which you gave me, I would like to tell you that I recently bagged an internship in a corporate law firm which is indeed run by an NLS grad. Perhaps the archaic inhibitions are wearing off, gradually. Our time has come. :)
@ 59... live life
I couldn't agree more.
-B
oh well.
the indian middle class is just a culturally unfortunate place to find yourself in. what to do, eh?
My name is Sidharth Chauhan and i had done my schooling in Chandigarh prior to legal studies. I had initially attended Symbiosis Law College in Pune for a year (in 2002-2003), but on the advice of many seniors and friends i wrote the NLSIU entrance a third time in 2003 and eventually got in. Let me also mention that i had cleared the NLSIU entrance in 2001 but had flunked in school boards the same year. In 2002 i didn't get through NLSIU and went to Symbisois instead. So i was lucky the third time and went on to spend 5 very fruitful years at NLSIU. For the last two years i had been clerking for Former CJI Balakrishnan and hence could not comment on sites like LegallyIndia.
Having disclosed my background, let me offer my opinion on the above-mentioned story. While i agree with the general proposition that attending one of the NLUs is not the end of the world and that it is each individual's motivation which matters, i do find the story to be in poor taste. Admittedly, Nitin made his decision based on several factors. That does not make him a 'murderer of NLU pride'. I take strong exception to such a title as well as some other unsubstantiated statements in the piece. In no way am i deriding Mr. Nitin Saxena who appears to be a promising and very active student at UILS. In fact, coming from Chandigarh i am indeed very happy to learn that UILS is encouraging it's students to actively participate in moot courts, conferences, legal writing and other co-curricular activities. However, i feel that the author has quoted some improper as well as inaccurate observations about campus life in the NLUs.
I had an exhilirating time at NLSIU between 2003-2008. The environment was indeed very competitive and there were numerous opportunities to participate in seminars, contribute to journals, organise events and attend moot courts and debates. The best part was that students were given a lot of autonomy to organise co-curricular and after-class activities. Most people in my batch did very well for themselves. Admittedly, there are some instances of drug/alcohol abuse, but there is no evidence to show that the incidence of the same is higher in any of the NLUs as compared to any other college in India. While the lack of parental supervision might be a factor, the same is also true for IITs/AIIMS or any other residential campus. So the claims in the story have no empirical basis and over-simplify the problems which are faced by teenagers all over the country. It is fallacious to link the same with academic pressure or competition-related stress. In fact, one of the strong points about schools like NLSIU/NALSAR and NUJS is that classes actually happen regularly and attendance is strictly enforced. Moreover, students have to write exams and term-papers throughout the year. That is what equips them with the research and analytical skills needed for professional growth. Sadly, a majority of the law colleges in our country fail to maintain even these basic levels of attendance and course-work.
There is also a false assumption in the story that the education at the NLUs is geared towards transactional work. That is entirely untrue. The curriculum places immense stress on public law courses as well as clinical courses and students are prepared for a wide range of careers such as litigation, teaching, policy-analysis and activism, apart from transactional work. It is just that the legal services market has grown exponentially in recent years and hence there is demand in commercial law firms. Naturally, at the age of 22-23, most people are beholden to choose lucrative jobs. However, there is no rigorous evidence to show that a majority of NLS graduates are involved in transactional work. In fact many of them have moved to careers of their own interest after gaining financial stability for their families. I am afraid that Nitin and the author have made some generalisations on this point. Any NLS graduate will tell you that he/she had to do more coursework for history, economics, constitutional law and civil procedure - while the exposure to areas dealing with commercial practice such as FEMA and SEBI regulations happens only during internships.
Lastly, detailing Nitin's resume in a story meant for public consumption may prove to be counterproductive in the long run. What sounds like a rosy list of achievements may appear to be very pedestrian when he himself looks at it a few years later.
@ Legalpoet - Your larger point about individual choices and motivations is well taken, but i am afraid it has been very poorly communicated.
Your legend is well known :) and I agree with all that you have said in your comment here.
Nitish killing NLU pride is by him thriving at UILS, a non NLU. That is it. Comments about 'an NLU life' are his and he is perfectly entitled to have personal opinions.
Please also see that Nitish clarifies in the end that he is envious of NLUs in many aspects too.
About Nitish's acheivements...well...he is just in his 2nd year and has a long way to go.
Thank you for your opinion. I agree with you on many points. I never deny the fact that I'm awestruck by a few of my friends who're doing really well at NLUs. They are surely making full utilization of their resources. The others are perhaps not. Its not that everybody excels just because they are in a top notch institute. Individual effort matters a lot too, right? An NLU does provide a law student with the best atmosphere possible but I feel it is equally possible to grow and make a name for yourself at whichever college you are. I still have a long way to go and I shall do the best I can. :)
My concerns were directed against the rather provocative title and the general observations about the pitfalls of life in a NLU. In any case, we are all entitled to air our respective point of view.
@Nitish - Please feel free to reach out for any help that you may need vis-a-vis academics, co-curriculars or research interests. You can find me on facebook.
@Legalpoet - Have we met somewhere? In any case, feel free to get in touch.
regards,
Sidharth Chauhan
Sure, I'll get in touch with you. Good day!
U are the guy who was an active Parliamentary Debater at NLS right? I remember seeing you on the "Debating in South Asia" community on Facebook.
nice post. i thought it was fiction until i read all the comments..
legal poet bhai..which college u from? im really curious..
Extremely well put. I have always been a big fan, and you have and continue to inspire me in many ways. thank you for being you, and doing all that yopu do.
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