There’s much to be said about an NLU experience. One of the most peculiar observation that one might make is that you get to meet some of the most interesting people (including professors) from across the nation there. Primarily, that is because of the tag (and glory) that an NLU comes with.
Apart from just academics, legal research and legal drafting, the students are involved in a variety of other activities on a day to day basis. There’s always something going on in the campus. There’s a group that is always involved legal writing and analysis, and legal research. Then, there is a group that is involved in the extracurricular activities like debates, MUNs, and cultural fests. Amongst these, the people involved in cultural fests stand out because compared to others, their activities are least related to academics, legal research, or legal drafting. This is also the bunch where you get to see variety in people, especially when it comes to their talents – there are writers (the types that aren’t involved in legal drafting work), dancers, movie aficionados, painters, drummers, guitarists, etc. What could safely be said is that the NLU-crowd is a mixture of intellect and diverse pop culture.
Since the preferences of the smartest of the people who appear for CLAT generally are NLUs, it’s highly likely that most of the entrants are well-read. Chances are, they were amongst the toppers in school, too (it’s interesting how that plays out in NLUs, when things get competitive). Then, add to this the factor of diversity – well-read people from various states of India with their unique viewpoints and ideologies make for an interesting bunch of people, especially when it comes to late-night discussions/debates. What can be said for sure is that there is much that could be learnt when you’re exposed to a culture of this sort. It could also help in adding new ideas to your legal writing and analysis.Finally, when it comes to the question of professors, I can best describe it with a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson when he said, “Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.” A difficult lesson to learn after a couple of years in college (I’m somehow certain this is true of colleges that are not NLUs as well) will be that there won’t be many faculties who will truly engage your mind in a subject. Much to the embarrassment of your faculties, they will also not answer your questions successfully. In a lot of cases, their legal training and legal research will be limited to what they are supposed to teach as per the curriculum and not beyond that. The complacency is almost systemic. The closest practical experience you will get will be when it comes to lessons on legal drafting in India. But an NLU usually has an amazing library; if put to good use, you could make up for that.
