The NUJS as I saw it

The NUJS as I saw it
The 'Pillar' of Justice

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Prolegomenon

A sunny afternoon in June, 2002 marked the beginning of an epic as I stepped into the campus of the National University of Juridical Sciences, a so-called ‘premier law school’ striving to achieve ‘excellence’ in legal education and training. Having read about the college in the dailies and recommended by most lawyers in my home-town, I was distinctly pleased to have qualified the written test and see myself as a budding lawyer in the years to come. A yet-to-be completed building, on the side of the ‘EM bypass’ in Kolkata, the college did not have much of a history to share. What it had for certain, was a bright future and perhaps an even brighter prospect for the students who passed out of it. Thus, just three years since its inception though, I had good reasons to join the college and set forth for a journey into the world of legal studies.

Kolkata was never an alien land for me, as I had been a frequent visitor to this ‘city of joy’ since my early childhood. Memories flood my mind of the regular journeys I used to undertake to this city – reasons would be ubiquitous, conclusion only in the unison. My awe and admiration for the city had seen no horizon – the Howrah railway station, the Bridge, plethora of ambassador cabs, and the vast multitude of people – everything had a story to share. Every aspect of the city seemed to unfold its own history wailing for someone to listen to it.

In its short history of about ten years, the National University of Juridical Sciences has achieved laurels from across the globe for its curricular and extra-curricular activities – laurels which very few universities in India can take pride of. Be it in the arena of moot courts where law students compete in their advocacy skills, or in the sphere of publications in national and international legal journals, or just in the sphere of winning scholarships for further education abroad, NUJS students have shown their mettle, enough to take on the world by themselves. Yet, behind all these success stories which seem to be the only foundational determinants of life at a law school, there is a dimensionally different paradigm – the paradigm of an average law student in college who struggles to cope with the academic, cultural and economic torques which the same institution seems to hurl every moment.

Here begins the tale of Atul Singh – nothing heroic in it, as he was never a Bonaparte in the making. It is but a narration of the life of a simple and moderately poor boy, from the northern parts of Jharkhand, in law school. One may conjecture a story involving an austere lad possessed of stupendous legal acumen, who makes a mark in the extremely competitive conditions of law school, who quotes the most gorgeous lady in the batch and gets the highest paying job in US after having completed five years of training in legal education. Well, be it the chance of destiny or the misfortunes of the reader, the accounts to follow have nothing to convey in such lines. In fact, Atul’s stay in law school had no nuance of similarity with the story of a boy who paves the way for his success through all odds. What more, I would rather call Atul’s stay in college a complete waste, as after half a decade in Kolkata, he still remained the same boy, with perhaps the same legal intellect and a love story which would only be worth a smile of pity from the readers.

Why Atul?

Given these characteristic fallacies in the account of Atul Singh, why am I being compelled to write about him at all? Why did I not find the story of a guy who broke all academic records in the University’s brief history and later went on to join the best university abroad for higher studies? Or why did I not find apt to narrate the story of one of the intensely beautiful girls in college, who spent her days in NUJS simply counting the number of boys who fell flat after having got rejected.

I believe, with all the humility that a law school student can possess, acquiring exceptionally high grades in examinations at law school requires no genius mind. It is indeed a travesty of fate and the system that governs the educational spectrum of the country that qualification of students in any subject is, in-turn, subject to their performance in a test spanning for a couple of hours. Having witnessed the pattern of curriculum in a law school and the modes of examinations being conducted, I guess, I would not be completely wrong to conclude that a system which lays Cumulative Grade Point Average (as that is the criteria for determining the ranks of students) as a manifestation of the legal knowledge of a student, is nothing more than a mere sham. In the alternative – and for the consolation of those who have been fortunate enough to flaunt their CVs with the high ranks – ranks and CGPAs do reflect certain skills of students no doubt – for instance, the wit to answer legal problems in the most concise yet comprehensive form and in the shortest time, the intelligence to relate a life problem with the provisions of certain legislative enactments and tracing suitable remedies that courts of law can provide for, and a sharp retention capacity of retaining a catena of judicial pronouncements and legislative provisions and citing them while answering the queries – yet, obtaining these skills deserves no special and exceptional mention besides just the ordinary words of praise. Every law student, I believe, is expected to develop a sharp wit, a good intellect to apply the law-in-books to the practical life problems and a decent retention capacity to know, at the least, ‘where to find the law’. Without these qualifications, the holder of a Legam Baccalereus degree may well become an advocate, but not a lawyer. This explains the relatively miniscule significance that I have accorded to the so-called ‘record breaker’ in academics in comparison to the rather simple, non-exciting, nonchalant and dismissive tale of Atul Singh.

Having humbly understated the achievements of toppers in a law school, let us now divert our discussion towards a more interesting and perhaps, a more engrossing, issue. Ladies and the library – these are the two factors which keep guys in college ever willing to stay in the campus even while there may be other compelling reasons to do otherwise. Indeed, the campus of NUJS, as is the case with other professional colleges and Universities globally, has been a witness to few of the simplest yet gorgeous, gorgeous yet brainless, brainless yet immensely curt, and curt yet occasionally boisterous ladies that the present societal superstructures are bestowed with. In the brief history of eight years that NUJS had seen till I graduated in 2007, there had been more than a couple of ‘scandals’ that had made their rounds among the students who were always on the prowl for gossips. Infact, these gossips used to be the ingredients of long deliberations in both the boys’ as well as the ladies’ halls of residences, particularly, during the nights when students were normally expected to be busy researching legal textbooks and indulge in such other mundane activities. With better things to do and interesting discussions to participate in, these academic exercises were meant to take the backseat and, fortunately for everyone (including the college administration), they did get the seat they deserved!

Lovely ladies, as I witnessed at law school, and as was the general observation of most of my peers, would more often gloat over the number of boys who never stopped trying to build impressions – impressions of a chivalric hero, impressions that would be uniquely different from the ones made by other potential ‘rivals’ – enough to win them. Their days would pass by thinking about the attires they would wear the next hour and the nights chatting either amongst themselves, or with their potential wooers. Indeed, ‘potential’ is the word. Boys usually became the guinea pigs for these ladies who were to be tried, tested and then either ‘accepted’ for a relatively short time or jettisoned into the mockers’ discussions. For the lucky few, who fell in the former class of wooers, their term would undoubtedly be the most exciting and ‘happening’ phase in law school. They would build memories worth cherishing a life time as compared to those unlucky many who would pass few days in melancholy, few in self dejection, few in self pity and the rest slandering the lady who once used to be the burning flame in their lives.

I decide to keep this account as short as it was, for fear of accusations of chauvinistic and inconsiderate generalized statements against beautiful ladies at law school. Every single boy at law school, during my days, yearned to be ‘liked’ and ‘adored’ by the female beauties, whether or not they happened to be in the same batch. And yes, all boys are not blind enough to ignore the negatives in the female race, if at all they exist. Speaking personally, I could easily cite a number of instances where a moderately intelligent boy began a phenomenal march to the higher scales in the rank list after he successfully ‘conquered’ the girl he liked. Indeed, the power of love and the lady anchoring it cannot be denied after having witnessed such phenomena. Further, having seen many instances of conglomerations of intelligence, smartness and inexplicable beauty in the same female, one can never doubt the fact that females could possibly make the best lawyers. Reasons for their success in the race to the top of the chart may be many, some despicable by nature and some stunning and awestrucking. Interestingly, the law school campus clearly proves this assertion.

Given the multifarious interesting issues that can be written about the girls at law school, I still decided to have Atul as the hero of my creation, and not for insufficient reasons. What would then explain the rather partial treatment that Atul has received, to be preferred over other ‘interesting’ people who actually achieved something, either academically or otherwise, at law school. Is it the bond of friendship that I and the central character shared amongst us that compelled me to write about him? Is it my sense of sympathy that provoked something to be written about Atul, who would otherwise remain in oblivion, as was always the case with him as a law student? Or, is it an unjustified attempt to trivialize the character of a secluded person, a character which could hardly be understood by any of the fellow inmates in the five long years that NUJS afforded.

Well, to state briefly, Atul Singh’s character epitomizes a complete tale of a life at law school. I realised, during my tenure at this ‘temple of justice’ that a sketch of Atul’s life here would inevitably incorporate all those aspects of law school, ignoring which would render the entire account a futile attempt. A complete narration of his life at NUJS would bring to light the anecdotes of the toppers and high rankers as well as the heroics of the fellow students whose conquests over their respective lady loves could by themselves constitute novels and classics. It would also highlight the tales of the ladies at law school whose eloquence, elegance and mannerisms would put the English royal families of yesteryears to shame. The character of Atul would merely be used as a tool to narrate the activities that, in turn, characterized the nuances of law school education. The class room teachings, the on-campus activities, the scene beyond the classrooms, the recruitment, and obviously, the ladies – all these aspects, I believe, could be better comprehended only by having Atul’s character as the basic anchor and foundational support.

4 comments:

  1. Well done! Was half-worried you would stop after the first post...nice post, this one. Your training as a lawyer is evident!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Orrey ar ektu frequency increase kor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. definitely... I'll try to do that... but wasnt sure if each blog should be this long!!! any suggestions??

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe half the length with multiple postings in a week. This two week break is too long.

    ReplyDelete