The interview was conducted by Chiranth S. (Batch of 2025), Rhea Prasad (Batch of 2024) and Digvijay Singh (Batch of 2023). It is a part of our #AltCareers Series. The cover image is by Akshit Singla (Batch of 2024).

Sharwari Pandit graduated from Law School in 2017 and worked as a Legal Manager at Hindustan Unilever Limited. She is currently pursuing her M.B.A. at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. In this interview Quirk spoke to her about her time at Law School, working at Unilever and pursuing an M.B.A. at Cornell. 

Part 1: Navigating Law School 

Quirk: Tell us a little bit about your time in law school, what committees were you a part of, what kind of activities were you interested in, and what did you prioritise overall? 

Sharwari: I was quite the enthu-cutlet in Law School. In my first year, I was elected Class Representative. The CR stint was a great way to get to know my batchmates and seniors better. As a first year CR, I was able to work with my batchmates on those early teething problems at law school, and represent their interests, which was a great experience.

As a first year, I dabbled in everything – I did mooting, debating and ADR. I was also a Junior Co-opt for the Student Advocate Committee (Stud Ad) and the ADR Board. In my second year, I learned to prioritise the activities of which I was a part. So I did an international law moot, and a lot of ADR events and debates. I also served as an Editor on the Socio-Legal Review. By my third year, I decided to find my groove and identify the things I want to zone in on. So, I picked journals, ADR and competition law. I served as an Editor on the National Law School of India Review (NLSIR), did a competition law moot and worked as a Research Fellow at the Commons Cell. ADR remained an area of focus, and that year I won two competitions with my partner. I absolutely fell in love with the activity! Throughout this time, I also focused on making sure that I was doing well academically. I believe that at Law School, we have a thriving academic culture, and one needs to take out some time to enjoy those subjects – at least I did.

My fourth and fifth year was more about doing my internships and figuring out where I wanted to go from there. I interned with two top tier law firms and Unilever in my third and fourth year.

Within Law School, I served as the Deputy Chief Editor of NLSIR and the Convenor of Stud Ad in my final year. It was a great learning experience from a leadership and management skills point of view. Apart from releasing our issue of the NLSIR and organising a symposium on e-commerce laws, we started looking at how one could popularise the journal through better circulation. We focused on increasing visibility and made all the volumes available on JSTOR.

In my final semester, I did an exchange semester in London at Queen Mary University, London. I took a mix of business and law courses, because I knew that I was going to go into an in-house position. It was an enriching and unforgettable experience, and I highly recommend it, provided it is financially feasible. So yeah, that’s my time at Law School.

Q: Looking back, is there anything you regret not trying, or something that you’d wish you’d focused on less?

S: I think that when you enter Law School in your first year, you feel an enormous pressure to do everything. Every committee will make you feel that if you don’t do that activity, you’re going to fall behind. MCS might tell you, “Oh my God, if you don’t moot in your first year,  you’re never going to get anything done” and it may be the same with other committees. But that’s absolutely not true!

If you can manage to balance a lot on your plate right off the bat, go ahead. But most people struggle with it initially, and I did as well. If I had to do things differently, I would have gone a little slower in my first year.

However, I will say that it makes sense to take the first two years to try doing most things law school offers at least once. I fully believe that. I just think one should pace it well, because NLS is rigorous, and it is academically very challenging. It’s important not to have Shiny Object Syndrome, and to build the maturity to pass on an opportunity, especially in your first year.

Q: And is there anything that you regret not trying?

S: I think I should have picked up sports a lot more – we have a very active and encouraging Sports Committee at law school. Team sports, in particular, have the ability to foster confidence and a collaborative spirit –  I realised that a little later into my time at Law School. At that time I was at Law School, women couldn’t go to the football field except for very restricted hours, and Nagarbhavi was not the safest.

As an expatriate woman brought up in the Middle East, I did not have that kind of confidence to claim outer spaces on my own. In my second year, some of my male friends were really into running and encouraged me to pick it up.So, I started going for short runs with my friends in the Bangalore University campus, and it was great! One year into it, I built the confidence to start running on my own. I realised that a lot of women at law school had started running at that time as well, and it was great to have that community to train and grow as runners.

I also wish I would have stuck with debating a little longer. At that time, the debating community was an extremely male, testosterone-driven environment. It was very rewarding as an activity, but the environment made me feel unwelcome, excluded, and in some instances, unsafe. So I subconsciously let it go. But I wish I had stuck on with that–a critical mass of women in debating would have made the community more welcoming to other women!

Q: You talked about how you did corporate internships in your fourth year. So how did you decide to try the Management Training Program at Unilever?

S: I did litigation internships in my second year and third year. My first litigation internship was with a law school alumnus, who was absolutely wonderful (I’m still friends with him) and the second one was with a senior counsel at the Bombay High Court. However, I realised that a career in litigation was not my calling. In my third and fourth years I did corporate law firm internships at two Tier-1 law firms. During my second internship, I found an area of practice that I liked, which was competition law. I was very happy when my internship got converted to a pre-placement offer.

But a few months later, Unilever (HUL) came to campus. When I saw their presentation, I was amazed at the kind of work their in-house legal profiles offered. I resonated with the kind of energy that the team had and I immediately wanted to explore the company. Everybody was free to apply to the internship under RCC rules then, so I immediately put my hand up. After the shortlisting and interview process, Unilever offered me an internship in the Unilever Leaders Internship Program.

Once I was at the internship, I knew that this was the place I where I wanted to be after Law School – there was no doubt in my mind. I value a good work environment and I’m innately enthusiastic and energetic. I like trying out new ideas and I thrive in collaborative workplaces. With Unilever, I found employers who mirrored these qualities. They are extremely interconnected as a workspace, high energy and very driven. Even though the impression of in-house counsels is that they work from a back room making contracts, it cannot be further from the truth at HUL.

My internship project in 2016 with HUL was to map the best standard of privacy practices across the world and then devise a program for their Human Resources function. This was before any Privacy Bill had been introduced in India and it was two steps ahead of everyone. That was the scale of their ambition.

Since my internship was for six weeks, I anticipated that I would only be able to complete part of my project. But the kind of mentorship and tutoring I received was extraordinary. We completed the project and even moved on to implementing parts of it within the six short weeks. I had a dedicated tutor (a law school alumnus who continues to mentor me to this day) and a senior mentor who oversaw my project, as well as a ‘buddy’, who served as my go-to person for everything – from how to use the printer to building networks within Unilever. I had never delivered more work in six weeks, and I had been able to go home at 7 o’clock every day! The atmosphere was incredibly collaborative and results oriented, and that definitely contributed to a great internship.

I think the second part of it was the Management Training Program itself, which is enormously exciting. The Unilever Future Leaders Program (UFLP), is Unilever’s flagship management training program and has been run for a few decades in India. Every year, it trains a cohort of graduates from elite schools across the country. I feel very privileged have been offered a spot on the program to this day.

Q: How difficult was it to steer off of the mainstream corporate job path and choose to become an in-house counsel. What factored into your decision?

S: Within Law School, when you’re in your third or fourth year, there is a narrow idea of what defines a ‘Law School Stud’. It is generally someone who does an LLM, is a partner at a law firm, or has been designated Senior Counsel.

The definition of a ‘studly job’ is very limited and it’s difficult to see beyond that in your third, fourth, or even fifth year. Your sources are often limited to your immediate seniors, and they have all chosen the same thing because their immediate seniors have made choices like that. It kind of becomes a cycle that feeds into itself. So yes, it was a difficult decision to make for me at that time.

I chose to become an in-house counsel primarily because of my dynamic experience at HUL. What really clinched it for me was a specific instance during my internship. We had to take a call related to a competition law issue. My boss told me to go ahead and research on the issue because he knew I enjoyed working on competition law matters. I did what we were trained to do in most other internships – I went to my boss and told him, this is what X research says, this is what Y research says and this is the analysis. I did that well, because we’re good at research at law school. Then my boss said, “That’s fine, but what are we going to do? You have to tell us that. Give me a solution I can take to the business. I am going to close my eyes and do whatever you tell me, because that’s the job at a company.”

It was that kind of ownership that I really enjoyed, which distinguished it from a regular corporate job.The fact that I found a very good culture fit within the organisation also helped me make the decision. Once I had clarity about my own decision to pursue this opportunity, the fact that it was slightly off-beat did not deter me.

Part 2: Working at Hindustan Unilever – The Importance of a Dynamic Work Environment 

Q: When you did join the management training programme, how was it different from a typical corporate law job? What were the skills that you picked up and what was your role that distinguished it from a purely legal path?

S: In law firms they put you on rotation for 1-2 years depending on the law firm. You try different teams within the firm and eventually pick one to continue working with permanently. With HUL my programme was completely different. The management trainee program is a 12 month program that starts right after graduation. You become a part of a cohort, very similar to how you are part of a batch at NLS. A typical cohort consists of around 70-80 trainees, and I was the only lawyer in my cohort. Everyone else was a post-MBA candidate or an engineer. It was a collection of people from diverse educational streams, with different experiences, and very different thought processes. I learned a great deal from my peers, and the diversity of thought and skills was truly enriching after 5 years at law school.

I did sales, marketing/brand management and supply chain, among other stints. I spent three weeks in a manufacturing unit in Pondicherry, and that was an incredible on-ground experience. I saw all my favourite FMCG products being made, and also learned about labor relations and practical applications of the labor laws we had studied. For our rural immersion, we spent around a month in a village, and this was one of the best experiences of my life. We stayed in the village itself,  and taught at the local school for one month with other management trainees. I also had a project, which was to find ‘Alternative Sources of Income for Women in the Village’. It was an amazing, irreplaceable and humbling experience.

After that I worked for a month with the legal team in Singapore, on a project for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The cherry on the cake was that around a year after leaving law school, when I had started missing campus life again, HUL sent us back to IIM Bangalore for 4 weeks, where we completed the ‘Executive General Management Programme’. At IIM, we were taught by great faculty in a beautiful campus, and the program seemed to have come full circle. I particularly enjoyed our courses in marketing and strategy, and still refer to some of the case studies we used.

Q: After the Management Training Programme concluded how did you transition into being a Legal Counsel at Unilever?

S: The Management Trainee program facilitates this transition. It is partly customised based on your intended function – for me, it was legal and business. My management training stints included training with the legal teams partnering different functions. Because of this program,  I got a chance to be a part of an incredibly diverse management trainee cohort and community within HUL, while also specialising in my function as an in-house counsel.

Another way the program helped me transition is by giving me a network of colleagues and friends across all parts of the company. This becomes important as HUL is the kind of company where there is a lot of emphasis on collaboration and cross-functional learning. It is very people-driven and everything starts with a meeting and a conversation with someone. That’s how most projects and ideas kick off. Hence, it is always good to have that community.

Q: What does your job as legal counsel at Unilever look like, what does it entail?

S: The company has different functions, such as sales, brand management, supply chain, finance, etc. Each function has a team of lawyers supporting them. To give you an example, right after I completed my Management Training Programme, I was sent to Delhi. My job was to partner the North India sales branch and our factories in North India. I worked with a Regional Legal Manager, who was the legal head for that region. As a Legal Manager,  my job basically entailed dealing with legal agendas and issues related to the sales and supply chain function in North India.

We also managed a core litigation portfolio, and were trained to manage it with great ownership and involvement. Our litigation portfolio for a region would include any case registered by or against HUL in the region (North India for me). The case could  be in a District Consumer Forum or the Delhi High Court or the Supreme Court – it was something we had to manage with equal ownership. It was a steep learning curve and great exposure to work with lawyers across the spectrum- high court lawyers, senior counsels, consumer lawyers, among others.

In most regions, there is a significant chunk of ADR work as well, and I enjoyed further developing this muscle. One of my richest learning experiences was leading a mediation for a major long-lasting labour dispute. It was a very complex mediation andI learned a lot from the legal counsel we worked with. It also entailed a lot of responsibility to represent the company and take the right kind of decision, but at HUL they give you that kind of authority and ownership early on.

The other thing we ended up doing in the regional offices is that we provided day-to-day legal support for all the supply chain factories. Things like domestic enquiry and a large number of other compliances, which are just labour law concepts in your head, became part of our job.

I also worked on two to three global projects like a competition law project for Bangladesh and an organisational behavior project for our global team.

At HUL, your role as a legal counsel changes every 2-3 years. So after 2 years, my roles was changed to a completely different profile. I was asked to return to our Head Office in Mumbai to work with an amazing team called the ‘Centre for Excellence’. The team was almost like a start-up team within HUL, and it worked on creating future facing technology-based products for the company. It involved another steep learning curve – this time about technology, e-commerce, product management and digital marketing. I also worked on tech laws and privacy, which I’m very passionate about.  Most of my work revolved around law and technology. To give you an example, I partnered ‘Shikhar’- an e-B2B app created in-house by HUL.

Given the flatter structure of the team and the fast-paced environment, it was a very ownership led role that pushed me to grow. There is also a massive intersection between law and business, so I am required to know how data flows, how our technology works, the absolute nitty-gritties of the business and often even provide strategic advice that isn’t purely legal but relates to opportunities for growth. It remains my favourite role at HUL!

Q: So how exactly is being an in-house counsel different from a typical corporate job?

I think mainly you get a large exposure to different areas of the law and business which you wouldn’t get at a law firm. In a corporate firm one usually builds expertise in specific areas of practice, so there is more expertise but not as much exposure to different areas of law. What a law firm does offer you is the ability to work with many clients. So you get to work across industries, and on very cutting edge problems. This may not happen consistently in an in-house role, because you’re going to work solely with your company.

I had the benefit of working with an MNC like Unilever which is spread across so many products and industries that you still find something new to learn everyday. But broadly put,  in a corporate firm you’re restricted to one area of practice across clients, while in an in-house role you’re restricted to one client across many areas of practice. Take your pick!

Q: You’ve talked about the various skills you’ve had to pick up, what was the learning curve like?

S: My roles have offered a tremendous growth curve and it is often extremely demanding. As a freshly minted management trainee,  most of your colleagues are people who have had more experience than you and you really have to grow into the role as fast as possible.  Everyone had already been working for 4-5 years in my team. They had more professional experience and understanding of the law in a practical sense, and so to keep up with them my growth curve had to be significant.

I also learnt a lot of things that are not about the law. I enjoy being curious about different things and I place a great value on learnability – the skill to learn a lot of complex things repeatedly and fast. From that point of view the Management Trainee Programme was perfect. I was surrounded by people who had been doing completely different things. It really opened up my mind and made me look at my own skill sets a little differently. There were gaps I could identify and skills I could pick up, so that I could look at problems and ideas from a more composite lens.

Q: Is there anything you don’t particularly like about your job? 

S: There is nothing that I have strongly disliked. But naturally, in roles where you work on a range of things, there will be some things you like more than the other. In a law firm job, that aspect can be reduced. For example, if you join a team working on  competition law,  you’ll be doing competition law for the most part. But in an in-house role, the scope of your responsibilities is broader. You may end up working on compliance for an area of law that you aren’t particularly passionate about, but it’s still something you need to deliver on.

Having said that, I believe that every job has a percentage of things that are not enjoyable. I believe that as long as the percentage of things you do enjoy is large enough and gives you a lot of joy, the rest of it takes care of itself.

Q: You’re now pursuing an MBA from Cornell? How did you decide that that was something you wanted to do and how was the process?

Yes, I joined the MBA Class of 2023 at Cornell this August.I have always harboured a passion for learning and further education.Having worked at the intersection of law and business, I wanted to take some time to build a strong business and tech foundation. Through my work with technology law and privacy, I realised that the pace of technology-based disruption is very rapid. I wanted to take some time to roll up my sleeves and build a basic tech skills toolkit, so that I could effectively understand the products and technologies that I worked with in the coming years. Lastly, I wanted to have a greater scope of impact going forward.

The MBA at Cornell, with its strength in tech and consumer products, seemed to be a perfect fit. Cornell’s focus on collaboration, immersion-based learning and ethical leadership also resonated with my own values. Their small class size and flexibility to let me study a number of legal courses as electives sealed the deal for me!

I attended the Cornell Johnson Women in Business conference and loved the culture and spirit of the organisation. The application process itself involved speaking with the students and admissions committees at various events and preparing my application materials. I found great support from my mentors and colleagues at HUL all through. After the application submission and interview, I was delighted to receive my offer from Cornell with a Forte Foundation scholarship.

Part 3: Gyaan, Memories and Miscellaneous

Q: What advice would you give to someone who would want to pursue this career path?

S: I would recommend doing three things: network, intern and keep hustling.

At law school, ‘networking’ is perceived to be a dirty word. But networking can often be genuine and rewarding for both parties. Law School gives its students access to a very strong, warm and supportive alumni network. This network spreads across industries, geographies, roles and seniority levels. If you are interested in a career path, check if any law school alumni have done something similar and reach out to them. Ask them about their company/firm, the kind of work they do, and the kind of career paths that are possible in their field. You will be surprised by the number of warm alumni willing to help you navigate your next steps!

I’d also recommend doing an internship with a company. I definitely think doing an internship with a company – whether you convert that into an in-house role, or choose to go any other way – adds enormous value. In several instances, as lawyers, you will either represent or advise  companies, and the people associated with them. For all these stakeholders, there is a lot of value added by someone with good business acumen and a solution-oriented approach.

Lastly, just figure out your fit and what feels right for you. This includes evaluating your fit on the kind of work and the culture of the company. A good thumb rule is that if as an intern you were not able enjoy the internship for a month, then you are unlikely to enjoy a full time role at the firm/company.

Q: Could you talk about your time at Ex Curia International?

S: I continued to be a part of the ADR community even after Law School. I believe that ADR has a lot of potential due to its ease of process and fast paced nature. Having managed a litigation portfolio in a company, I know first-hand how ADR can be a game changer for all the stakeholders in a dispute. In that sense, I genuinely think that ADR is a force for good.

I had coached some members of the Ex Curia International team, and I was happy to come onboard as an Adjunct Advisor when they offered the position to me. Through Ex Curia, I try to give back to the community by  advising the team, judging/writing problems for ADR competitions or giving trainings and talks to build awareness about ADR.

Q: What is your favourite Law School Memory?

S: My most cherished memory is of my time at the Lib Ramp and the library and the many many nights that were spent there. Rushing to the canteen line in the 20 minute break to order ‘single idli, single vada’ and sampling Chetta’s unending list of bun-butter-something combos are memories that remain close to my heart.  I think midnight barbs at Chetta and quad parties after submissions are some other things that no one from Law School can forget either!

Q: You mentioned earlier that you enjoy long distance running, does that help you destress after a long day? Do you do anything else to help you destress?

S: I love running!It is a source of physical fitness, happy hormones and friendships for me. When I was working in the North India branch at HUL, I was so enthusiastic about it that I managed to get my Line Manager to register all of us for the marathon. I first got them to run 5Ks, then we started running 10Ks, and it soon became something that brought us together as a team.

I also think running provides a great lens to explore a city and its communities. I remember the Airtel Delhi half marathon with particular fondness. We started at 5am, so it was very cold and dark. By the time we reached India Gate it was completely empty – there were only four-five of us – and the sun had just started rising. Watching the sun rise in silence over India Gate was a surreal experience. At Cornell, I sneak out for a run whenever possible. Cornell’s campus in Ithaca is famously ‘Gorges’ – full of botanical gardens, gorges, hill slopes and waterfalls. It’s a great way to explore a campus full of such history and beautiful architecture.

After law school, I picked up singing and continued my interest in public speaking. I was part of a band at HUL, and had a blast performing for our internal events! During COVID, I hosted virtual interviews and fireside chats with business leaders for audiences at HUL. At Cornell, I’m part of the Present Value Podcast team, and they are a great bunch of people. I’m learning to write, host and produce podcasts from end to end. It’s a very interesting medium of creating content, and I am eager to see where it takes me!

Q: Any last bit of advice you have for our readers?

S: I have two pieces of advice that I received from my seniors that I would love to share. In my first month at law school, my fifth year SBA VP told me to remember that ‘Law School is a great trampoline’ – you can to jump into anything that you like and excel. That, to me, is the truth. Law school gives us several transferable skills, that can be used to build careers in litigation, law firms, companies, IGOs, politics, non-profits, civil society positions, etc. But somewhere along our second to fourth year, we kind of forget that because everyone around us just focuses on  one or two ways forward. But the law degree can be a plank to jump into anything that you want.

Another thing that people forget is that the pie is big enough for all of us. Right now, there are enough opportunities for everyone to pursue their aspired careers in various streams.  If we do look proactively for something that does interest us, we are more likely to end up with an offer that we’re happy with and can stick to for a longer term. As individual law school batches as well, we are more effective as a collaborative team aiming to take each other to their aspired careers, than a batch that is fiercely internally competitive to its own detriment.

Thank you so much for this interview. I’ve always been an avid reader of Quirk!

*Part I can be found here.

After the success of its Chandra-yaan Launch, Internet Department invents Time Travel!

8 October 2021 | Chiranth S

The batch of 2025 began their 2nd glorious year at the No.1 Fountain of Legal Education (four times in a row now) with an unwelcome surprise. The numerically and emotionally drained class of 100 ‘intelligent law students’ had been divided into two sections – A and B, of roughly 50 students each. Each section would have different teachers for law subjects and the social sciences would be taught by a single teacher in a combined class, once again highlighting the step-motherly treatment meted out to the lowly BA subjects. This, in addition to being the only batch with 5 subjects per trimester, was guaranteed to add some unnecessary spice to an already chaotic trimester for the batch of 2025. It should come as no surprise that the NLS Inmate Review Board (hereafter NLSiR Board) decided to take this case up with a gusto and enthusiasm seldom visible in an online trimester.

As has become the norm at NLS, the one-sided decision was abruptly announced by the Supreme Administrative Council (SAC) with the speed and decisiveness usually reserved for one of the Supreme Leader’s Masterstrokes. During the course of its investigation, the NLSiR Board found (quite predictably) that the Batch of 2025 was more interested in debating the arbitrary and random class division on their batch group, rather than initiating an uncomfortable conversation about the 20 comrades missing from their original flock of 120. In a completely unsurprising turn of events, 10  of the most privileged social justice warriors with the quickest thumbs argued about whether or not the admin was promoting class division. All this while the majority remained indifferent and chose to silently watch the drama unfold. The few who still possessed a soul expressed the token outrage and long-winded speeches usually reserved for hastily called General Body Meetings (GBM) or infamous and practically useless email threads after a similar masterstroke by the SAC. Never mind that the minority who bear the brunt of these decisions and suffer year losses are neither consulted nor are their concerns heard. As long as everyone can comfortably binge watch their TV shows and peacefully doze off during zoom classes, who cares if 16% of the batch has to endure an extra year at NLS, with only the sweet agony of academic rigour to keep them company. At this juncture, it was pointed out to the NLSiR Board that they had gone off topic and their rant was no longer entertaining. Back to the double section dilemma. 

Oddly, the consequences of this poorly planned decision took the Batch of 2025 by surprise. The NLSiR Board assumed that after the closed book vs. open book decision and other exam format zingers were sprung upon them just a week before the exams were scheduled to begin, nothing would surprise them anymore. But the simple matter of conducting online classes for two sections of 50 students proved too much for the SAC and their accomplice, the Internet Department. Or was it…..?

Keeping in mind that most colleges all over the world have divided their students into far more than two sections, the NLSiR Board smelt a rat. (Our first reaction was that one of the many snakes on campus was responsible). It seemed suspicious that a college that prides itself on its unique and extremely stress-free trimester system would find it too challenging to implement such a basic feature of higher education. On further investigation and examination of precedent, the Board stumbled upon the fact that the Internet Department had, in 2019, been the first university department in the world to go to the moon to help ISRO re-establish contact with Vikram.* If such extraordinary efforts were made just to improve internet connectivity on the campus, then surely the simple task of scheduling classes for two sections would be a cakewalk for this esteemed Department. The NLSiR Board’s suspicions would soon be proven correct and they would be vindicated. The game was afoot.

Chaos abounded during the first week of classes. The technically sound and ever reliable Edchemy platform managed, of course, by the Internet Department displayed a single link for both sections, prompting frantic WhatsApp meltdowns. Once this was resolved, there was unrealistic hope that the ‘final’ timetable would clarify things. It didn’t, and neither did the ‘revised’ timetable. One anonymous source accurately pointed out that the Batch of 2025 was among the first cases of human trials for the Schrodinger’s Cat experiment. They wouldn’t know for sure if they had class as a single section or a combined class until they clicked on the zoom link. The administration’s grand scheme slowly began to reveal itself when the combined Political Science class (taught by a single professor, of course) for Sections A and B were scheduled for different times. The SAC and the Internet Department had  invented time travel !! 

Our excitement and joy was cut short when a notification announced that students were only permitted to travel through time to attend classes in Section A and B at different times, simultaneously! Since students could now be in two places at once, NLS could now achieve the Supreme Leader’s dream – Complete and Total Academic Rigour. After successfully travelling to space, the Internet Department had acquired the technical skills and proficiency for its next adventure – time travel. Glossing over the chaos that ensued during the one week trial run, time travel was declared a success and another feather in the cap of this distinguished Department. 

The student body of 20-something-year-olds now faced a dilemma which the Internet Department, with all its knowledge and foresight, had failed to consider. How were they supposed to time travel without some sort of device like a time machine? After multiple unanswered emails, the SAC and Internet Department begrudgingly decided to give out time turners to “assist students in their noble pursuit of high academic standards and rigour that NLS is known for”. Shame that the Internet Department was not as liberal with data packs that cost a fraction of the price, and are in perennial demand. 

One subject, in particular, bore the brunt of this dual division madness. The difference in the zoom classroom experience of the two sections could not be starker. While one section listened to music before class, the professor in the other section mistakenly assumed that a lecture was, in fact, an opportunity to polish their speed reading skills. The professor dutifully went about doing so by rapidly regurgitating provisions of a certain bare Act and even spouting some ‘analysis’ directly from authoritative sources like iPleaders, no less! A particularly avid Harry Potter fan pointed out that the two professors reminded them of Alastor Moody and the (full of faff) Gilderoy Lockheart. As a result, the latter section was unable to figure out which of their rights had been violated. It bickered over whether all this division and forced time travel was sufficient to declare talaq from the Internet Department (on the grounds of cruelty!) during another WhatsApp debate.

The allotment of project topics was another stellar example of an Internet Department’s efficiency. Normally, one half of the batch submits one set of 2 or 3 projects during the first submission period, while the second half submits the remaining subjects, and vice-versa during the second submission. With the advent of 2 sections, each section was needlessly divided into two halves and allotted different project sets. To further complicate matters, one half of one section had their subjects abruptly changed one full week into the trimester. This issue is mentioned only as an afterthought because it is a recorded fact that most LawSchoolites don’t begin writing their projects until the last possible moment or whenever the batch panic level reaches a critical point, whichever comes first. 

We don’t want to jump to conclusions and term this the Umbridge era. But if tomorrow you see the Supreme Leader carrying a pink umbrella, know that Quirk’s NLS Inmate Review Board called it first!

With November in Nagarbhavi quickly approaching, Quirk presents a Photo Journal, that documents all months of campus life. Starting from the first trimester jitters to the fun of third trimester, get ready for a run-down of everything to expect on campus. Don’t miss the nostalgic video by Ojas Chandaniha (Batch of 2025)! We thank everyone who contributed pictures for the same.

If there’s one thing that the last eighteen months have proved, it’s that technology simply cannot replace ALL the events at NLS and make it as exciting as if it happened in flesh and blood. Sure, streaming platforms have made listening to real-time music engaging and fun but it isn’t a perfect substitute for vibing to some indie hits in the field on a January night. No amount of online chess or video gaming can give you the rush of shouting “Law School…Law School…” on the basketball court and nothing beats Univ Week. 

With Law School slated to reopen in November, we at Quirk want to chronicle what a calendar year at NLS was like, in the Old Normal. For the senior batches, this would be a chance to refresh your memories. For the first (and second) years, here’s what a pandemic-free year at NLS would have been. 

Before you dive in, here’s a video that’ll either be a trip down memory lane or an initial glimpse of your life for the next few years. We hope you enjoy watching it!

JULY

Lakshmi Nambiar (Batch of 2023) writes:

July is a month of excitement – probably the most exciting for fresh-faced first years who bubble with all the anticipation of entering their dream college with no law school baggage to burst that bubble yet. Perhaps you worry that homesickness might get you down – but the multiple orientations will keep you busy throughout the month – orientations that will make you wonder what you have been doing all your life when all these cool activities should have been what were occupying your time. They will introduce you to committees, clubs, collectives and the extremely wide range of law school activities that leave you wondering when you will even have time for class, or worse, sleep. Sleep, of course, will be a long lost dream (one that you don’t even have time to dream about) because your nights will be spent being introduced to the law school fraternity. Whether your idea of a night is a dance party like Freshers or a chill scene at the field or even an intimate jam session at Navalgund park – you won’t be left wanting – and these first nights might just form deep bonds of long-lasting friendships.

Sometime in mid-July you’ll find yourselves being whisked away for a visit to the High Court. The High Court visit is one of the most wonderful introductions to a life in the law – whether it’s the beautiful red buildings, the fancy courtrooms, the dressing-up in formals or the bus rides to and fro – there’s something in it for everyone.

July is when you first discover the most omnipresent joys of NLS – like the happiness that only a coffee and bun-butter-bhujiya at Chetta can give you, the never ending supply of campus doggos, and the freedom of college life. It’s also when bonds are forged in all kinds of unexpected ways – ranging from the hatred of pigeons and PDA, to the PDA itself. Bonds that begin with sisterhood in hostels and carry on to hostel group rants about terrible bathroom manners. Also July, my sweet summer first year children, is when you will be inducted into the law school state of mind – and slowly begin to become a law schoolite – starting with learning the local lingo, and finishing only when you successfully learn the most quintessential NLS skill – to faff. You’ll also be taken out on treats by various groups – rank parent treats, state treats, senior treats, etc.

AUGUST

Spiritus

Jwalika Balaji (Batch of 2023) writes:

Spiritus  is our annual sports fest. It’s a great chance for us to sledge other colleges (that’s why they hate us and think we’re entitled pricks). But it’s also a chance for us to feel like we’re not half-bad at sports! (And it really isn’t the sports that matter. It’s getting watermelon-juice-half-sugar-full-ice with your sports team after practice sessions, paid for by sportscomm, that really matters) We have these amazing pub pools before spiritus to make posters “welcoming” other colleges to law school. The first years have a wonderful experience at spiritus :). They are chosen (read: forced/de-facto) volunteers at Spiritus and have the worst jobs of all – carrying mattresses, cleaning the basketball court at 12 AM after a heavy rain, rolling the ground evenly on the tennis, throwball and football courts, getting up at 5 AM to draw lines on the different courts for that day’s match, sitting at the registration counters etc etc. Name any job that involves fun (read: bitch) work and you’ll have to do it. It’s actually really fun though – you get to bond with different batches at college, get yelled at but then also get cake from sportscomm, cheer on your university teams and feel proud about your university. Also, the lack of sleep for the three days makes you delirious at this point so you’re just going with the flow anyway. There are amazing food trucks which come in. There is a flower stall (called Informals) where you can gift people flowers and messages, and it’s generally a very cute and spirited vibe! (pun intended). Then at the end of three days, there’s an insane party that’s thrown on the night of which usually the university rounds moot problem is released so you’ll curse your life and carry on and law school, like always.

Project submissions 

Ashi Mehta (Batch of 2021) writes:

Aah, the bane of our law school existence! At the start of every trimester, we, along with our friends promise to start projects on time and coast through submission time with ease. But, lo and behold, where does the time go?! Dreaded submissions are now approaching, time to check for internet inconsistencies, events to volunteer for (or coaxing the C/JC to add my name on the volunteer list) – for that elusive “Yes, Permitted” on project submission deadline. Project submissions are also the time when Chetta comes alive at midnight and our co-dependency on black coffee/RedBull/TZinga/Sting begin (I have seen a friend buy 3 of them for a night, said friend is still alive – thanks). Time to fire up the laptop and type at ungodly speeds or delegate paraphrasing to juniors (another classic trend – NLS is truly where leaders of the future are created) to make it to the 11:59PM deadline! The OGs will recall running to the ED (another relic of the past) with printed copies of their projects before the clock hit 5:00PM, after having made umpteenth changes in their projects to please the Turnitin gods (when we were allowed access – I feel ancient now). Project submissions are truly testament to the fact that diamonds are created under pressure…or that writing thoughts in 5000 words on a topic we have no clue about are all possible!

SEPTEMBER

University Moot Rounds

Rhea Prasad (Batch of 2024) writes:

If the daily anxieties of college weren’t enough you will also be faced with the most daunting question of all time: to moot or not to moot? As someone who mooted in their first year, I can tell you that it is honestly not as horrendous as it’s made out to be; if you genuinely want to try out the activity and explore whether it interests you, don’t take stress of being the MooT StUd everybody has convinced you you have to be. More than researching and mooting itself, it’s the fact that everyone’s running around with 0 hours of sleep, functioning on 926252 cups of coffee and discussing “public policy” at every imaginable corner in college, that causes the real stress. The night of memo subs, you’ll see every corner of the library full of people in three day old pyjamas, you’ll hear the anguished screams of the unfortunate souls whose laptops have crashed and then you’ll see the lucky few who submitted on time chilling at Chetta. Of course, the days of the oral rounds are no better. You’ll see people crying outside the Moot Court Hall, pacing up and down furiously with their notes and you’ll wonder why you decided to moot in the first place. As someone who managed to sleep 16 hours a day, do pretty badly and come to the conclusion that I’m not cut out for mooting, I’d recommend approaching Univs with a pinch of salt and plenty of caution. Because deadlines will always be closer than they appear!

First set of exams

Lakshmi Nambiar (Batch of 2023) writes:

With the end of September comes the sweet sweet promise of home, or at the very least (if you are interning in the break) a respite from the academic term which by this point you have grown quite sick of. But before that happens comes the harrowing ordeal that is exams. Four days, four papers, no sleep and LOTS of Chetta’s midnight double coffees (with a side of Sting if you’re feeling especially motivated). Exams really really suck – there’s no doubting it. But college exams, for the first time ever, gives you the opportunity to stay up all night with your friends and batchmates – forming study groups in hostel rooms, mess tables, acad classrooms (until the 11PM bell) and Chetta benches. Yes, it sucks, but hey at least you’ve got company. It’s a bonding experience of its own. And sex is great and all, but have you ever had a four-hour nap after four days of non-stop exams and no sleep? There is no sweeter feeling in the world. Then there will be Instagram stories of x/15 trims done and bye bye law school, and the hostel will be filled with people running around trying to simultaneously pack and get ready for one last night out. And then before you know it you’re back at home, eating veetile choru-sambaar (aka ghar ka khaana). It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times.

NOVEMBER

Anmol Kohli (Batch of 2024) writes:

November begins with hope. And I don’t mean the hope of passing your Economics I repeats (though that can be important as well). I mean the hope of having found a new home, of realising that this is you for the next half-decade. The anxiety and chaos of your first trimester is over. You went back home, and were relieved—or perhaps astonished—to find that the world outside is much the same. Life now, however, seems slower. While you enjoy the comfort of your family’s home, a certain listlessness creeps in. At this point, you realise that you want to go back. You hate that you feel this way; you’re surprised at yourself. But by the end of October, you start hoping. This hope manifests in several ways: it’s the hope that the strangers with whom you inhabited  8:50am classes half-asleep and laboured at events still remember who you are. It’s the hope that the first trimester was a trial period, that you will no longer make mistakes, and the next fourteen trimesters will be an effortless demonstration of your inherent genius. It’s the hope that you have now imbibed a certain law school ethic that you naively suppose all your seniors possess. It’s the hope that you, too, can be a functioning cog in the madness of the law school machine. Hold on to these hopes and enjoy the events of November!

Anshita Agrawal (Batch of 2023) writes:

I know Diwali away from family doesn’t sound like a fun thing but Diwali at NLS also has its own unique vibe, one that you shouldn’t miss out. A few days before Diwali we had Dandiya night organized by CulComm; it’s a festive form of NLS Quad parties. For once, it was nice to see the college dressed in something other than lounge-wear. And on Diwali I remember going to the field with my entire batch and lighting lanterns (after multiple failed attempts). We were all dancing and singing around the campus and just enjoying the feel of home away from home.

DECEMBER

December is a busy month in Law School. There are a lot of external and internal fun events that happen, apart from the usual monotony of project subs, vivas and mid-trimester crisis. 

Bangalore Namma Pride March

The Bangalore Namma Pride March usually happens within the first 10 days of December. The Pride Parade sees a huge turnout everyday is such a colourful and heartwarming place to be. Every year, a huge contingent from Law School goes to the Parade in a bus organized by the NLSQA, carrying posters that we make at a pub pool the previous night and with a makeup and painting session right before leaving! 

Gunjan Jadiya (Batch of 2023) writes:

I hate crowded places. I try to avoid them as much as I can. So when I heard there was going to be a Pride Parade in Bangalore I don’t really know what prompted me to go. All of my friends had refused yet I decided to go with some of the students from college for no particular reason. Once we reached the starting point of the parade and I saw everyone covered in rainbows, I got goosebumps. Good goosebumps. I had never been a part of a crowd that could collectively give such a love-filled vibe. I couldn’t stop smiling. Even though the parade covers a long distance, I don’t remember getting tired at all. Because never before had I been a part of a crowd that made me feel such warmth in my heart (or a crowd that was even 1% aesthetic as a pride parade). Crowds for me have always been suffocating but pride was like a big hug that screamed, “We love you for who you are and as you are + fuck homophobes” The only regret I have from my pride experience is not going for all the free hugs and kisses people were giving away.

Christmas and New Years’ Party

Jwalika Balaji (Batch of 2023) writes:

For Christmas, Cul Comm usually hosts a smol christmas party with carols and general feel-good music in the quad. A lot of students gather in the quad and simply spend the whole evening together. Arrangements are also made to go caroling at midnight, joining those who walk along the streets of Bangalore on Christmas Eve. It is a beautiful and wholesome experience.

Then comes the (in)famous New Year Party. It is that time of the year when seniors graciously pool in their money (cough cough) and organize a party for the entirety of college. A resort is usually booked and we are taken in buses there. Since first years have curfew, they are usually shipped back to college around 1-2 AM that night. And of course, some DISCO members have to stay on campus to take room check (paavam). The rest of college usually stays till the morning and then comes back to campus. Yamuna Solidarity can truly be seen in the evening right before leaving for the venue. All dance songs are being played in the bathroom, people are visiting each other’s rooms to check out what everyone is wearing, people are mixing and matching outfits, lending jewelry, helping out with makeup and taking pictures of others. It is truly a feeling of unity, representing the quintessential yamuna bond during these times. At the party itself, people are singing, dancing, making out :p, sharing stories, eating and drinking. The best part of NYP is the countdown to 12 AM, when you have 400 people around you counting down the new year with you. There is this burst of warmth and affection that you feel towards everyone and it is one moment that the entire college shares. 

Of course, these parties do come with the caveat that it is often in such spaces, where instances of sexual harassment occur. This has spurred a lot of discussion on drawing sexual boundaries, making sure that people check up on each other during quad parties and generally a call for SHARIC facilitators to be more vigilant during these times. 

JANUARY

Strawberry Fields

Anmol Kohli (Batch of 2024) writes:

January may have your second — and understandably worse in quality — project submissions in the first week (the only constant even in these times). Once you are finished with those, though, you are rewarded by arguably the best event in NLS: Strawberry Fields (or “SF”, as we fondly call it).  Before SF, there is something called SF PnP (press n publicity). Seniors take juniors out for a night of fun, under the pretext of creating publicity for SF. Well, we do distribute pamphlets, coasters and matchboxes with the SF logos printed on them – some of them are really nice, with amazing artwork on them. It’s a night of fun and frolic, with seniors getting to know juniors better and bonding with them!

Strawberry Fields is our rock fest – which basically means three days of shouting and screaming in the name of music (kiddin!). It has been organized for over 23 years and is super fun. All of us dress up, chill at the food stalls, take pictures at the Tinder stall (very apt), and bang our heads to the music for three nights. We have our amazing, very-own Laa Skool band and they never fail to make us cheer for them! So with exciting headliners and watching all kinds of bands – old, new, and with different styles of music – coming out to perform on the Field, it’s a unique experience by itself. Ask anyone from the Batch of 2024, and they will tell you that SF 2020 is pretty much the only time they had real, memorable fun at campus, before COVID-19 ruined everything 2 months later. For 3 days, the student body really lets go (it has no other choice, the music from the field reaches the library!). SF is a unique part of NLS because it has existed since 1996. 

MARCH

We basically do nothing in March. All first years are just very happy to be on campus for the ‘chill trim’. Holi usually comes around in March, and groups of people do play Holi on campus! But apart from that, there are no events per se in March.

APRIL

Dalit History Month

Anmol Ratan (Batch of 2023) writes:

April 2021 saw something that law school has rarely been made witness to. It saw a month-long celebration of art, literature, music and every other possible facet of Dalit life under what we at SPAC called ‘The Dalit Fest’. The fest that sought to celebrate Dalit History Month as well as honour Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy was marked by sheer gratitude and an immense sense of camaraderie. While in an ideal non-covid time SPAC would annually celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti in true-blue law school fashion, with great music and food, this time we knew we were undertaking something that was way greater than all of us and anything we had done in the recent past. The fest opened with a two emerging Dalit voices, namely, Ms. Yashica Dutt and Mr. Dipankar Kamble and was followed by an interview with Mr. Praveen Kumar. The culmination which was marked by a three-hour long virtual cultural night was truly the cherry on top. Personally, for us, it was not until the very last vote of thanks that we all breathed a sigh of relief and realised what we had pulled off. It was one of the toughest yet most satisfying things I had ever done in Law School and I am sure I share the sentiment with other members of the collective.

Day Zero

April is the month where we also see our 4th years dressing up in impeccable suits and getting ready for Day Zero, for placements in firms. It’s quite nice to have an existential crisis right at the end of your first year. But you also feel super proud when you see your seniors placed at these prestigious firms. Overall, bittersweet :’)

Law School Debate (NLS-D)

Pallavi Khatri (Batch of 2022) writes:

The end of April usually spells what we like to call “Zombie-mode” for everyone in the Literary and Debating society – as we scramble together day and night to conduct the National Law School Debate. With 70+ teams and a host of debate judges coming from India and abroad each year, the LnD has its work cut out. But it’s not just the committee. NLS-D wouldn’t happen without the 100 or so NLS students who double as adjudication participants and volunteers – with placards for the multiple venues to try and disperse confused looking kids from other colleges to their respective rooms. And while all of this happens on the outside, inside the tab room there’s a constant feeling of urgency as the tabmaster puts in scores on to TabbyCat to try and make the next round start on time. 

After the 7 tiring preliminary rounds, it’s fair to say that every party involved, the committee, volunteers and participants are dying to let their hair down. And that’s when the ‘Break Night’ happens. This faaairly crazy party is held somewhere less fancy than Sheraton or Taj (coz we’re not MCS and ADR board sorry) – but has the best vibes for sure. Sometimes it gets a bit out of hand with everyone puking in the bus and the LnD transport incharge getting calls from the Bus company for a year. But despite all that, it’s all worth it in the end – for the camaraderie NLS students end up building on their shifts, for the joy that engulfs the winners and for the “we did it!” feeling for each LnD member!

MAY

May is perhaps the busiest month for some of the law school committees, and depending on whom you ask, and perhaps the most fun for law-schoolites. There are two major inter-college events that we usually host in May, NLS-NMC (the flagship ADR competition that we host) and NLSTIAM (the flagship arbitration moot that we host). Most importantly, Univ Week also takes place in May. 

NLS Negotiation Mediation and Client Counselling Competition (NLS-NMC)

Shambhavi Shivdikar (Batch of 2021) writes:

The month starts off with its usual law school monotony with project subs in the first week, but begins to speed up as we reach NMC. The next event in the SBA Calendar is the Negotiation, Mediation and Client Counselling Competition (“NMC”) organized by the ADR Board. The 3-day event sees 200+ participants (since NMC is the qualifier for ICC Paris, we even get some firangs and allegations of white bias ofc) milling about on the campus and the ADR Board frantically running multiple rooms and safeguarding the confi like their life depends on it.

The preparation for NMC starts months in advance with soliciting judges and problem drafters, finding Acco, inviting participants, and painstakingly choosing volunteers from the student body for the event (you will know the reason in a minute). During the actual days of the event, the ADR Board makes the Acad Block its temporary residence replete with a mattress, a set of UNO cards to help de-stress, unlimited cans of Monster Energy^TM drink to cope with all-nighters and perpetual exhaustion, and takeout boxes, courtesy the generous Convenors. Volunteers chip in and do their part by carrying around tables, enquiring about life insurance at the LIC counter (especially recommended for those who have their History vivas due) and timing the rounds (the best way to learn some negotiation tricks which can be deployed on unsuspecting peeps in the Nego Univs). However, the main attraction of the competition is neither the DSLR photoshoot in formals for your LinkedIn Profile or FB DP change, nor the networking you do with the studly judges and peeps from other institutions; but the most lit and fun socials of the year which has everyone clamoring to be a part of NMC. At NMC, we believe in ‘work hard, play harder’ (but please make sure you don’t get wheeled out in a wheelchair or make us pay extra for destruction of property).

NLS Trilegal International Arbitration Moot (NLSTIAM)

Vignesh Ramakrishnan (Batch of 2022) writes:

Having been part of the Moot Court Society for three years, NLSTIAM was the event I looked forward to the most. Being a part of the Organizing Committee does give you some perks and they were perhaps the most exhausting days in law school (after Spiritus). The Acad was bustling with students from across the country in their fancy suits burning up in the Bangalore Summer (sorry to burst your bubble, but being a sprawling metropolis does not really suit Bangalore’s weather, especially in the summer. Please prepare accordingly :P) Volunteers can be spotted running around in hastily worn suits, non-matching pairs of socks and shoes borrowed from neighbours/ roommates. Running the rounds is sometimes thankless, however, it does provide a lot of experience on how to argue and the questions judges ask. Depending upon how nice your judge is, it’s also a good opportunity to network with alumni and other accomplished people in the area of arbitration law.

After the three exhausting days of the event, is when MCS with tons of paisa from its corporate sponsor (shoutout to Trilegal yo) decides to have the semi-finals and finals at a 5-star hotel “at the heart of Bengaluru’s commercial district” aka MG Road/Majestic (but that’s how we sell the exorbitant registration fees to Indian and foreign teams). ADR and MCS often get into wars about which socials is better (for the sake of brevity and to avoid any angry ADR members trying to lynch me, I’ll steer clear of that conversation). Ultimately, for the committee members and those who have slaved away the most (or have social connections *cough cough*) an invite to the socials is provided and you get drinks on MCS at the Taj or the Ritz Carlton.

Univ Week

Vignesh Ramakrishnan (Batch of 2022) further writes:

Okay, I promise that was the last brag about our committees and the extravagant socials we throw. As a first-year co-opt in MCS, I thought TIAM was the event I looked forward to and would enjoy the most. Univ Week, however, shattered all my expectations and is, has been and will continue to be, the most fun event on the law school calendar. The usually dormant batch-group suddenly goes into a frenzy (for once at something not controversial) and people are voting on the colour to pick for the batch colour day, deciding the songs and moves for the flash mobs. (Well, the enthusiasm on the batch group does slowly fade as you go through the years).  For once you can go to class in the most outrageous outfit and you might actually win something for your batch (Fashion disaster day *insert screenshot of cul comm’s email*). The day is filled with flash mobs and laughter, and people dancing in the quadrangle (or nervously watching from the shadows cuz you can’t dance to save your life). The nights are even more fun, you can shout your favourite song with your friends and ruin it for everyone on karaoke night (I’m kidding! *not really, I’ve done it too*) or walk down the ramp and own the fashionista in you (cheers and applause guaranteed no matter what you do. Bonus points if you’re very drunk and embarrass yourself on stage) or try your hand at being a dancer on the Western or Eastern Dance Nights. Naturally, you can dance to Bruno Mars, the most popular Bollywood songs of the year and the mainstream south Indian songs that have been played for the past decade (No, I’m not talking about Lungi Dance!!!) 

The most rave quad parties used to happen during Univ Week, and we’d party in the Acad all-night-long (even till 7-am). However, at this point, I feel I must emphasize on something that has already been highlighted by some of the earlier pieces. Law School does have a toxic hookup culture, where the number of partners you’ve had is fetishized, and despite many of us having contributed to this culture consciously or unconsciously, we must tell you to not condone such a culture.  Lastly, I must add that all the socials or parties I’ve mentioned above, have all had instances of women being sexually harassed. This is not to say that parties are the sole cause for such instances. But even if we’re unable to establish a causal link, it’s important that, as a batch and all of us as the student community, take this seriously, ensure we always always are respectful and mindful of the comfort zones of other people and move away when the other person expresses the slightest signs of discomfort.

JUNE

SBA Elections

Lakshmi Nambiar (Batch of 2023) writes:

Despite there being barely 10 days left of the month, June is possibly the most d r a m a filled month in Law School. Even though there’s pretty much a set formula to how someone makes their way to the President’s chair, it is still a time of reflection on how we can possibly make law school great again. While the drama makes for great twitter threads, it also makes us question issues on campus – like those of sexism, and of the moral responsibility the SBA owes to the student community. Especially in recent years we have seen declining participation, which has been the catalyst for a push towards change for the better.

So there you go. If you’ve survived the whirlwind that is your first year, then congratulations, you have four more of these. All of this might seem tiring and hectic and scary, but life on campus makes it all worth it. There’s nothing that makes Law School more Law School than the bonding that happens on campus because of these events and being the small community that we are. We hope you will enjoy the experience of coming to campus and spending your remaining law school life in Nags. See you soon!

Love,
Quirk.

This letter has been penned by Dhawal M. and Ojas Chandaniha (Batch of 2025). The illustration is by Kajal Jamdare (Batch of 2025). 

To the incoming first years,

First off, a big congratulations for cracking CLAT and making it into NLS. All those months and years of hard work and dreaming about being in the ‘top law school’ seems to have finally paid off.

We apologise for sending out a welcome-letter weeks into your term. You see, we’re teen parents whose kids have been delivered prematurely. This is the part where your seniors throw themselves a pity party. Take a seat, have a drink, this might take a while. We were barely getting accustomed to the fact that we are college students and now we are supposed to give Gyaan. Lmao, god bless y’all. We can definitely give you solid advice on how to use zoom to your advantage and other such hacks that have a 100% chance of pissing off your professors. We probably won’t be able to help you find your way on campus, but don’t worry, we’re equally lost on other accounts as well. 

As surprising as it may be, this confidence-inducing self-deprecation has a point – sometimes, what gets lost in the NLS Gyaan culture is that seniors are not infallible. Seniors, no matter the year, have perfected the art of looking sorted. The weekly breakdowns, crumbling friendships, internship rejections, RAship rejections, publication rejections, relationship rejections, just rejections in general (okay? stop now.) are concealed under numerous layers of junior-senior dynamics, your own exaggeration of our achievements, and an ability to ‘scam’ law school. So just remember to take everything you hear with a pinch of salt. 

Gyaan culture must have made its acquaintance with you in the philosophical proclamations of your rank parents, project guides, all the seniors who have been assigned to help you and many others who are just excited to welcome y’all. From learning the art of ‘faffing’, scamming courses, dealing with whatever BT comes your way while navigating through life to whatever more secrets of surviving law school your seniors are eager to share with you, it all must feel like a lot to take in. You must be overwhelmed with the shitload of information thrown at you and feel like you are not qualified to even exist in this place. It may seem as if you’re stuck in a never-ending cycle of deadlines, performance pressure, and the anxieties that come with it. “The city is flying. We’re fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense.” In law school, you’ll have your very own Hawkeye moments when you’ll relate to this quote on a spiritual level but know that it gets better (it might not seem like it, but take it from us, it does <3). 

Just pause and remember that Law School is a buffet. Now bear with us for a moment. What we mean to say is that everything is optional. EVERYTHING. You might want to have a little taste of academics, with a large serving of extracurriculars, and might go to mooting and other co-curriculars for dessert but someone may take a large scoop of academics with a side of nothing at all. And that is completely okay. Remember everyone has different appetites and preferences. Just like you won’t have the same Swiggy order as your favourite seniors, there is no need to bust your ass trying to ape their law school trajectory either. Similarly, remember that you might not have a taste for everything on offer at the buffet but through a process of trial and error, you’ll finally find a meal that makes you happy. There’s a plethora of things that Law School has to offer: committees, negotiations, moots, debates, just to name a few. While all of these are a great way to interact with people and improve your skillset, they are not the be-all and end-all. 

Committees are over-glorified kitty parties, both CR and SBA elections are an illusion of choice, journals are boring, competitions are just egofibrillators for those suffering from popular girl syndrome. At the same time, committees help people make friends in the cutthroat competition that NLS thrives on, journals help you read about topics that your courses would simply never cover, the freedom of expression offered by moots and debates are liberating for many. The non-academic side of law school can be one of the places where you make lifelong friends, find a significant other or just have fun in general. Emphasis on one of the places. 

There is no single path that you need to follow, just go with what your heart says and you’ll be okay. When the time comes, you’ll get used to the academic rigour, committee convenors will beg you to apply to their committees, you’ll be able to see debating as the over-glorified, IRL version of Twitter feuds that it is (and when have Twitter feuds not been fun?), and most importantly, you will find your niche and feel like you fit in. At this point, just sit down, take a breath, bunk one of your classes every once in a while to catch up on your sleep, and remember to chill.

We keep telling you to chill, to relax, to pause because we know that Law School can be daunting and you might feel like everyone else is somehow coping with the pressure and has their shit together. You couldn’t be farther from the truth. No one actually reads for every class. No one is succeeding at everything. Everyone is facing their own demons, everyone has their fair share of anxieties and insecurities, so always be kind and look out for the people around you. Don’t take all the burden on your shoulders, ask for help, share notes, rant together, brainstorm ideas to escape cold calls xD. Small things like these make NLS a lil more bearable : )

Now technically, this letter does qualify as Gyaan too but we have been told that gyaan used to be delivered over Chetta treats, sutta breaks and field drinks. Let us make this clear. Free snacks and free drinks. But so is the woe of our batches that everything is online. While one does get to sleep in some of the classes and that is obviously a plus, we, better than anyone else, understand the frustration of online college. You’ll recognize your friends’ voices without even looking up but still be shocked to know that the person you have been calling your bestie is a 5-foot 3-inch tall first copy of Danny DeVito. Betrayal and Law School have an old history. We will not tell you how great online college is, because honestly, we know how much it sucks. Our seniors have bragged about how great the campus is, how “rad” the parties are and how “lit” the nightlife scene is. Their words, not ours. While sulking is valid and encouraged, remind yourselves that it’ll be over soon. 

At the same time, imagine this, 240 campus virgin kids roaming around the premises, making it their own and fundamentally changing how fun is had at NLS. So, while we are jealous of what the seniors have had the good fortune of enjoying, remember that what we make of the campus will be way bigger, grander and even funner. The ever-famous food from Chetta, make-out sessions on the new Acad roof, PDA on the football field, fun (and slavery) during Spiritus, the excitement of Univ week. All of this is waiting to be redefined by a completely new set of students who have had a completely different initiation into NLS. 

Lastly, acknowledge that some of you come from positions of privilege, so remember to be open-minded in the discussions you partake in and give the mic to people who might have actually experienced what you are discussing. Law School can be a real eye-opener and brings with it a lot of opportunities to be a better human. 

Despite everything that we have said, don’t look at this online trimester as a transitory period. It is your first trimester and it will never come back. Have fun, take chances, read up on stuff that the oh-so-empowering Indian education system never exposed you to. Watch movies with your friends, use the discount NLS gets on Spotify and free yourself of those mind-numbing ads, ask your professors dumb questions, and most importantly, annoy your seniors with every doubt that you may think is irrelevant. 

Remember we’re also here to listen to the project rants, professor bitching sessions, and any other conversation which doesn’t necessarily have to begin with a question like – So, how did ya apply to this? We really hope to see y’all soon but until then, awkward Whatsapp texts, Insta DMs and the occasional rant it is. 

Love,

A bunch of seniors who don’t want to do their projects. 

This letter, penned by Prof. Sanyukta Chowdhury, talks about the value and importance of arts courses in our study and practice of law. Prof. Sanyukta graduated from NLSIU in 2005, and later returned here to teach Constitutional Law and Tax Law. She would like to also thank Amit Chowdhury (Batch of 2005) for key inputs and suggestions. 

The illustration was designed by Akshit Singla (Batch of 2024).

At the time of its establishment, NLSIU’s approach to under-graduate legal education was unique. Remember, the year was 1986. The B.A. LL.B.(Hons.) programme was conceptualised against the backdrop of multi-disciplinary universities offering ‘law’ as a stand-alone post-graduate course.

What value does such a curriculum offer? The study of History, Political Science, Sociology and Economics (‘BA courses’) in the first two years is aimed at laying a foundation for understanding the present legal system. The curriculum of these courses is designed to align with the study of law. BA courses aren’t hurdles to be crossed; instead, active engagement with them allows for appreciation of the landscape in which a law would have been adopted, why it is what it is, and what it ought to be.

For instance, the History courses include discussion on the nature of colonial rule and colonial laws aimed at controlling people and extracting resources. These insights are vital for assessing the present governance structures and laws. Let’s take the example of the Indian Constitution. There is a naively originalist view that the Constitution came into existence at a particular instant and needs to be viewed in a self-enclosed manner. At best, this view allows for looking at foundational documents such as the constitutional assembly debates. Our Constitution draws significantly from the Government of India Act, 1935. That was a colonial document with scant concern for civil and human rights; separation of powers and federalism would be no priorities under that framework. Is it prudent to take at face value the articulation of rights, federalism and separation of powers in a Constitution influenced by a colonial document?

Similarly, study of Political Science, Sociology and Economics courses tell us inter alia about –

• Where the State and its laws derive legitimacy from;
• How you balance the fundamental questions of liberty and equality;
• How property rights came about;
• How we should distribute our social surplus.

The B.A. LL.B. programme serves to provide the political, social and economic context in which laws evolve. It allows for development of an understanding that law does not derive its legitimacy from fulfilling the criteria of legal validity (e.g., process of enactment). Instead, conception of a ‘just’ legal system begins to take form — a system of legal rules and institutions that respond to and are in lock-step with social facts, political values and economic needs.

Is such an approach to teaching law purposive? Educational institutions play an important role in development of civil society. A law university (through its faculty and research centres) can directly contribute to civil society by working towards social justice, protection of human and civil rights, and environmental issues (more specifically, sustainability). Such outcomes may be achieved by inter alia — (i) undertaking interdisciplinary research into areas such as gender justice, rights of marginalised communities, labour relations, protection and conservation of ‘commons’ etc; (ii) providing legal aid; (iii) spreading legal awareness; and (iv) conducting independent studies on implementation of government welfare schemes/ institutions under different laws.

However, such a model has limited scalability. Expansion of research centres and increase in faculty members cannot match the year-on-year addition to the alumni community. The University therefore seeks to empower and motivate its students to respond to the needs of the collective. The design of the academic programme allows for the necessary cognitive acquisitions; and experience within the University ecosystem should provide the motivation. Diversity within the student body, challenges of social co-existence on campus, interaction with rules and regulations — all inform notions of the collective as well as interdependence, together with the need for a shared understanding of individual liberty, equality, fairness, and ethics. Yet, generally, an inclination towards (a) certain kind of careerism, and (b) catering to the market is implicit in our understanding as undergraduate students (myself included).

There is no single reason that would explain this tendency; maybe, a brief reflection on my undergraduate years can offer some illumination. At the time of applying to NLS, I lacked an understanding of the purpose that study of law is supposed to serve. What I did know was that campus recruitment functioned the way it did for top MBA/ engineering institutes. (This may resonate with many still). Most of us were made to understand, quite early on in life, that financial independence is the career objective — and, sooner it is achieved, the better. There were other reasons as well that talks focused on a certain type of careerism within the student body — alumni were still finding their feet and much less information on possible career paths was available, NLS was a smaller, less diverse community, and availability bias focused attention towards particular measurable indicators of success (eg., partnership in a law firm).

The decision (to offer services to the market) was also a function of the times. High paying jobs in advisory practice of law firms or legal teams of MNCs came about only a few years post economic liberalisation in 1991. ‘Corporate jobs’ for lawyers had been uncommon till then. The narrative of upward mobility set-up in 1990s continued into the early noughties and securing such opportunities was still a cool new thing!

Much has changed since then. Many universities now cater to the demand for integrated legal education and NLS too has expanded its intake. Law firms have more options to choose from; and, law students have more information about the possibilities to explore. Diverse approaches towards legal activism, for example, have been shown over the years by NLS alumni. Media reports are common about the role they have played in constitutional and civil rights litigation.[1] Individual initiatives can also be centred on spreading awareness about the law and public institutions.[2] Legal practice aimed at safeguarding human and civil rights[3] is another path to explore. Research work into issues pertaining to social justice and rights as referred to above is being undertaken by NLS research centres such as Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy, Centre for Labour Studies, and Centre for Women and the Law, as well as other universities and research institutions. What’s more, conventional fields also allow for often unexplored pursuits. NLS alumni have joined academia not just for teaching law subjects, but also history and political science.[4]

As may be inferred from the above discussion, legal education can be used in a manner that is targeted to match the needs of civil society, and give a sense of purpose that goes beyond the self. In addition to other information sources, internships are a good way of getting a close look at different career paths and knowing details about work profile, remuneration, workplace environment as well as possibility of making career shifts.

The best way of making most of the opportunity that NLS provides is to engage holistically with the academic programme as well as with the University community. While an enumeration of how to do so is not the aim of this piece, it flows from above that the BA courses should not be disregarded, in anticipation for the “real” subjects to begin. The reasons have already been explained. It is equally valuable to engage in dialogue with each other actively and learn from each other’s diversity of life experiences. This builds a real world understanding of social facts, political values and economic needs as referred to above. In short, while here in NLS, no set of pre-conceived notions should limit the imagination of the purpose legal education can serve.

[1] For example, Menaka Guruswamy, Arundhati Katju, Pritha Srikumar, and Arun Srikumar in the Navtej Singh Johar ruling.

[2] For example, Aju John founded Nagrik Open Civic Learning which makes legal educational resources freely accessible to all in order to enable civic participation; the first course was on community rights and forest governance.

[3] For example, Alternative Law Forum, and Samana Centre for Gender, Policy and Law.

[4] For example, Rohit De is faculty at Yale University’s Department of History and teaches inter alia South Asian history and postcolonial histories of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. His work such as ‘A People’s Constitution: Law and Everyday Life in the Indian Republic’ contributes towards building an understanding of history from the lens of people.

This poem has been written by Anonymous. The illustration is by Kajal Jamdare (Batch of 2025). 

This letter has been penned by Himani Chouhan and Aishwarya Tiwari (MPP Batch of 2022). The illustration is by Gunjan Jadiya (Batch of 2023).

Dear MPP08,

This meeting is being recorded for over a year now. Mics have been left unmuted, professors have walked in on us in breakout rooms mid-rant, zoom escaper has been discovered, and we’ve possibly made the best out of the limited digital space we’ve been confined to. However, we are beyond excited to tell you that we’re writing this letter from our tiny yet cozy rooms in the gorgeous NLSIU campus! First things first, the dogs are adorable, the staff is immensely helpful, and the mess food is edible. As we run into each other every morning, sleepy-eyed during breakfast, there’s nothing but a smile under our masks saying, “I’m glad it finally happened!”

Much like you all, steeped in uncertainties unprecedented, we first stepped into our zoom classrooms in July 2020, replete with anticipation and excitement. Little did we know that what we thought was a temporary halt would gradually turn into our permanent address. As days rolled by, we got up everyday to stare at our screens for six hours, hoping to register the tiny faces in those tiny boxes. As months passed and the wait grew longer, our faces turned into colored initials on the black screen and our excitement into frustration.

These events were cyclical, waxing with the news that campus might, after all, open soon, and waning with the disappointment that followed. But amidst this callous upheaval, hope did remain ablaze. That teensy yet adamant flicker of hope remained incandescent with us. Hope that looked like endearing Spotify playlists, jostly game sessions, frantic rant calls, the sporadic “I can’t wait to see you”s and the incessant “Hope I get to see you, soon”s. Hope has been a powerful thing to have steered us so far, and it is with earnest spirits that we pass it on to you as you tread along the same path. So here you go!

Studying from home can be hard, ensuring that your eyes remain open in TC^[1] lectures especially harder. This wicked problem gets compounded further owing to the undulating landscapes that our respective households and familial equations constitute. Peer-learning gets accustomed to getting sucker punched by the uncertainty fraught atmosphere and the tedium of the online medium. You shall come to grips with new realities. There will be days, even weeks that would make you feel like you are trapped in an IPP^[2] viva where all of the questions are from Hannah Arendt. Phases of self-doubt, anxieties, episodic motivation followed by more self-doubt are routine  occurrences for an MPP student.

Remember, however, throughout this turbulence, that even though you are scattered away from your ilk across the country, as cliche as this may sound, you are not alone. You shall soon come to realize that tragic times forge the strongest of bonds even as myriad shades of vulnerability beget resilient solidarity. Those colored initials on your zoom screens are just as smart, generous, and in fact, clueless, too, as you are. Trust us when we say this, reaching out to your batchmates with screaming voice notes and shouty capitals is entirely warranted and extremely natural. It does not make you look dumb. It does not cut a sorry figure. It just makes you human. So reach out, talk, rant, and help each other muddle through what may, at the moment, seem like an unfixable mess.

While occasionally, melancholy brings its own sweet flavours, we urge that you all desist from wallowing and spiraling farther down into that wormhole. Recognize the collective strength that your batch is a repository of. As Google Scholar mentions so beautifully on its welcome page, “stand on the shoulders of giants” amongst your batchmates to have a bird’s eye view of the terrain that lies ahead and which gear you must accordingly wear to continue marching forward.

You may not enjoy the theoretical components of the curriculum as much as the next person or Excel may be a thing of your nightmares while it might be a cakewalk for others. Let that not get into your way of focusing on what you truly enjoy, even if that’s TC. No judgments, heh. Leverage each other’s strengths and endeavour towards making contributions, however trivial they may seem, from your end, too. Find your economics wizards that will help you pass EPP^[3] and IDS^[4]. Also, pay the extroverts a little extra for taking up such welcome initiatives of setting the balls rolling.

The chaos that a routine day at MPP comprises may affect you in ways you would be surprised. However, we assure that you shall witness a growth curve you will gloat chiefly about in the coming months. The output that you shall personally register and the assignments you shall learn to salvage as groups will, in due course of time, shape a more confident, a more erudite and a more proficient you. So believe in the process and let time figure out whether you took the right turn when the fork was stuck in the road.

All that said, please, by all means, do prioritize your mental health. Your assignment can wait. Your professor, no matter how Snape-ish they may seem, will understand. Take breaks. Normalize breaks! Explore the burgeoning tide of indie music. Let not the cinephile in you die a silent death. Go to Reddit and head over to r/GetMotivated, r/eyebleach or r/hydrohomies or what have you. (Do reach out to us for more such recommendations!) Keep your eye-drops handy. Fix that posture. Breathe. And do not, by any means, hesitate in seeking help, be it from friends or professionals. Check up on your friends/peers, if you are in a good space yourself.

Finally, we fervently hope for this halt to be much shorter for you and that you get to see each other’s beautifully lit up faces in person, soon. Until then, we hope that much like us, you get to know each other, zoom university styles. Interactions often generate proactivity and dispel premonitions, so make them your mainstays.

So long as Zoom university persists, we hope you would soon know who has beautiful paintings in their homes, whose pets love to attend classes with them, and whose fan creaks the loudest. We hope your “I can’t wait to see you” turns into “I can’t believe I hadn’t met you” real soon.

Until then, inshallah is the word.

^[1] Transformative Constitutionalism

^[2] Introduction to Public Policy

^[3] Economics for Public Policy

^[4] Introduction to Data Systems

This quiz has been created by Rhea Prasad (Batch of 2024).

Have you ever wondered which place on campus you are? Does your personality scream the comfort and warmth of Chetta or the yolo attitude of the Field? With the prospect of returning to campus looking bright, take Quirk’s BuzzFeed quiz to find out!

Don’t forget to tag us on our social media if you share the result!

If you enjoyed this quiz and want to procastinate a tad more before project subs, check out our ‘Which Law School Course Are You?’ quiz.

This doodle has been created by Himanshi (Batch 2025).

The doodle is in the form of the iconic library building of NLS and gives a good insight into the ‘Online Trimester’ lives of the Batch of 2025. Inside the building are the terms we have heard quite a lot throughout our online trimester – ‘link’, ‘exam guidelines’, ‘Am I audible?’, ‘screen froze’, ‘online exams’, ‘Protest kare?’, ‘Academic Rigour’, ‘Open house’, ‘My friend’, ‘Projects’, ‘Cold calls’, ‘NLS memes’, ‘Rank kid’, ‘Rank parent’, ‘ASP’, ‘LMS’ and obviously, our mantra, ‘Life is like that’!
There are smaller doodles within the building, such as the symbols of WhatsApp, Gmail, Zoom, Discord, a laptop, a mic, and a smiley.

This is the executive summary of Exploring the “Fault” Lines at NLSIU,  a three part series on the student-admin relationship. It has been written by SayMadArthi, TooCoolForQuirk, Catalyst and StillWingingIt. The illustration is by Anonymous. You can find Part I discussing the problem of miscommunication here, Part II discussing the problems of mistrust, apathy and lack of inclusivity here, and Part III discussing the admin response to the Covid-19 pandemic here. 

Introduction

This series (hereinafter, “Fault Lines”) was conceptualized in response to the relentless frustrations caused by the numerous clashes between the NLSIU student body and admin over the past year. It systematically and comprehensively analyses the points of disagreements and has identified four root causes – poor communication, lack of trust and empathy, problem of inclusivity and misaligned expectations. These are sought to be addressed using multiple structural changes explained in subsequent sections.

Part I: Chronicling the Communication Breakdown

Communicating (?) Well…

Conflicts between the administration and the student body can be attributed to poor communication. The absence of proper communication channels with the administration has often left the student body completely in the dark. Even when the admin does communicate with the student body, it does so either too late or through improper channels, which renders such communication futile. Similarly, the absence of a proper communication channel with student body representatives has contributed to a lack of transparency regarding SBA and SAC’s functioning with the administration.

Approachability

Unclear role division between various bodies and the absence of a responsive and efficient grievance redressal system has made the administration unapproachable, leaving students frustrated.

Representation by SBA/SAC

Representation by SAC and SBA has been lacking in terms of how student concerns are gauged and prioritized. The existing method of identifying student concerns is majoritarian and does not account for legitimate minority/individual concerns sufficiently. There is also a need to: a) expand the SBA, a 2-person body overburdened with representing the concerns of over 500 students; and/or b) expand the mandate of SAC, which is currently restricted to academic matters.

Proposed structural changes

The proposed changes are designed to ensure certainty, reduce confusion, and increase approachability. A set of directory Communication guidelines must be established for routine (stable, scheduled, unchanging communication like time tables) and extraordinary (deviation from notified rules, customary application of rules etc.) communication between the student body and admin bodies like the UGC and AAD. The latter must be cognizant of exceptions to the rule, mention a contact person to address grievances and be based on student consultation through open houses or representatives

Part II: Measuring Mistrust and Apathy

Mistrust:

Mistrust emerges as a consequence of insufficient and often, maligned communication. At NLS, mistrust prevails between students and admin, vice-versa and amongst students themselves. Mistrust from the admin towards students manifests in the form of suspicion whenever students make any requests for concessions/leniency. This makes students feel that their concerns are being belittled and relief is being blocked. The admin’s mistrust is based on a perception of students ‘scamming’ – which might be attributed to demands for universal solutions (like project extensions) even when only some students might be affected. Further, consequential measures are often undertaken in an opaque manner without any heed for student input – such as the introduction of the new moderation policy. This often causes students to impute bad faith to the admin and also ignore any small positive measures that are being undertaken.

Mistrust amongst students is perpetuated due to the undertones of sexism, casteism, queerphobia, ableism, and violence which lie beneath the liberal, accepting tones on the surface. Conversation is often dominated by privileged or vocal groups and minority concerns are ignored even in forums like GBMs, worsening the underlying tension within students.

Apathy:

The student community has used spaces such as MHSGs Support Group sessions to foster empathy (which is a skill made rare by the pandemic). However, student-admin/student-faculty interaction remains extremely impersonal. The admin’s faculty mentorship programme received negative reviews from students with students describing professors as unequipped, mechanical and even uncaring of issues discussed.

The student body has also displayed a lack of empathy towards the admin staff on several occasions, ignoring the fact that they have been impacted by COVID-19 too. Further, the students’ attempt to understand specific circumstances of their peers which made it tougher to stick to the academic schedule were lackadaisical at best – most often, culminating in a demand for a general concession.

The move from apathy to trust and solidarity needs honest student-student-admin conversation about how to reduce the burden for all stakeholders.

Inclusivity:

A lack of inclusivity at NLS has been most evident during the pandemic. Homogenous composition of SAC and SBA, which is the result of a plurality voting system, has resulted in skewed representation of student interests. Further, inclusivity at NLS has largely been led by student collectives like the SPAC, Queer Alliance, Disability Alliance etc. However, this is insufficient as these collectives are not institutional bodies, do not receive college funding, and depend on student interests. The administration needs to share some of the burden in making NLS more inclusive.

Proposed Structural Changes

Both students and admin lose out due to mistrust and apathy within them. Seven measures are suggested to alleviate these issues. A decision on individual or group relaxation to a rule must be based on whether more or less than 50% of the student body has indicated the need for the same through a form. Rejections of such relexations by the admin must be reasoned and explained, especially when student suggestions are rejected. Approval ratings and feedback forms must be used by the SBA and SAC to evaluate (and convey to admin) student response to admin measures. A grievance redressal mechanism administered by the SWO/other independent committee must be formed to accept anonymous complaints against admin members. Faculty must be sensitized on issues such as sexism, sexual harassment, LGBTQI+ acceptance, caste, mental health etc. Spaces akin to MHSG, game nights and student meetings must be created and utilized as safe spaces for free-flowing conversation. Non-competitive activities must be promoted to increase community building.

Part III – Coping with COVID: On the Brink of Collapse

Trust between the student body and admin broke down due to resistance of the admin towards any concessions for students worst impacted by the second wave of COVID-19. The six-day project extension, while useful, did not improve the situation for students who were sick themselves, caring for others or had faced bereavement – and further extensions were promised but never provided.

The more relaxed exam schedule, proposed in collaboration with the UGC, was rejected in favour of one which forced students to write consecutive exams, even two exams a day. This response made students mistrust the admin further.

The admin has had litigation paranoia, believing that a single concession will be used by students against the admin as a ‘legitimate expectation’ before a court. This is misguided due to the miniscule minority of students suing the university, the court’s rulings in favour of the students, the students’ legal right to approach the court, and the fact that no student would choose the court as their first port of call due to its impacts on finances, mental health and possible admin backlash.

A worry that students will resort to litigation has caused admin’s empathy for students to vanish and has reduced communication to template emails phrased in an overly formal, unempathetic and ignorant tone which fail to acknowledge the gravity of troubles faced by the students. Categorization of litigation as a ‘strategy’ has further exacerbated the disconnect between students and admin.

Good Faith:

In order to get out of this vicious cycle of apathy and mistrust, we need acts of good faith from both sides. The student body has taken the first step through its apology email which acknowledges that we need to move forward. Before moving forward, however, we must keep in mind two things: first, our expectations of this administration must not stem from our experiences with the previous administration but rather from the legitimate claim that we have as stakeholders of this institution. Second, we must not completely disregard many of the positives changes that this administration has brought in place.

The new academic year is an opportunity to start afresh and move towards a more functional relationship with the administration. To achieve this, change and a display of intention to improve the relationship must exist from both ends.