Trimester I, 2015-16

QUIRK
A National Law School Magazine

In this ISSUE:
Why Events Matter
Chronicling the Queer Movement in NLS
Falling Standards: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
MHORs v WHORs
Canteen Line Dilemma
GUEST columnists:
Faff About Faff - Viraj Parikh
Of Fear and Hope - Geeta H.
On Roofs and Blues Musicians - Mihir Shukla
First Years , We Envy You - Aniruddh Nigam
Death Penalty In India - Kunal Ambasta
(Actually) Doing What You Love - Sara P.
In CONVERSATION with:
Saket M
SDGM
Vice-Chancellor, NLS

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Editorial

Quirk Team

n 2005, there existed a literary magazine run by Law Aditya Patel (V) is a serial chiller responsible for multiple
School students called Quirk. In its heyday, it was a financial crises in MHOR.
big thing. Since then, there have been multiple atApurva Shukla (V) was the one to revive Quirk so that he
tempts to revive it. This is ours.
would have something to show for his Vice-Presidency.
We dont envision Quirk to be solely a literary magazine.
We imagine it to be to be a magazine that captures the es- Osho Chhel (III) has had a short-lived stint in Bollywood
and believes that chicks totally dig his dad-bod.
sence of the Law School experience.
Law School is usually portrayed through a narrow lens
that focuses on successes like our moot court achievements, placements and wins elsewhere. We feel that these
are often examined in vaccum without due thought given
to valuing and appreciating other aspects of life we have
perhaps excluded from our definition of success. It is easy
to fall into the trap of believing that this is sum total of the
Law School experience. Whether its the myriad of events
that we conduct, or just chilling on a terrace on a lazy evening, our five whirlwind years (a little less for people in
other programmes) in Law School are characterized by the
memories and ideas we share in this crazy place. We want
to provide a platform to these because we believe ideas are
fun, ideas shape the identity of any institution and Law
School is not just about being Rank 1: Its about its quirks.
Our desire for Quirk is to be a fearless journalistic endeavour open to anyone willing to have a reasoned discussion
on any matter of general importance. More than that, we
wish to create a culture of incisive writing that asks pertinent questions about us, our institution, the world around
us and where we all are headed.

Radhika Goyal (II) is a feminist who loves Mean Girls and

has the ultimate resting bitch face.
Sakhi Shah (IV) is rumoured to have helped more people
pass than re-evals.
Shikhar Garg (III) decided to be a part of Quirk because
body-building isnt enough for the ladies anymore.
Shivam Daddy Singla (V) has the unique ability to make
things go viral in Law School, for example pardayy.

Contact us
Please feel free to reach out to us at
[email protected].
We welcome interesting articles, rants, poetry, book reviews, film reviews or anything else from people within or
outside Law School. We also seek suggestions on how to
make the next edition better.

The first edition contains a wide variety of pieces, ranging

from a conversation with the Vice-Chancellor, to a fea-
tured piece on the history of the Queer Movement in Law
School. We believe this is a selection representative of the
diversity of happenings and thought on our campus. This
is just the beginning - we plan to come back even bigger
and better next trimester.
Quirk Team,
National Law School of India University,
Bangalore

facebook.com/quirk.magazine
@quirk_nls

Typesetting and design by Apurva Shukla

Printing at Sumukha Printers, Vijaynagar, Bangalore
Cover image by Dhanya Rajagopal

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Vice-Chancellor, NLSIU: Yes, Permitted

rof. (Dr.) R. Ventaka Rao has been the Vice-Chancellor

of NLSIU since 2009. The Vice-Chancellor has a birds
-eye view of Law School and the power to effect change.
Quirk met the Prof. Rao in his office on September 18th,
2015 to gain an insight into his opinions about the present
and future of Law School.
Are there any aspects of the student body that you particularly appreciate?
I appreciate not any aspect, but many aspects of the student
body. The debating culture that Badrinarayanan Seetharaman (Batch of 2013) started is marvellous. He started it
four years ago and now look at the metamorphosis that we
have witnessed. Anil Sebastian Pulickel and Aniruddha
Basu are God-send. They are like the Sachin Tendulkar
and Rahul Dravid of debating. The idea of debating has
caught on and it has come to stay. The way NLS debates
is something to be proud of. When I walk back daily and
see students preparing for debates, it is a visual splendor. I
used to be a student and it used to be hectic even without
all the gadgets of today. How you find that extra minute
for everything is amazing. I always believe it is only a busy
person who finds time. If somebody says he doesnt have
time it means he doesnt know how to organize his time
and it is just what we call bahana or excuse. The SBA initiative where senior students mentor the juniors is something extraordinary. This culture of when a first year joins
and in the first fifteen days we make them feel at home and
part of the family of National Law School is in my opinion
the unique practice of our college. Thats the aspect I like
the most.
What is your short term vision and long term vision for
Law School?
I always say a vision requires revision because we are in a
world where todays knowledge is tomorrows ignorance.
The pace at which things are moving is amazing and therefore my only vision is to live up to the ever increasing and
ever demanding expectations of the stakeholders, including my students. The expectations of parents, judges, jurists is something that has to be seen to be believed and my
vision in the short term and long term is to firmly put NLS
at the top place, where it deserves to be.
In the long term, a juxtaposition of science, technology and law is the need. Just to illustrate, you cant study
technology or engineering in isolation without having
knowledge of law. Now there is DNA profiling and genetic

CONVERSATIONS

engineering. Therefore NLS in the next decade would be

focusing on the interplay of law, science and technology.
The second priority is restoring the confidence level of
people in the various institutions which our society has so
assiduously built. When I look at the scenario I ask myself
if there is a crisis of confidence in our institutions, like our
electoral democracy, judicial system etc. The answer to
how to restore it seems to be to focus on good governance.
Thats the reason we have started the MPP course. This is
my long term vision for the college, because people tell me
if anyone can do it, it is only NLS and with all humility, I
feel proud of this institution.
What are the daily challenges you encounter in running
your office?
Every challenge is an opportunity for me. Therefore I dont
feel like Im encountering any challenges at all. Even when
students come to me I always feel every student has a
problem, but the student itself is not the problem. It all depends on how you look at it. Even if students come to me
at 11PM in the night, I welcome them with a smile because
I want them to go back with a smile. So every challenge is
an opportunity. A school teacher of mine taught me one
fundamental dictum of Winston Churchill: A successful
person is one who finds an opportunity in a calamity and
an unsuccessful person is one who sees a calamity in an
opportunity.
I dont really find any daily challenge in my job. If you join
a job you like, you never work at all. Look at the way you
people work for twenty five hours a day for Spiritus and
Admit One, and at 9AM you are back in the class even
when your body metabolism orders you to rest. This shows
you have the spirit and I try to imbibe values like that. The
only challenge is to keep NLS on the highest pedestal. If
angels fall, it makes news, and NLS is of angelic proportions. No doubt about it.
Some sections within the NLS community believe that
NLS has been experiencing falling standards, both in
terms of students and faculty. What is your opinion on
the same?
I completely disagree with it. First, let me focus on students. The top ranking students come to NLS out of the
40,000 seekers. And these students are amazingly talented.
Maybe this is my ego but year after year I find that standards are going up. But perhaps expectations are going up
and greater the expectations greater the disappointment.

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Second, we have some of the best faculty at NLS. There are welcome to come anytime and meet me regarding any
are some faculty members who have been associated with issue.
Law School right from the day of its baptism. Like the
It would be wrong to assume that everything is perfect.
founding fathers of constitutions they are the founding That would indeed make Marc Galanters statement
fathers of NLS. Show me one law school where you have true. At a very basic level, what problems would you
in succession three Chief Justices of India working as fac- identify as existing problems in NLS?
ulty members. Marc Galanter said that
I believe that perfection is always an
NLS is in the danger of becoming vic- Sometimes I ask myself, are
ideal. If you think everything is perfect
tim of its own success. It all depends on we really coping with expecthen unwittingly complacency will seep
how you look at it and therefore I dont tations and demands of the
in. Sometimes I ask myself, are we really
subscribe to the view that standards are course curriculum and delivcoping with expectations and demands
falling.
ery system in classroom? Are of the course curriculum and delivery
In light of some really good colleges we responding to the bigger system in classroom? Are we respondthings students aspire to- ing to the bigger things students aspire
in the recent years do you believe that
wards?
Im always cognizant towards? Im always cognizant of this
NLS would continue to maintain its
of this fact and it keeps me fact and it keeps me on my toes. If we
foremost position?
on my toes.
There are many good institutions now
fail to meet the expectations of student
and I think the presence of such institutions is very good. community, then something is wrong with us and not the
It prevents us from becoming complacent. I also think that students. I also want students to remember one thing.
an achievement becomes meaningless once you achieve it. Please always remember standard of life is more importAn institution like NLS cannot bank on its past. The mo- ant that standard of living.
ment you try to bank on the past you become fossilized,
Sometimes students get frustrated at institutions in our
anachronistic, and out of circulation. The healthy compe- college but feel they shouldnt raise their voice for they
tition we have from other institutions always motivates us are afraid. A previous edition of Quirk from 2005 carto be above them. My final statement in this regard is that ries an article by a foreign exchange student from OsNLS is imitated by many but bettered by none. It is like a goode Law School wherein he says that he felt no revpole star, it will continue to be a pole star.
olutionary zeal at NLS. What would is your message to
Our college is a highly liberated and open campus, but such students?
at this moment there is a raging discussion happening There is a similar debate raging all over the country. Have
within the student body about how, in some some cases, students lost their revolutionary zeal and have they also
the attitude of college administration, more particular- started believing that change will come through evolution
ly the college guards and our mess/disciplinary com- and not through revolution? Everyone says our defiant
mittees, is highly sexist. Were you aware about this and spirit of the 70s and 90s is no longer found. I respectfulwhat is your opinion on this?
ly disagree. Today students are not prepared to settle for
I was not aware about this. We have to understand that NLS even the second best and they only want the best. We were
is part of a larger society. I have seen many institutions, never this aspirational, we were content with what we were
and comparatively, our college is very libIf there is any problem, getting. I think their revolutionary zeal is
eral. I also believe that a raging discussion
my office is always open. not patently manifested but latent and if
is a positive sign. The word sexist does
There is no iron curtain one understands the body language of the
not exist in my lexicon. As far as guards
and no ungodly hour. students, they will be able to see the fire
are concerned, whenever there has been a
and spark in them.
complaint regarding their attitudes, action has been taken
I also think students in NLS do not have any problem with
immediately. Our college is a small place, where everyone
raising their voice against issues. They may not raise their
knows each other and speaks without any prejudices. Law
voice collectively, but individually my students openly
School is a place where liberty, in the holistic sense of the
discuss with me performance of different stakeholders. I
term, is granted and thats its brand value. If there is any
always give them a free hand because I approach any isproblem, my office is always open. There is no iron curtain
sue with an open mind. Many times in the past they have
and no ungodly hour. My dictum has always been passion
raised their voice and I have done my best to solve their
for what I do and compassion for whom I do. Students
problems.

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Chronicling the Queer Movement in NLS

Sakhi Shah, Batch of 2017
Co-founder, NLS Queer Alliance

couldnt put you in touch with a wealth of LGBTQ support groups, is a little bit harder.

ational Law School often considers itself a bastion They started by contacting Bombay Dost, who put them
for LGBTQ (Hereinafter referred to as Queer) in touch with a lesbian activist group from Bombay, who
rights in India. It is unquestionable that we are finally put them in touch with Good As You and Sangama
a visible part of the queer movement, especially the queer in Bangalore. We had to go all the way to Bombay to find
legal movement, in India. Some of us would like to believe someone back home, quips Arvind Narrain. Nonetheless,
that we have always been open to a discourse on queer the idea struck a chord with many people. Good As You
rights. Conversely, some of us would like to believe that helped raise money, and influential people came from all
NLS students today are more open to queer rights than over the country at their own expense, all of them believwe have ever been in the past. However, as most of us ide- ing that this group of young law students had the potential
ally learn in first year, history makes
to do something momentous for the
I remember the day of the
fools of all of us.
Conference because it was also nascent queer movement. Shockingly,
without any coercion, the event saw
Pre-1997: Problematic Freedoms the day of my church wedding.
These people came to my wed- massive participation across batches
The first few generations of law ding as soon as the conference and from around the city. It was also
school students were, perhaps, dra- ended, and they were wearing widely covered by the press. Perhaps
matically open to challenging gender these t-shirts saying dont think the only hurdle that the organizers
roles. It was possible for a male stu- straight everyone kept asking faced was having an overlarge banner
on Gate 1, which they were forced to
dent to wear skirts to class and openwhat they meant.
remove by a scandalized faculty memly flaunt his nail polish collection at
Dr.
Sarasu
Esther
Thomas
ber.
Univ Week. However, in many ways,
earlier batches did not have the voStill, banner or no banner, a conversation had started.
cabulary to articulate queer rights. Prof. Sarasu recalls
how her first ever motion in the university debate rounds
The Alternative Law Conversation
was to argue for and against homosexuality a motion
that most of us would find difficult to be opposition for in Soon after the Conference, the Alternative Law Forum
law school today. At the same time, the idea of decriminal- was set up by a set of prominent students and faculty. A
ization was not even debated whether in classrooms, or resolutely pro-queer group, they greatly helped further
out of it. As one alumnus very succinctly puts it, Sexuali- the queer discourse on campus because they came and actively discussed on campus a subject that had never even
ty wasnt an issue that people took seriously.
been talked about in classrooms. There were those two
All of this changed in 1997.
courses we conducted at that time, says Arvind Narrain.
So many of the people who attended those courses went
1997: The First Ever Conference
on to be activists at the national level.
Picture this: two students, sitting in the liThe spaces for queer Suddenly, queer rights had become
brary together, working on a project on an
people are closing up on a topic of conversation in law school.
issue that no one in law school considers parcampus. Or people are It was no longer possible to make
ticularly relevant. Then one of them suggests
not using the spaces. thoughtless or malicious comments
that there needs to conference about this.
about queer people, either within the
Dr. V.S. Elizabeth
Despite initial fears of how they would be
classroom or outside it. When Justice
perceived as a result of the event (I still have
Verma came to law school shortly after making derogatoto live in the boys hostel, you know) these two students
ry remarks about the queer community, students attracted
Arvind Narrain and Kabir Bavikatte decide that it seems
the wrath of the then Vice-Chancellor by having a black
to be a good idea.
band protest against him. However, despite this, it was not
Implementing it, in an era when a simple Google search easy to be openly queer in law school. Most students, if

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they came out at all, would only come out to close friends.
Naz Foundation Judgment

Koushal was one of the most defining moments in law

school since it brought the queer agenda to the forefront
once again and initiated a discussion on the same, says
Akshat Agarwal. The support was in fact overwhelming in some sense. As a queer person it perhaps made me
more aware of my surroundings and made be conscious of
my own identity.

In 2009, the Delhi High Court gave its decision in the case
of Naz Foundation v. Government of NCT, Delhi, a great
triumph for the queer movement outside law school and
within it. It is not so much that Naz
I mean, yes, a lot
or Koushal changed anyones opinof us came for Global Day of
ions, says Padmini Baruah. It was
Rage,
and there was a huge hue
more that they gave us an opporand cry, but I think its a small
tunity to discuss the queer movement and the challenges it faced in fraction of the overall population
society. It did prod people to think nonetheless. People used to get a
little awkward around me; I re people who wouldnt even have
member, the day the protest got
bothered.
However, despite this growing discussion of the queer movement,
academic engagement was very
limited. It took almost 16 years for
law school to having another conference about gender and sexuality.

done, someone pulled me aside

and told me to shut up for my
own safetys sake. They meant
well, but what the hell?
Padmini Baruah

Students and faculty actively participated in the protests that were

held after the event. Members of the
queer community screamed, shouted, burnt things, danced, cried, and
mourned the promise of Naz. Discussions were taken to the classroom and on online forums, and
the Student Bar Association actively condemned the judgment. Very
soon, however, law school went
back to talking about other things.
The Vandalism Incident

Like Koushal, another unfortunate incident that greatly

contributed to the growth of the discourse around queer
Having this conference in law school after a huge gap rights was the writing of a homophobic slur on the bulletin
since 1997 was important to me and to others directly af- board of a faculty member. Faculty, individual students,
fected for the communicative value it had. It was an act of and committees sent out strongly worded emails vehespeaking up and being heard, says Sakshi Arvind, who mently condemning the incident. Another group calling
was Convenor of the Law and Society Committee in the themselves #NLSSpeak occupied 19(1)(a), filling it with
year this Conference was organized by them. In many messages of solidarity for queer people around campus.
ways, the Conference was a reflection of a more mature The message was clear: homophobia would no longer be
tolerated in NLS public spaces. On the
conversation around queer rights in
Pride took the whole
other hand, the incidents themselves
India. Discussion touched upon
thing one step further: I was
were troubling to many people,
both the growing legal issues as
well as on complex topics such forced to confront the humanity of who consider them a reflection,
even those who were obviously within NLS, of the growing intoleras intersectionality in the queer
movement. Many of the speakers queer. Here were people so different ance in society.
2013: Conference on Gender and Sexuality

from me, with a culture of their

were from the Alternative Law FoPride
rum, and there was a general feel- own, people who refused to ascribe
ing of having turned a full circle. to the gender/sex norms of society. Another event that prompts law
Arvind Narrain, a speaker in the But they were people. Not abstrac- school to remember its queer
tions. People.
2013 Conference, notes that, We
community is on the day of Pride.
were all awaiting the judgment in
While Pride has always seen some
Vani Sharma
Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundaparticipation from the law school
tion, and the Conference reflected the optimism and trep- community, the last two years have seen a record particiidation regarding the judgment.
pation in Bengaluru Pride from National Law School. Last
year, especially, a large number of first years participated
Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation
very enthusiastically. In many ways, Pride is a celebration
When it came, the Supreme Court judgment shook that sensitizes individuals without the need of any words:
the queer movement, and individuals within campus. it is difficult to hold onto your prejudices after dancing,

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shouting slogans and walking a few miles in the shoes of initiative called the NLS Queer Alliance. The idea behind
queer people especially queer people from outside the the initiative was to ensure that the incoming batches to
privileged walls of NLS.
law school had someone to go to in case they wanted to
talk and to ease the process of coming-out, says Akshat
Within our Privileged Walls
Agarwal, one of the co-founders of the NLS Queer AlliHas the discourse on queer rights, however, actually made ance.
life better for queer people within NLS? Opinions are varied. Personally, I do feel that NLS is a safe space for queer
people, says Akshat Agarwal. Indeed, many queer people do feel comfortable to come out openly on campus.
Discussions about queer rights, and Section 377 have also,
albeit slowly, entered classrooms and question papers.
Sakshi Arvind, on the other hand, has this to say, NLS
was never actively hostile towards queer people. Certainly
not. But then, that doesnt help - there are different ways
of making life difficult for people! Queer people on campus do have to face massive discrimination from jokes
to concerned attempts to change them to hatred behind
closed doors.

However, the general consensus is that the attitudes within

Law School are as diverse as India. It is also believed that
the attitudes are a reflection of the varied socio-economic and cultural backgrounds from which students come.
With the influx of students from different backgrounds,
many of whom have not had the opportunity to ever discuss queer rights, and with a growing consciousness of a
queer identity of sorts, conflicts have become a serious
concern. Queer people and allies on campus have come
together to provide each other support and to raise consciousness about gender and sexuality on campus, in an

The Way Forward

NLS has a queer culture to a small degree. It needs to
get wider recognition, and become a part of normal discourse, not just what the three of us are doing, says Padmini Baruah, who is also part of the NLS Queer Alliance.
Certainly, it is not possible for the student body to sit back
and relax and consider its job done inside and outside
campus, there is an urgent need for queer rights to be debated, recognized, and protected.
The discourse has to continue, says Professor Sarasu
Thomas. We have to educate people if we want to make
NLS a truly safe space.
Id like to thank Arvind Narrain (98), Vikram Raghavan
(97), Professor V.S. Elizabeth, Professor Sarasu Esther
Thomas (95), Sahana Manjesh (13), Sakshi Arvind (14),
Padmini Baruah (V), Vani Sharma (II) and Akshat Agarwal (IV) for agreeing to be interviewed for this article.
Please note that this article is the first in a series of articles,
and if youd like to share your perspective about the queer
movement in NLS, Id love to hear it.

MHORs versus WHORs

Radhika Goyal, Batch of 2019

t took me a while to warm up to law school, sometimes, Im not sure it has happened yet. Before you
start calling me anti-social, let me point out out I
wasnt alone. A lot of my friends felt this way girls, that
is. All the boys we know seemed to be enamored by this
place in a manner I could not understand. I still cant, but
now I know that there is a very rational explanation for
this: girls and boys simply do not experience law school
the same way.

hostel wouldnt even understand.

Ill start with the most obvious: the terrace culture. It could
be defined as the habit of gathering at safe spaces, i.e. the
hostel terraces at night. People gather in small or large
numbers to live the not-sober life, go through existential crises and very often take decisions which may have
anywhere between medium to large impact on their lives.
This is a part of every MHORs life. An average MHORs
story would often begin with the line So last night on the
This has nothing to do with boys and girls themselves,
terrace These terraces are the perfect environments to
and everything to do with the way we have been divided
have events ranging from mind-numbingly stupid things
into MHORs and WHORs (of course). The MHORs, with
like ulta Himalaya/Ganga/Cauvery to interesting initiatheir complete seclusion from campus near the brilliant
tives like Student Bar Debates or the NLS Film Society.
football field, which us WHORs arent allowed to enter for
They are safe havens which have been granted an implicit
some obscure reason, lead a life that most of us at the girls
exemption from the Gestapo because after all, everybody

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as someone put it, needs their orgies. Another striking and WHORs leading different lives. One example is the
thing about the terrace culture is that only men take part fact that almost no one from the womans hostel has a car.
in it. Before you start getting defensive about this, we are Going out for a drive at 2AM and witnessing BU in all its
not blaming men for this, we are simply pointing out the moonlit glory is part of law school for many members of
distinction. The reasons may be plenty
MHOR. Yet for most women on campus,
but the reality is clear. There is simply no Women here are deprived this along with other such experiences, is
terrace culture in any of the women hos- of these experiences that unthinkable. The kind of autonomy that
tels. In fact, there is practically no interallow men to build a men in our campus have is significantly
mingling between the batches, which was sense of autonomy, confi- higher than that given to women, which
one of the very purposes of having hos- dence and self-sufficiency, inevitably affects the kind of experienctels with people across batches. Yet sadly, all of which are essential es we have in law school. This becomes
us WHORs do not believe in leaving our to become holistic indi- a problem because women here are decomfort zones and meeting people who ar- viduals in modern society prived of these experiences that allow men
ent already our friends. What these empty
to build a sense of autonomy, confidence
terraces depict is the lack of any discourse taking place and self-sufficiency, all of which are essential to become
among the women of this college and sharing of ideas and holistic individuals in modern society. I dont mean to apinitiatives in all fields across law school.
portion blame to anyone in this article. Of course, no one
is preventing us from exploring the aspects of life I have
Last year, when there was a major outcry out against
previously mentioned. I am simply commenting on the
SDGM during SF there was a blatant lack of girls from
situation and the reality as it stands.
the conversation. The insensitivity with which girls were
banned from the field in the night was something most of I recognise that fixing this is hard in some circumstances.
us were extremely slighted by. Yet there were hardly any After all, law school is a part of a larger society and the
emails sent by women expressing their disappointment systemic problems of our society, naturally spill over here
with the way we were being treated. The lack of women in as well. However, the fact that this is the situation even in
the debating circle is also a testament of this lack of cul- an institution such as law school, with students as liberal
ture to collectively meet and discuss, think, and evaluate as they are or claim to be, is a failure at some level, on our
the world and our lives. Further, the deserted terraces atop part.
WHOR have missed out on the strong bonds that the ones
There are numerous other examples, which result into
above MHOR have fostered across generations. Maybe it
MHORs and WHORs leading completely different lives,
also often results in the formation of fault lines drawn bewhich often amounts to MHORs and WHORs being diftween men and women of a batch, as is present in a certain
ferent people. These differences must be put to an end to
senior batch. There can possibly be no positive result of
develop an environment that is significantly more incluthat and we must make an active attempt to prevent such
sive and doesnt result in the systemic backwardness of one
a thing from happening.
class of people. After all, women need their orgies too.
There are numerous other things which result in MHORs

Faff about Faff

ALUMNI CONTRIBUTIONS

Viraj Parikh, Batch of 2014

he word faff is a part of law schools collective

vocabulary. Exclusive to this community, it forms
a part of our popular culture. Not only is it used to
discredit specific statements (Gaganjyots use of the word
discourse in his 19(1)(a) post was faff) but also to describe
academic works (Ghanashyams project is faff) and even
individuals (Nayan is faff(y)). It is important to note that
the word faff is generally not used to describe activities. In
such cases, the term scam is preferred. (Incorrect usage:
Prem has an amazing CV on paper, but its faff!; correct

usage: Prem has an amazing CV on paper, but its a scam!).

Although the word forms an integral part of law-school
culture, -if one exists at all- there has been no systematic attempt to define its exact meaning and scope till now.
This is the first.
Definition: The Starting Point
I define faff as a term, which does not have a defined, ascertainable meaning, that is introduced by the speaker
into an idea-flow, either deliberately or unintentionally,

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and is meant to serve the purpose of creating an illusion As the quantum of faff (referred to as f.q.u) crosses the
of the speaker having contributed meaningfully to the IFFC, the idea-flow is polluted beyond its critical threshidea-flow in the mind of the listener.
old and as a whole, transforms into faff , i.e.:
In an idea-flow, where f.q.u. = n.
If , n > IFFC
Then, as a whole, idea-flow = faff.

Explanation of terms
Idea-flow: A communication between multiple individuals on a particular subject, via any medium (a mess table
conversation between two second years on the feminist
perspective of law school vandalism). It includes uni-directional flow (since Varun did not pay attention in the
consult, his Evidence Law project is a uni-directional
idea-flow between him and Prof. Kunal. Not the ideal
situation, for somebody aiming to get a good grade) and
multi-directional flows (any GBM).

(Wow, I cant even remember how much faff Sounak had

in his speech, in fact, it was faff).

Similarly, to understand individuals being labeled as

faff, we must understand the concept of pleading ignorance (or P.E.E). When an individual acts as a speaker in
an idea-flow and realizes that he no longer has any valid
contribution to make to sustain or develop the flow, she
Creating an illusion: The defining characteristic of faff is faces a choice: she can either P.E.E. Or she can faff. Given
the fact that although it sounds meaningful, it actually is this, an individual who is more likely to prefer faff over
not. Hence, it allows the listener to, deliberately or unin- P.E.E becomes faff herself, if q.f.u introduced is greater
tentionally, prescribe a meaning to the term or not pre- than IFFC. To explain with an illustration,
scribe a meaning to the term, but presume it has value.
In 100 idea-flows that X spoke in,
(Viraj used the term semi-optimal rationality matrix in
she faffed in 63,
his speech against the first years, Basu realizing Viraj is
In fact in 51, she introduced so much quantum of faff
losing by a margin of 1 decided to prescribe that matrix
that the idea-flow itself became faff.
alongwith a couple of arbitrary sentences thrown elseTherefore, X is faff(y).
where in his speech the meaning of an effective rebuttal
to the first years primary argument to avoid a politically
(All junkies are faff said the alcoholic). An individual
incorrect decision, Shukla presumed that it had the same
may be faff in a particular environment (Only when they
meaning without realizing it had none, and gave the deare stoned, replied the smoker) but not in others (all of us
bate to Viraj. Viraj won in a 2-1 split, Aniruddha Basu
are faff in Socio class, but only some dare to faff in History
dissent).
class). The important distinction between terms as faff or
works as faff on one hand and individuals as faff on the
Completing the definition
other is that although intention is irrelevant for the first
Although this definition adequately covers the discred- two, a person cannot be faff unless he intentionally faffs
iting statements function that faff serves in our popular (Rudro is not faff, he is just crazy. But Badri, he is faff).
vocabulary, it does not explain the other two functions,
And this is my definition of faff.
namely, description of academic works and individuals.
To understand works being labeled as faff we must understand the concept of idea-flow-faff-capacity or IFFC.
A necessary assumption premised in the previous statement is that idea-flows have the capacity to sustain more
than one faff. IFFC is the quantum of faff that a listener
can identify and raise an objection to in an idea-flow. It is
determined mainly on the basis of the attentiveness, prior
knowledge and inquisitive nature of the listener coupled
with his desire to arrive at a definite conclusion. These
factors vary according to circumstances (Debaters have
amazing IFFC while in debates, but they somehow presume that outside a debate, everybody elses IFFC is really
low).

Utility of a working definition: Academic diarrhea or

tangible benefit?
There is no doubt that all academic and quasi-academic
literature1 has utility. Therefore, this proposed definition
is beneficial simply as it adds great value to the discourse
surrounding faff in law-school.
Further, this inquiry serves another function. It provides
all listeners with a working definition of the term faff. The
said definition can act as a framework which can be used
to determine the legitimacy of its own usage. This allows
the listener the ability to ascertain whether the use of the
1
2

Basically, any work that has at least one footnote.2

Preferably, two.

QUIRK

10

term faff itself was faff, automatically rendering that perSo What?
son faff, forever. (Shiney thinks everything Kapur says is
This is only meant to be a working definition of the term
faff, even when its not. What Faff! Shiney is just faff(y)!)
faff, and its corollaries. It provides enough tools for emEven if, one were to adopt a higher threshold of utility, i.e.: pirical research into one of the most important questions
only those things which have foreseeable, tangible, bene- facing us today, Has law-school become faff? And its varificial consequences have utility, I submit that this inquiry ants: Was law-school always faff? Is it not faff yet, but surealso fulfills this unreasonable -but somehow, still popu- ly heading in that direction? Is it impervious from being
lar- standard. For, I propose that there exists a possibility faff?
that the word faff has another underutilized, yet logically
In fact, I propose that such research can also be conductconsistent meaning.
ed for other communities: BJP? AAP? Politicians? EconThe possibility of labeling communities as faff, must be omists? Although such external application would be colexplored and discussed. A community would acquire the ored by ethical issues. Labeling a community with a term
character of faff, if the probability of a stranger with the that is not a part of that communitys popular vocabulary
IFFC of an average reasonable person(AvR) listening to would deprive its members of a true understanding of
an idea-flow emanating from a member of the community their own character (some meaning is always lost in trans(the speaker) ascertaining that the idea-flow itself, is faff is lation). However, if the issue is tackled, this framework
more than 0.5. This probability is the communitys Collec- has great potential for application outside the law-school
tive Faff Capacity (or CFC).
context.
If X (a person with IFFCAvR) engages in an idea-flow
with Yrandom (a randomly selected member of a community Y),
CFC = probability of q.f.u > IFFC
IF CFC > 0.5
Then Y is faff.

Saket M: The Man a the Rank

aket M graduated from Law School in 2011. In 2015,

he secured Rank 14 in the UPSC Examinations. He will
soon be joining the Indian Foreign Services. Quirk wanted
to know his reflections on his Law School experience.

CONVERSATIONS

Also remember that during your interview, the standards

they will have in terms of how you articulate your stand
will be exceptionally high and on a bad day this could
actually work against you. I personally know a couple of
seniors who got hustled during the interview with the faAbdal Akhtar mentions on Lawctopus of how he thinks
that the current format of UPSC is most suited to law miliar But youre from NLS! How do you not know this?
students. What is your opinion?
What values did you pick up at JSA and Luthra? Could
I do agree that the Mains format is suited to law students you have made it to Rank 14 without spending years at
but I would qualify that by saying that this exam is not JSA and Luthra?
about any single stage or paper. You need to perform con- JSA is a truly wonderful firm and if the kind of work if did
sistently well across 3 stages (prelims, mains and inter- (regulatory litigation) was more interesting, I would have
view). So while being from Law school might help with totally stayed back there. It is possibly the most democratwriting answers in the Mains - it could equally boomerang ic and equitable Tier 1 Law firm I have been in. I do have
against law students. I know of several people from law a principled objection to family run and promoter driven
school who called me and said they were having difficulty firms but at the end of the day, money talks.
in being concise and informative because our first reaction
I have not been at Luthra and Luthra long enough to comas law schoolites is to put in some faff, be a little verbose.
ment, but I am thankful to both firms for not firing me
Habits which could lead to elimination if not checked.
even though there were months when I must have billed
So yes, use your legal knowledge and skills but also re- 5 rupees.
member to tone down the faff, the tendency to be verbose,
I honestly do not know if I could- I would not venture
or to take excessively critical or opinionated stands.

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into such conjecture but yes without JSA none of the va- Constitutional Law: Sudhir Krishnaswamy threatened
cations or the BMW would have happened! So for that I us that if we did not read the actual text of the case law
am thankful!
he quoted in class we would sink like stones. He kept his
word. It was possibly the first (and last) time I ever read
There are a lot of Law Schoolites preparing for civil serthe actual judgments for a law school course!
vices at the moment. Any specific advice for them?

At the risk of repetition please do this exam only if you are What is your one regret from your time at Law School?
sure you are going to love studying for it.
I think I did not do justice to my college education. I was
pretty lazy and laid back and undisciplined. Most exDo not do it because you think Law firms are boring or
tra-curricular activities took place over the weekends and
you want to be an IAS. Carefully weigh the pros and cons
I was usually chilling in Hyderabad at that time. As long
of your decision. I am sure I will crib when I get my first
as I didnt get too many repeats and was never in danger
Government of India paycheque in September 2015- But
of losing a year I didnt care much for academics. I hope
lets hope the 7th Pay commission redeems my decision!
the path I have chosen helps me redeem 5 years of laziness
Always have a good backup- I have no qualms in admit- and debauchery!
ting that on a bad day I could have ended up with Rank
What is your favourite memory of Law School?
400 and this exam requires as much luck as it does hard
work. So give it your best shot- Do what you can do from During my first year we were in charge of chaperoning
a lot of senior judges and bar council members. I was
your side and leave the rest to destinymessing around with my batchmate Georges phone but
Most importantly do not treat success or failure in this inadvertently sent a Whats up asshole to [an unnamed
exam as a reference point of your abilities- Be resilient if senior dignitary]. The problem was he had the number
you fail and move on- Be humble and level headed if you stored and was livid with the hospitality committee and
succeed. All the best!
started blasting some of my seniors who had no clue what
Which course in Law School changed you the most and was going on because he thought one of them was George.
In the meantime these guys called me to clarify, but by
why?
This is a difficult one! I do not think I can name any one then I had already taken the cab which was supposed to
single course which changed me as such. Looking back at pick him up to the Brigade Road Subway because I was
my Law School days, I do think the combined effect of the really hungry. The end result was we got show caused by
faculty and the peer group did shape the way I thought EMC, which banned us from stepping out for a week. This
about a lot of things. But I think the three most memora- resulted in a turf war with SDGM whose then convenor
personally took me out of the campus to prove a point.
ble courses in no particular order have to be:
Needless to say, I was never allowed to pick up any NLS
History: I do not think Lizzie and I ever got along with guest ever again and cab usage was strictly monitored.
each other and I am sure we both had very strong views
about each others ideologies/personality types, etc. But In an interview elsewhere you spoke of NLS Values and
experiences opening your eyes to a whole new world
looking back, I think History was the first course where
and expanding your horizons. Could you elaborate on
you realize the power of interpretation the role of edthese values or experiences?
itorial/historical/journalistic bias and how not to take
anything you ever read for granted. It really does teach Before I came to NLS, I lived in a pretty rarefied atmoyou how to question and critically analyze so many issues sphere and never gave serious social or political issues
which you otherwise wouldnt have given much thought. I much thought. I also had this myopic view of merit and
definitely would like to believe that over time I became far thought that I am here in this college because I am the
27th best possible candidate in that year. I had a rather
less of an entitled prick I was in my first year.
existentialist view on a lot of issues - yes, the world is an
Economics: Somus one liners. The trouble he takes to keep unfair place. Too bad. But I think over time I became
students engaged in the course and the kind of rigour with much more aware of issues like caste/class/religion their
which you need to read just to pass. I think even though I complexity and how difficult it is to actually find solutions.
was a science student I developed a keen interest in Eco- Whether it is discrimination faced by Dalits or women or
nomics which helped me later on during my UPSC prep Muslims or any other marginalized groups - I now realize
days.
that there are some serious structural issues that we as a

12

QUIRK
country need to solve if we can even hope to achieve a
modicum of inclusive growth.

arises when some of the members go on a power trip and

make a special effort to target certain people they dont
like or be assholes in general. I think a fair bit of give and
We keep hearing the phrase Falling Standards of Law
School? What do you make of this phrase? Do you take is involved on both sides. I never got into too much
trouble with SDGM after first year, although I do rememthink the standards are actually falling?
ber having this one birthday party at Nyx where I happily
I honestly think no single individual or senior has any au- went home but a lot of other guests landed up late and
kaad to pass judgment on the standards of law school as drunk at 1AM at Gate 1. It was dubbed the Keshavananda
they were/are. A lot of idiots just say that
Bharati show cause with some 30 people getting
to feel better about themselves rather than I was in Ganga but show caused in one of the classrooms in the
make a serious point or contribute in any Cauvery was where Acad. Ah, good times.
the party was at.
way to the solution.
There are a lot of first years reading this interHaving said that, I do believe that academic standards view, anything in specific that you would like to say to
have been relaxed between my time in first year and fifth them?
year. I dont think it would be proper to comment on
Law school will probably suck in the first few weeks or
what they were in 2004 and what they are now because
month You are away from home - dumbass seniors will
I honestly have no idea. Some faculty members did tend
be asking you for your top 5 or trying to engage in needto resort to very ad hoc marking patterns. I am sure the
less debate over whether Bengal is better than Bihar or AP
institution does have several problems but a lot of them
is better than Telangana- I kept thinking of going back to
are not unique to NLS alone. But I would like to believe
NALSAR in my first month. But I have no doubt that the
that relative to other institutions, law school is still better
next 5 years are going to be the best 5 years. Dont waste
off, even though we may have a lot of ground to cover and
these years drinking on the terrace or being an over comactually realize our full potential.
petitive asshole in the library- Find a good balance and
SDGM has become a controversial committee in Law Im sure you guys will kill it.
School in recent years, how did you deal with SDGM in
On a lighter note, Ganga or Cauvery?
your time here?
SDGM was the bane of my existence in first year and I I was in Ganga but Cauvery was where the party was at.
think I had a record number of show causes, I cant be sure What was your standard order at Rohini?
but around 10 or 11. But to be fair to them, while a lot of At Rohini, it was dal tadka and kadhai chicken. But I usuus might like absolutely no restrictions on our freedom to ally ate at Peking.
smoke or drink or do whatever else, I do strongly believe
that someone has to do that thankless job. The problem

Falling Standards: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

Radhika Goyal (Batch of 2019) and Aditya Patel (Batch of 2016)

ne of the strangest things about stock markets

is that a rumor about the price of shares often
sets in motion a set of actions which ensure that
the rumor comes true. A similar thing is happening in law
school where the constant presence of the falling standards discourse breeds perceptions and attitudes among
the student body, which will inevitably result in actual
falling standards. This article explores how this perception creates an environment that ensures that the falling
standards doctrine will become a self fulfilling prophecy.
It does not comment on whether Law School is experiencing falling standards but only argues that as long as the
student body blindly perceives it to be true, the day is not

far when it becomes true.

We are introduced to this idea in our first week of college
by both faculty and seniors, who constantly barrage us
with stories of the glorious past of Law School, all the while
alluding that we are no longer what we used to be. They
view the past with nostalgia-goggles that inevitably make
the present look pale in comparison. The idea that we can
never match the standards of those in the past haunts us
throughout Law School and while it sometimes encourages us to work hard, this widespread perpetuation and
subsequent acceptance of this idea has a pernicious effect
on the attitudes of Law Schoolites. First, any achievement
by Law School or Law Schoolites (Students and Faculty) is

13
not given the credit it deserves. For instance, when our Legal Services Clinic won the prestigious MacJannet Prize,
which is a testament of the exceptional impact it has had
on the local community, the most prominent discussion
on LSC at the beginning of the year was still about how it
gets the most junior co-opt applications every year.

QUIRK
edging the rise of other forums, like Email and Facebook,
where similar discussions now take place.

This brings us to the focal point of this article. Achievements of Law School get repeatedly ignored while the
problems and shortcomings are harped upon ad nauseum, creating a scenario where we tend to live in past glory
Another example is the Space Law Conference organised and forget that we still owe it to ourselves and the college
by Prof. Kumar Abhijeet (a Law Schoolite) that took place to continue the legacy and not abandon it as rats would a
on campus earlier this trimester. It was attended by lumi- sinking ship.
naries of the space industry and culminated in the pivThis environment has deleterious effects on the way stuotal Bangalore Declaration, the basis for the first Indian
dent body functions and quashes hope in incoming batchnational space law. It was a significant moment in Indian
es of Law School, forcing them to have the same defeatist
space history where Law School played the central role
acceptance of falling standards.
and was featured on the front page of Economic Times
and Scroll. The only place where it found no mention: Law The problem begins when new students enter law school.
For most first years, getting into Law School is one of the
School.
highlights of their life. They enter college with the drive
These illustrations showcase the blatant disregard among
and determination to make something out of their lives.
Law Schoolites towards the activities and achievements
They enter a vibrant environment of mixed debates every
of its students who have worked hard to give back to
night, football practices at 6AM, play readings and guest
the community and garner international recognition for
lectures. Yet as the trimester goes by, a switch seems to
NLS (raising standards if you will). Had these events or
be flicked and this exuberance and optimism often turns
achievements taken place in our beloved NLUD or NALinto jaded cynicism. The apathy among several seniors,
SAR, they would have been hailed as milestones heralding
rooted in an acceptance of falling standards as inevitable,
their unstoppable path to fame and greatness. However to
undoubtedly has a role to play in this phenomenon.
our esteemed student body, professors and distinguished
alumni, this is not registered as progress or achievement For example, if you visit the library early on in the trimesthat takes Law School forward and is considered to be of ter for your project, you are met with groans of disapprovno consequence. Instead, all we do is collectively cry about al and offered gems like, why are you working so hard?
Your teacher wont even read it! In class you are given
how LeGala hasnt happened for many years.
sermons of comparisons to seniors who were much better
On the flip-side, if anything goes wrong in college, it is
than you can ever be.
met with excessive negativity and the standard line about
falling standards. People fail to constructively engage with It is delusional to imagine that this causes people to strive
any problem or offer any solutions. When any alternate to prove everyone wrong. What really happens is that this
explanations to a perceived failure are proffered, it is bla- first year batch is more likely to use white quotes and live
tantly ignored and dismissed as part of the uncontrollable up to its perceived uselessness. They question their choice
falling standards of the institution. For instance, when a and their decision to come to what they thought to be the
few of the current first years sent out mass emails for proj- best Law School in the country and their drive and deects two days before Last Last Day everyone was quick to termination is negatively affected. Maybe they dont put
squawk about falling standards (degeneration of academ- as much effort as they would have, not just because they
ic standards). However, no substantial effort was made to dont need to anymore, but also because according to
understand why this happened and how it could be solved. them NLS is no longer the hub and temple of intellectual
activity that it used to be in the 90s. In a situation where
Or, for instance, many seniors view the decline of the
nothing is expected of you, and you are constantly told
posts on 19(1)(a), or the erosion of Quad culture as a symyou will never be good enough, your motivation dries up
bol of irreversible institutional decay, the irrational cloud
leaving open a valve of cynism behind. Thus, if a first year
through which this is seen precludes any scope for any exsees scamming projects as the norm, she is likely to send
planation for the same. Thus, the decline of discourse on
out an email to ugstudents in the hope of a readymade
19(1)(a) is construed as being a drop in the standard of
template. The more likely she is to believe that you can
critical thought in the student body, instead of acknowlpass college by barely working, the greater the chance that

14

QUIRK
she would do just that.

dards.

If this is continued, over the years there is a definite chance

that Law School is slowly engulfed by this sense of complacency. In the face of upcoming universities it is entirely
possible that Law School does lose the name that has been
built over the years and becomes the GLC of this century.
And just like that, falling standards will become a reality
because the doctrine was fed to every subsequent batch,
creating a vicious self-perpetuating cycle of falling stan-

Constant harping on falling standards can only worsen

existing problems, have a chilling effect on initiative taking, and ultimately cause the stock of NLSIU to collapse
in the long run.

(Actually) Doing What You Love

Saransika Pandey, Batch of 2016

hen I was a kid, and I use

the term kid loosely
because Im a little embarrassed to admit that I felt this way
till a few weeks back, I used to think
that doing what you love came naturally. To me, it meant that you would
not have to be dragged out of bed or
bribed with your little materialistic
hearts desires to get you to do it, and
most important of all, your motivation would never die down. Honestly, I thought that doing what you love
meant that you would still be doing it
regardless of how shitty your life was,
even if it was so because of it. Alas,
like most things I believed when I was
a kid, this turned out to be a gigantic
lie, but I was too stubborn and blind
to accept it despite repeated lessons
my dear life taught me.

enjoyed a lot of such activities, and

being somewhat okay-ish without
much practice, is that I would automatically include them in my alternate career options list. Trust me,
all corporate-lawyers-to-be have this
list. I would tell all my closest friends
about how I may have been sort of
thinking about being an XYZ (insert:
artist/musician/writer/filmmaker/
profession of the month). Being the
good people that they are, they would
encourage me and naively trust me to
work towards that dream, every single
time. Needless to say, I didnt actually
go through with any of my plans, and
except during those heavily intoxicated darkest hours before the sunrise, I
would never even bother to ask myself that dreaded what if?.

Perhaps because I have a mild form

of ADD in life generally or just the
fact that Im actually moderately
multi-talented but I absolutely lack
discipline and determination (the explanation entirely depends on how my
self-esteem is feeling at that particular
time you ask me this), Ive tried a lot
of different things and I actually enjoy doing quite a few of them. So if
I were to make a list of my hobbies,
it would definitely include sketching,
painting, swimming, writing, singing,
making short films etc etc. Now the
weirdest part about having tried and

It took me years and years to realise

that identifying what you love to do
is not enough, you have to continuously work at it. Yes, sometimes it
can become work. Those wonderful
quotes in Tumblr-esque posts which
tell you to do what you love so you
wont ever have to work a day in your
life are very motivational, but very
basic. In my case, at least. I had to
force myself to treat my hobbies as
work because I had become someone who knew exactly what she loved
doing, but I would never get around
to actually doing it otherwise. I kept

making excuses about how I had so

much else going on, and burying myself in self-generated doubt about how
others would probably judge me and
how I pretty much sucked anyway, so
why even bother trying. I constantly
compared my beginning to everyone elses peak, and that difference in
quality would only discourage me instead of motivating me to get there. I
know that this may seem a bit absurd
to many of you because you do what
you love and you love what you do. I
am very happy for you. I am not there
yet, but thankfully, now I think have
reached that point where I at least accept that my earlier state of mind was
poisonous and not conducive to any
form of growth at all.
I still have to mentally prepare myself
to type a 600 word article, but thats
okay. I guess, sometimes, you just
have to force yourself to do what you
love.

15

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Unworkable but Running: The Death Penalty in India

Kunal Ambasta, Batch of 2012
Currently teaches Legal Methods, Law of Evidence and Jurisprudence at NLS. He is also a practicing advocate in the High Court of
Karnataka.

FACULTY COLUMN

in the rarest of rare cases. The constitution bench of the

Supreme Court in rendering S.303 of the IPC unconstitutional was another victory, ensuring that the death penalty
could not be mandatorily imposed under ordinary criminal law. Of course, the Indian Supreme Court was aware
of what was happening throughout the world on matters
of capital punishment, mostly the SCOTUS, which having
rendered the death penalty, as practiced, unconstitutional
in Furman in 1972, allowed the penalty to be restored in
1976 in Gregg v. Georgia.

recurring theme in conversations with lawyers

who oppose the death penalty, and who have
been involved in defending convicts from capital punishment, has been their aim of making the death
penalty procedurally impossible to inflict. Stated simply,
this goal is to ensure that the State cannot, in fact, execute
a person without considerable difficulty, finally rendering The impossibility thesis scored another major victory in
the death penalty itself unviable, and therefore, undesir- the case of Triveniben v. State of Gujarat, where delay on
able.
death row was recognised as a factor on which the death
This goal was evolved as a response to the fact that the penalty could be commuted by the judiciary. That case was
judiciary has refused to declare the death penalty uncon- referred to a constitution bench because lower strength
stitutional, and the fact that there is little legislative will benches had differed in the precise effect of such delay,
to do away with the punishment. The goal, if achieved, T.V. Vatheeswaran v. State of Tamil Nadu declaring even
would work to ensure that the state discovers that there a delay of two years to be unduly long delay entitling the
is no procedurally acceptable way of imposing the death prisoner to commutation.
penalty, and therefore ensure that such sentences are not The impossibility thesis has been based largely on the procarried out. As the final assault, the uselessness of the cedural safeguards that a prisoner on death row is entitled
penalty on the statute book would be discovered, and the to. The Constitution having guaranteed consideration for
penalty dropped completely as even a theoretical possi- mercy at the hands of the executive, a prisoner could apbility. Of course, this method was fraught with dangers, ply for the same and if there was delay in the rejection of
the prime one being the State becoming much more ef- such a petition, the prisoner could approach the judiciary
ficient at imposing the penalty, following the procedure on that ground. As thinking on the death penalty evolved
as provided, and rendering the entire argument fallacious. globally, the Indian judiciary adopted several other safeBut given the limitations that have been outlined above, guards as well, such as insanity at the time of execution
this was all these lawyers had. This short comment argues being a ground to commute the sentence, recognition of
that the case of Yakub Memon shows the limitation of the the death row syndrome etc. Finally, the impossibility
strategy that was adopted by death penalty abolitionist thesis saw what can be called its greatest victory in the
lawyers, and the way the state has circumvented the entire case of Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of India, where the
argument points in a dangerous direction, where instead Supreme Court commuted fifteen death sentences on sevof increased efficiency and compliance, procedure is vio- eral grounds.
lated completely.
However, some cases have increasingly displayed that the
Lets call the argument of the abolitionist lawyer the im- reaction to making the death penalty more difficult to
possibility thesis. To be fair, this line of reasoning has had execute has been, in part, to ensure that the procedures
considerable success till very recently, aided by a judiciary which are guaranteed by law are not followed and the
which has successively increased procedural requirements prisoner is executed. As the death penalty is irreversible
for the taking of life by the state but always shied away and final, there is nothing which can be done once the acfrom declaring the penalty unconstitutional. Of course the tual execution is carried out. The cases where procedural
genesis of the impossibility thesis may not be accurately violations have deliberately been carried out by the state
identified. However, Bachan Singh and Machhi Singh en- leading up to an actual execution are all examples of terror
sured that the death penalty was recognised judicially as related cases. One saw the same happening in the case of
a class of punishment of its own and to be imposed only Ajmal Kasab, where the Maharashtra Prison Manual was

QUIRK
violated and top ministers of the state had gone on record
to say that the penalty has been carried out in secrecy precisely to ensure that Kasab could not approach the courts.
Again, in the case of Afzal Guru, one may point out to
factors in the actual execution that were violated. In the
case of Yakub Memon, the execution showed that there
are procedural violations committed, and which were condoned by the judiciary. In fact, this case displayed how determined the government was that the sentence be carried
out on the same day as fixed by a legally flawed death warrant. It may, in a perverse way, be called efficient to reject
the mercy petition on the same day it was referred to the
Home Ministry, and by the Governor, minutes after the
dismissal of his petition before the Supreme Court on 29th
July. Leaving aside the procedural rules violated, such as
the Mercy Petition Rules notified by the Home Ministry,
which mandate a period of at least fourteen days after the
rejection of any mercy petition before the sentence can be
carried out, one may see that government action has been

Of Fear and Hope

16
to ensure that the prisoner cannot take advantage of his
ordinary rights under Article 32. Whether Yakub would
have challenged the rejection of his mercy petition on the
grounds on which executive action can be challenged, one
does not know. But it cannot be said that he was not entitled to challenge it. Of course, fidelity to the law, as laid
down by the Supreme Court itself, should have ensured
that the letter of the law be followed. However, the entire
state machinery ensured that it was not.
It seems therefore, that the impossibility thesis has been
outwitted by a system where procedural safeguards may
be discarded at will by the government in power to ensure
that the penalty is carried out. The only justification coming from the other side seems to be that this case involved
an instance of terror. But I would caution against celebrating the defeat of the impossibility thesis as any triumph for
brilliant legal thought. It is in fact, quite the reverse. It is a
deliberate blindness to an instance of illegality.

ALUMNI CONTRIBUTIONS

Geeta Hariharan, Batch of 2013

n school, we were told that growing up is about responsibility. Its a tricky word, responsibility. My earliest understanding of it comes from watching my
parents: the primary job of providing for a family and being sincere to ones chosen work. But definitions are meant
to expand, and fourth year is certainly a tumultuous time
for that reason.
In the first three years, life in Law School (in any college,
for that matter) is fairly simple. You study, you interact
with people, you learn the intricate (or otherwise) workings of the college system and try to do that for a system
of law. Alternatively, you come to the painful realisation
that an involvement with the law is probably not what you
want to do with your life. Sometimes you get out, sometimes constraints force you to reconcile to five years here.

densome responsibility. Suddenly, resums, corporate internships, and grades become more important than they
ever were. As if confirming this sudden commodification
of our education (it is necessary here, no doubt, but that is
no reason to not lament it), every fourth year class forms
the Recruitment Coordination Committee (the RCC) to
regulate and manage mass-class recruitments.

The RCC is the batch-specific body that manages all forms

of recruitments for every class of law school and this is
largely restricted to law firm recruitments. Rules differ for
each batchs RCC, but it broadly entails that recruitments
are to go primarily (sometimes exclusively) through the
RCC. Of course, they will tell you that you can choose to
apply on your own as a non-member of the RCC, but you
will appreciate the odds: here is a committee that works
But for all that effort and pain, in the first three years, you to ensure recruitment; it is natural you have a greater
chance of a job as a member than otherwise. The flipside
are totally free to design your life.
is that the RCCs have historically had a bloody and frightIn the holidays leading up to the fourth year however,
ening record. Many stories of ruthlessness populate the
there is a sense of seriousness that finally, forcibly, dawns.
RCC-grapevine. You can say its justified, perhaps: everyOnly two more years left, and it is much closer to a choice
one needs a job, everyone wants a certain job and that
of career.
basket of options is not bottomless. In the last three years,
For fourth year is the time (though now it has begun to I have heard stories that remind me of the inhumanity of
infiltrate third year as well) recruitment begins. For many war: forgetting those around you and forsaking compasof us who lived uncaring as to our employability in the sion because you are blinded by your need.
first three years, this is a slightly rude shock, and a burPerhaps I sound accusatory. I do not mean that we, as

17
students or as people, are bad. Only that we exhibit long
established weaknesses of the human (and animal) condition: in the face of the need for survival, almost everything
gives way.
It will make us trust our batchmates less, look for and find
ulterior motives in everyones actions, suspect that people
are trawling, peeping at, changing, and seeking to undermine our achievements and abilities. Do I deplore that?
Yes, I do. But it is clear to see where that comes from: the
fear that one will be left without a job (or a career or future
or life, because that is how much it means), that in a world
as competitive as this (for trite as it may sound, it is true),
one will lose out if one does not fight within the tide. We
all need jobs. We all need and want the money, for whatever reason we may have or can justify.

QUIRK
ner of wanting a prestigious job. Nor do I think that all
of us who choose well-paying corporate jobs are selling
ourselves out or are, as the term goes, corporate whores.
Nor do I believe that litigation or academia are fields with
greater integrity or inherent greatness as to create a rigid
hierarchy of nobility.
While I believe that the latter two create or provide greater
leeway and opportunity to influence and effect necessary
social change, possibly the most important thing is what we
want ourselves, as individuals. Our chosen fields should be
where we can work continuously without bitterness and
with increasing passion for the rest of our lives, and not a
short stop towards something else. If a corporate firm job
is that, then there we will contribute our best.

The bottomline is: most of us dont know what we want.

Nevertheless and I speak only for myself here I believe That is all right; it is almost inevitable. But along the way,
we demean ourselves when we do this. Many of us have I wish we could refrain from displaying callous scheming
no idea what we want to do with our lives or whether a and mistrust of those around us. I hope we will, even in
certain kind of job is what we want. I have heard scores competitive surroundings, find a way to create mutually
of stories of seniors who have taken jobs with prestigious helpful frameworks of learning and opportunity. I hope,
firms and are either unhappy or have left in the space of a as we were told in our Alternative Dispute Resolution class
few years to chase rainbows. In internships we do, from in third year, we will realise that our horizons do not end
seniors we meet, we hear of long work hours that reflect with this one job.
drudgery, dissatisfaction, and lack of direction that is simMy class formed an RCC last week. I hope we can all keep
ilar to what we face right now in law school. These jobs are,
our heads, though all about us may lose theirs.
perhaps, back-ups for many of us; an opportunity to earn
while we figure out ourselves and our dreams. But they are
seen and felt as a necessity, and so we exert our demands,
fight for our rights, seek to outdo each other.
I am not critical of jobs, or of competition, or in any man-

On Roofs and Blues Musicians

ALUMNI CONTRIBUTIONS

Mihir Shukla, Batch of 2013

o we sat down one day, and decided to create infinity. It wasnt too hard at first; the stifling drone
of the collective, which somehow forces sides and
the strait-jacketing of creativity, was probably leading us
to seriously question our purpose here. So we went to our
roofs, to find a measure of solace from the quagmire.
Some define it as a sort of culture, some look at it as form
of deviance, some just choose to ignore it - ultimately
though, most agree that at some point or the other they
have trudged up three floors to see a clear Bangalore sky
in its vastness and murky red hues, and have found a drop
of calm in the madness that is Law School.

the most audacious ideas have germinated on these terraces. Be they the rumblings of anarchy, the creation of arguments that would thunder and resonate halfway across
the world, an understanding of the nuances of running a
rock-show or a debate, the creation of institutions, or simply, an effort to make this place a little more bearable and
somehow counter the apathy that afflicts the best of us.

So, why roofs? Why cant we just go to the shady bar at

the end of the street and seek absolution in the arms of
the ancient monk and distilled spirits? The answer, to my
mind, is simple - roofs are quiet places, where you can ruminate without losing yourself in the process. Although
At the risk of romanticising an empty plot on top of a the ambivalence towards the fringe who seek an alterbuilding, this writer has found that the seeds of some of native expression of understanding their consciousness -

18

QUIRK
still exists, there still remains an acceptance of the quiet
smoke and the occasional raucous noise that enlivens our
existence and makes us remember a little bit of our purpose. Though, frankly, it is also the place where many have
found the answer, forgotten it, found it again, and woken
up the following morning having no idea how they got
there. For many others, it has served as a constant reminder of interesting times.

ulators is nothing new. Usually, it is merely a harmless catand-mouse game played out at the college level. However,
now the erstwhile middle ground of the roof no longer has
the same kind of sanctuary it once afforded. The darker
days seem to be back once more; the concern this time
however, is that with the transition towards newer batches,
some of the core principles that made us whole are being
buried and lost.

My tryst with this location, like many others before me,

began in the very first year of college. In a new city, and
the need to retain my sanity from the different freedoms
and new processes being hurled at us, the roof eventually
became something akin to sanctuary. You could crib about
college with new people (most of whom you would eventually form strong bonds with, and who would also walk
beside you through your darkest), exchange experiences,
and eventually, end up growing in the process.

Its not that bad yet: We still have considerable access to

our roofs, we can still unwind on these areas, and find a
measure of peace. The new old school is a tolerated lot and we still create the blue flames of infinity that lead to
the path to clarity. But, while the freedoms still exist, it is
an uneasy peace that reigns, and the balance is certainly
tilting.

This story however, is about blues musicians on the roofs,

and the magic created therein. I think, at the end of the
day, it was the music that led a few of us there. The guitars, the jamming sessions, and the singing in the collective - while not exactly spiritual - was something pure that
transcended the mundane everyday existence. Contrary to
perception, it gave us a reason to believe that despite some
of the flawed systems that govern us, it is still possible to
survive the gyre- without losing our soul in the process.

In my opinion, one of the things that define an institution

is the sense of collective memory - of creation, and how we
got there. College is not an easy place at the best of times;
it moulds you, creates you, and wrecks you- to ultimately
make you understand. It is my belief that a space to express yourself is as essential an element of that particular
process of understanding, in order for you to be at peace
with yourself. Once they take the roof away - and more
importantly, we let them - I have a very strong feeling that
we are lost beyond redemption.
---

Many of the old gods have left though, and the circles of
The writer would like to thank Rohan Ray for his help in
territory that were once carved out with the self appointed
editing the piece and fixing some of the more glaring bits of
watchdogs are now blurring- and there exists an increasing
incorrect grammar.
disquietude about the direction our free spaces are heading, because the unwritten compact of the roof - namely,
to leave it alone - is being breached.
The schism between the student community and the reg-

SDGM: Good Cop, Bad Cop?

n August 9th, three members of the Quirk team interviewed Raghuveer Meena and Sikander Wankhede, current conveners of Security Disciplinary
and General Management Committee (SDGM). The intent behind this was to gain an insight into the workings
of SDGM, which the college has largely been unaware of.
In this candid interview, Raghuveer and Sikander describe
in cutting detail the culture of SDGM, the limitations under which they operate, their relationship with DISCO and
ultimately, despite all the backlash they have to bear, how
they protect the interests of the student body. This is just an
excerpt and the full transcript will be available online soon.

CONVERSATIONS
The Quirk team is deeply thankful to the SDGM conveners
for agreeing to this interview.
What is the SDGM policy on student discipline this
year and how is it different from earlier years?
Raghuveer Meena (Meena): Earlier, some SDGM conveners, after conducting show causes would go sympathise
with the person concerned. Now we dont. For example,
if I caught Shikhar and told him he will be DARICed, I
should not later go and tell him that it is all fine and hell
get off. That is bad policy. This year, we have assigned
good and bad cops within the committee.

19

QUIRK

Do you think that there should be a codification of

SDGMs powers and procedure of conducting raids?

it a court of law is unnecessary. I didnt like the idea of

Aman Saxena making it that in his first year.

Meena: I dont support the codification of rules, else people will try to unfairly gain advantage. Also, rules rely
upon interpretation as well. If we start reading the rules,
people will get DARICed. At present, the third offence
mandates a DARIC, but we dont ever do that. We put such
cases under miscellaneous, and take whatever action the
committee as a whole thinks is appropriate.

Doesnt that prevent some sort of arbitrariness? Sometimes committees selectively enforce rules making the
system unfair.

Sikander Wankhede (Sikander): Ultimately ours is a small

college. Everyone knows everyone by name and their personality. We wouldnt like to screw another persons life.
Take the case of Shikhar, who said that he didnt want to
DARIC a batchmate of his, so we considered the case as
unique and under the the miscellaneous category, imposed a fine and grounding.

Moreover, if the timings of the raid are designated and

the wardens presence is made necessary, SDGMs ability
in conducting will be hampered. Also, the warden has his
own life. He cant always accompany us at 10 oclock. Some
sort of happy hours will come up.

Some of the hostel rules, like loitering, are ridiculous.

Why have they not been gotten rid of?
Meena: We have tried to get rid of them but it hasnt happened. We have made attempts to change our name from
Security to Student, but the warden has told us that we
will have to speak to the Registrar, for which well have to
obtain an appointment. Thereafter, consultations will need
to be conducted with the VC and UGC, because whenever
hostel rules are amended, they need to be put before the
Executive Council. Ultimately, we have decided that these
rules dont matter as we dont have to ever use them. There
are a lot of silly rules, like one against trolling.

Meena: The deal is that you when you let someone off ten
times, that person will not praise you or even recognise
this fact, but when you put your foot down, he will approach the warden.

What is your relationship with DISCO and do you think

there should be parity in the rules? Could you also clarify the jurisdiction of both?
Meena: I must provide some context. There have been
personal issues between conveners of SDGM and DISCO
in the past, which have hampered their ability to work together.

Recently, when a girl was caught by SDGM on the New

Acad terrace in violation of some rules, we had a separate
show cause for her in the acad in the presence of DISCO
members. This has been the practice since the sutta thing
happened two years ago. In that incident, a guy smoking
handed a cigarette to a girl and said SDGM did not have
jurisdiction. That case forced us to create jurisdiction for
The fine for missing room check has been increased to SDGM in these special circumstances. Another time,
Rs. 1000 from Rs. 150. What is the reason for that?
a guy was show caused by DISCO for drinking at some
Meena: Rs. 150 was a fine for miscellaneous violations. Rs. quad party. Thus, there is overlapping jurisdiction. Gopi1000 was the fine for missing perm in the rules. This year ka and I took the initiative and both reduced the fine to
we were told to implement these fines. There is no fine for Rs.150. The committees get along this year. Recently, in an
room check, as the system of room check was created after incident when we had to show cause our own batchmates
the incident of murder happened.
both committees worked closely together. We think there
We spoke to the warden and told him Rs.1000 is too much. should be parity in the punishments imposed.
We are changing it to Rs. 300, as we feel Rs. 150 is too in- Can you comment on the problems that the student
significant to be taken seriously.
body had with SDGM last year, such as the incident in
which a first year faced harassment?
Rs. 1000 fines and grounding has always been in the rules.
Gopika and I went through the previous ten years rules Sikander: Ill explain the incident. We were taking their
and it has always been there. We believe we have to deter- room checks but the first years were highly irregular. Some
mine fines and impose suspended punishments using our 10-12 people were missing it every day. This was never the
case with other batches. We were shocked at this. Then we
discretion.
heard that some of them gone out for drinks before their
Sikander: For codification we feel that it becomes a court Torts exam and got beaten black and blue. One day, Sarof law. Decisions are appealed and defense and prosecu- thak Gupta and I went and told them the realities and that
tion are brought forth, which I feel is not required in this they should not cross limits. One boy started laughing. He
college. You have mooting for these experiences. Making

QUIRK

20

was laughing at me as a SDGM member and as a senior, was a big fiasco over there which we came to know about
which caused me to take offence. How can one do that? I later. Seniors in this college have been helpful to juniors in
asked him to shut up but he started laughing again, in front every way. They take them out, teach them how to drink,
of the entire batch in the quad. I asked him to go outside and give important life gyan. It is also important that you
Himalaya. This SF thing was happening and the student learn when and where to maintain silence. Essentially, you
body was sending mails about moral policing and bashing cannot be cool everywhere. The localities do not like you.
SDGM on the college mail. So I was already pissed, we do
So you mentioned that you always face pressure from
work, dont even get paid for it and get flak from the entire two ends, the students and the warden. How do you
college for it. There were jokes being made about unde- navigate this conflict?
sirable mass gatherings. My junior members told me that
he had written something about that. It was that morn- Meena: The moment we join SDGM, we are taught two
ing that Techi was robbed at knife point between Gate 3 things. Sartaj told me that the people who dont get discito 1. So I was pissed that such things are happening, and plined by their parents will not be disciplined by us. And
I lambasted everyone. Just a week to prior to this, I had forget that people will love you for this work. We never
seen some first years on Surya terrace. We would write our think that if Im raiding, people will love me and say yes,
local guardians name in perm letters in first year. These please come raid my room. It will always be why the hell
is he in my room?. This is the nature of our committee.
people were writing going to a movie, goThe moment we join When I ask most people who dont drink
ing for dinner to McD etc. How could they
SDGM, we are taught or smoke on campus why they didnt join
do this? This wasnt allowed.
two things. Sartaj told me SDGM, they say that they fear their batchBut why not?
that the people who dont mates wont be on good terms with them.
Meena: I dont have a problem, but the get disciplined by their Sikander: Ill tell you a very important
warden has a problem with it. Its a policy parents will not be disci- thing in this regard. Last year, during a PFL
that be strict with first years. Dont go for plined by us. And forget match, there was a tiff between a spectaa movie or anything at night. We suggest that people will love you tor and a player. SDGM was asked to take
them to go with a senior for their safety.
for this work.
action on this issue and I was completely
Why do you have to go for a show at 10
against that. I wont take suo moto action as SDGM. In the
oclock? That is the reason why the warden wants to main- future, it will backfire, if we take suo moto action today.
tain records, and when we tell first years that LG is the If we do this in a football match, later some idealistic guy
only place, we actually think they should write that. In will question why Im not show causing drunk people in a
first trimester, you are getting a hang of this place, how Quad party. The coke is spiked. We know that well.
this place works, what it is about, what Nagarbhavi is like
and the environment of the town. In later years, you can What if Im smoking on the terrace, and my batch mate
go to Pondicherry or Coorg or anywhere. That is fine with knows and comes there and then complains to you.
Would you have complained about the batch mate if he
us, but not initially.
went to the terrace if youre not on SDGM? If theyre
So do you think room check should be limited only to not making a ruckus or causing a problem.
first trimester or second and third? Because by third triMeena: Let him smoke.
mester I think its largely unnecessary.
Meena: See the purpose of room check is not just safety Sikander: I dont have any problem.
but also to ensure that daily interaction with SDGM. That
is it. Its a basic thing we do to let people know that you
shouldnt break any rule. If they see the SDGM member
shouting at one of their batch mates, they will have second
thoughts about breaking rules.

How do you think that in the past four years, the culture
inside SDGM has changed? Youve alluded to it.

Sikander: I have seen two sides of the coin. In my third year

with Vishav, and in my fourth year, with Aditya Rathore.
They were completely different. And now we are sticking
Sikander: Its not redundant. We have to keep them on to how it was when Vishav was there (Quirk team edit: We
campus after 8, because if they are found at Surya terrace had earlier mentioned how Vishav had told Shikhar that
at 10PM, anything can happen. And such things have SDGM was harsh on first years because they would start
happened in the past. We gave a similar orientation to the drinking and smoking eventually anyway, but would do so
MPP first years, and some of them got drunk and there in their first year itself if the committee was lenient. The

21
policy for senior batches was no-nuisance one). Or Sartaj,
or Vagish. Zero tolerance policy can not work anywhere.
We didnt understand Aditya Rathores actions at last years
Strawberry Fields. Why would he do that? Locking a terrace! Its SF man. Jim Morrison also used to smoke up. I
engaged with Aditya on this but he said that SDGM will
stop this. I told him it doesnt work like this.
What do you think the future is headed with this batch
of junior members.

QUIRK
the vote being taken for my removal or that there was resolution to remove me.
So the only thing that College/Ugstudents knew about
the entire incident was the mail about your removal?
Sikander: Yes.
Meena: So SDGM never comes under the SBA. We are
constituted directly under the warden. They cant pass a
resolution against an SDGM member.

Meena: Next year, we are really doubtful. We both wont Sikander: As they dont have the power to appoint me,
be there. And Amber also wont be there. Now there is how can they remove me?
only one senior member who is Tarun Rathore. And then It was just supposed to be persuasive, right?
there are all Shikhars batch mates.
Sikander: At least you should give me a chance. Principles
Sikander: I can say that SDGM is quite in safe hands. Ut- of natural justice were infringed over here. I was not given
karsh and Jeydev are working well. They also have enough a fair chance. I dont like saying these things as I dont treat
experience. They have been on the committee for two these matters like a court of law. I got to know about the
years. We have chosen the committee members personally vote for my removal when I was in class. I was like what
after discussions with the warden, and we feel that we are the fuck has happened suddenly. I knew that I was going
all on the same page. And the committee members work to lose. SDGM is not popular with people. And some girl
as a team.
brought some feminist perspective that SDGM is against
Meena: Right now the committee is in such a way that if girls as well. Girls on the house voted against me.
Sikander will propose something, the entire committee Meena: There is a false perception that there are people on
will be in favor. They respect his experience.
the committee who judge if girls drink or smoke.

Just for curiosity, do you guys take a vote? How do you I guess it came with the idea that girls should leave the
decide on things?
field early and all that.
Meena: Yes.
Sikander: I personally feel that I was not given a chance
What do you do with all the alcohol that you confiscate? and was not asked about what had happened. On the day
of voting, the minutes of the meeting were sent by Vansh
Sikander: We drain it.
Gupta who accused me of drinking, and he didnt even
So last year that GBM happened and there was a vote know me. I had never touched alcohol till then. So the votto remove you. What did you do when you found out ing happened and I got a 100 votes for me staying, withabout this?
out any sort of campaigning, because of the the people in
Sikander: I was present for the first two hours of the GBM my hostel and others who know me. After all of this had
but I had left for my hostel by the time this issue came up. happened, at the end of the trimester I was asked for an
Some of my friends told me that my name had come up, apology from the SBA. I was informed by the warden that
that I had fucked around with a junior and all that shit. he had asked the SBA to submit evidence against me to
But I was like chill, its okay, this happens with SDGM. Not him. In the interim, I was not to be appointed to a post in
a big deal. Then a mountain was made out of a mole hill, SDGM.
which was not required. Shrishti told one of her batch- Meena: Youll remember that Gopika was appointed as
mates that Sikandar had agreed to all this. I never did. convener much before us, and Anil was assigned as conThey took silence as assent.
vener before this, just because of the sheer stupidity of the
So they never approached you after the allegations?

SBA office bearers.

Sikander: No. No one approached me. Not a single person. Sikander: And the warden till the end asked them to subMeena: The warden asked the SBA if they had any evi- mit in writing why they were against me and why they did
not want me to be part of the committee. His stance was
dence or anything.
that, If you give me a valid reason, Ill chuck him out of
Sikander: This happened later on. I wasnt even told about the committee.

QUIRK

22

Meena: They didnt reply to the mail.

ter. She told me that she had no idea about this. She was
very surprised to hear it. Also, Prashanth Sir was not on on
The perception we had was that the admin wasnt keen
on removal because they werent bound by SBA resolu- campus and were equally unaware of this matter. The SBA
tions. What youre telling us is that SBA office bearers office bearers told to the entire college about keeping the
wardens in the loop, and how they wanted action against
didnt fulfil the burden of proof.
SDGM. Nothing was done on their end about this.
Sikander: One more interesting thing. I went to Anuja
Maams room (the warden then) to ask her about this mat-

First Years, We Envy You

Aniruddh Nigam, Batch of 2019

y first year of law school, we were set up randomly with roommates. Within a few hours,
we had figured out how we were going to deal
with the sudden lack of space and our presumed active
social lives. Every night, one of us would go out to party,
get hammered and do a lot of women while the other one
would study in the library and diligently take notes. The
next day, we would switch. Some of you first years reading
this may be nodding along, thinking great idea as you
run to the hostel office to get a perm form, thinking about
which woman on your top 5 you want to hit on first. This
is why youll be first years, because youre very dumb. Tinder in Nagarbhavi has a higher chance of matching you
with a supermodel than an idea like this working. Every
evening in first trimester, Id check my wallet at 6:00 pm,
decide Im out of money, go to the next room and learn
that everyone is out of money, and then make the excruciating walk to the mess to sign good ol roomcheck. I didnt
party every night (sorry, 16 year old me) and I didnt even
see a single breast that trimester (other than my own, and
my roommates). First year sucks. You have no idea what
you dont know, or how you overestimate yourself, and for
that, we envy you.
I dont know if Im writing this for first years. Theres no way
youll listen. Youre too cocky. Youre thinking, Screw you,
Ive seen Project X, Ill have this student body wrapped
around my finger within a week. And why wouldnt you
be? You just aced an incredibly tough entrance exam. A
town of people looked at you as the smartest thing to happen since Uday Chopra quit acting and you are set up for a
future as the next big thing to shake the legal world.
But so is everyone here. Youll get to college and realize life
at home wasnt that bad. You had food, laundry and masturbation without having to shoo your roommates away.
Sure, you couldnt waste all your time dozing off and jacking off (or you could, I dont know how weird your family was) but at least you had a constant reminder of your

greatness in the form of good jobs and Were proud of

yous. Instead of courses you could bunk and nail, you
have History I. Instead of class teachers who would fawn
over you, you have an endless stream of condescension.
The 95s you used to whine about now seem golden, given
the 51s you celebrate. This is not including PIs, laundry,
or that girl who you thought wanted a quad party hookup
when she was just preparing to puke on you. First year
is rough. You can ask anyone what they think and their
answer will be a bunch of grunts and expressions symptomatic of PTSD.
But dont look for sympathy. If you look in the eyes of any
senior, beneath a hangover, youll see fear. The end of the
free ride is coming. Either theyre past third year, and have
to deal with a job, a career and the choice of fulfilling their
dreams. Or theyre awaiting third year. A train is going
to him them, and they know exactly when. These seniors
would switch places with you in a second. They would take
History I, bad quad parties, PIs all over again to know
that they could relive the good moments that come after
it. First year is brutal because change is brutal. Change is
the ride to the hilltop before the view. That view is coming
sooner than the dark abyss of life, and this is why we envy
first years. The friends youll make, the blackouts youll
have and the stresses about class that arent even a stress
at all. Good luck this year, and remember, you are very
dumb.

23

QUIRK

The Morality of Cutting the Canteen Line

Aditya Patel, Batch of 2016

n the 11:00AM break, one is often faced with the vex- Thus, Fourth Years also have an advantage in reaching the
ing problem of the inevitably large line at the Kanchi- canteen line quickly.
ka Canteen (yes, thats the name). Three options run
The people who truly suffer are the Second Years and Fifth
through ones head:
Years. Fifth Years not only have to make the same walk as
A: Stand in line
First Years but also have to climb the same amount of stairs
as Fourth Years after the walk (is it a coincidence that 4+1
B: Cut the line and
= 5? I dont know). The Second Years have a whole quadC: Give up on that delicious combination of oily vada rangle to cross in order to reach the stairs leading to the
with toxic Coca Cola that you are craving even though canteen.
you are really not hungry
Here we have a clear distinction between the batches. The
The first is what society would have you believe is the mor- Fourth Years, Third Years and First Years clearly have a
ally correct option. Queues are made to be followed, not leg-up and are likely to get to the canteen when there is a
cut. They bring order and fairness to human activity and minimal line or no line at all while the Fifth Years and Secensure that ultimately it is merit that stands through and ond Years are likely to stumble upon a long queue. Whats
not favouritism or strong-arming.
more, the Second Years and Fifth Years have to travel a lonAs for the second option, if you were to listen to society, it ger distance to get back to class in time for attendance. The
would not approve. You should not cut the line. One feels cruel result of this is that not only do they have to stand in
this societal pressure everyday when eyeing the canteen long queues but this also increases their chances of missing
line. When the line is too long, one often ponders whether attendance. A horrible situation. Its not their fault. It was
to take the brave step and go talk to that batchmate you ha- architectural design and administrative arbitrariness that
vent spoken to since first year and slyly hand over a grubby resulted in their disadvantage In this regard I would say
twenty rupee note. However, the costs of doing this also that it is justifiable for Fifth Years and Second Years to cut
weigh on the mind. The reputational loss in the eyes of ju- in line and there should be no moral opprobrium attached
niors who have till this point revered you (or so you think), to such an action by a student of these batches. Cutting in
the reputational loss in the eyes of seniors who considered line is merely equalising opportunity for people treated unyou their equal (or so you think), the reputational loss in equally. I must make an exception here for Fifth Years who
the eyes of batchmates standing in line who also had to dont have class from 11:20AM to 1:30PM. For this class
make the judgement call and ultimately chose the moral- of Fifth Years there is no major disadvantage as they can
ly correct option. Observation has shown that while many simply wait till 11:20 before swooping into an empty canpeople do stand in line due to thisequal number of people teen. For First Years, Third Years and Fourth Years there is
also make the call to cut in line, favouring their base crav- no justification for cutting in line. If they find themselves
in a position where they face a long queue then they need
ings over any reputational loss that may arise as a result.
only blame themselves for squandering this golden opporHowever this blind acceptance of the correctness of standtunity. If you are a Fifth Year (with 11:20AM class) and a
ing in line has its faults. For one, it does not take into acSecond Year, you should always exercise Option B and cut
count the different starting points that various students
the line, there is no moral wrong in doing so. If you are in
face in accessing the canteen. Third Years, for example,
the other three batches you should always exercise Option
have an obvious advantage in accessing the canteen, their
A: standing in line, as it would be unjust for you to cut the
classroom being a short 20 second staircase run to the canline.
teen counter. First Years also have an advantage here, the
canteen being a short 20 second run from the entrance However so far we have only dealt with Option A and B
of their classroom. Fourth Years are less advantaged than and neglected Option C. In our opinion it is Option C that
Third Years and First Years. However, if a Fourth Year is should be exercised, no matter what batch you are in. You
determined leaves class immediately after the bell rings only have one heart and one pancreas. Dont screw with
and utilises the potency of gravity to accelerate down the them. Also theres always the New Juice Shop.
two flights of stairs necessary to reach the canteen gate.

QUIRK

24

Why Events Matter

aw SchoolLaw School... The crowd chants. In

the centre, a girl in a red jersey faces a clutch of
girls in deep scarlet. She edges closer to the smallest of the seven but immediately steps back as the rest of
them advance towards her. The crowd chants louder. She
makes another attempt. Hopping on nimble toes, she manages to finally touch the girl. However just as she does this,
the line of seven fall upon her. She pushes and struggles, but
the seven get the better of her. Sand flies up in the air, clouding the vision of the arena as the chanting crowd shuffles to
get a better view. A whistle is blown. The crowd goes quiet.
A girl in scarlet now steps forward and faces a line of 6 girls
in red. The crowd begins chanting again.

hearts of all NLS Debaters - giving us a chance to share the

joy we find in the activity with people across the subcontinent says Nayan Banerjee, Convener of LnD 2013-2014
and current SBA President.
Another example is that of Strawberry Fields, Law Schools
annual music show held on the field next to Gate 4 (now
the Vikram Singh Sports Enclave). It initially started off
as Lawcommotion, held in the Acad Quad as a part of
Law Schools erstwhile cultural fest LeGala, but has since
spawned into a beast of its own might. Attracting Indias
best upcoming amateur bands since 1996, Strawberry
Fields is credited as the launch-pad for some of Indias
most prominent bands like Motherjane and Space Behind
the Yellow Room. It can legitimately claim to have played a
significant role in the growth of Indias now thriving music
scene.

The finals of the Womens Kabbadi competition at Spiritus

is underway at the SAI Complex in Bangalore University with hosts NLSIU lining up in red against local rivals
CMR Law College. The crowd is composed mainly of Law
Schoolites, who have come out in force to cheer their team
A Dose of Life
on in the finals of one of many sports on offer at Spiritus
2015, NLS annual Sports fest for Law Universities around Many colleges in India dont support the organisation
the country. The girl in red: Shraddha Chaudhary, the of events or when they do simply do not trust students
Convener of this years edition of Spiritus.
enough to allow them control over the key logistics and
management of an event. This is usually rooted in the
Spiritus is just one of the many events that the student
Indian belief that the main purpose of university is pure
body conducts throughout the year. A major part of the
academia and that all extra-curricular activities are just
undergraduate population is involved in the running of
distractions. This manifests itself in undesirable ways.
events, as members of the organising committee, as volunFor example, at the Vellore Institute of Technology, the fiteers or as participants. Events have come to be the most
nancial freedom of societies organising events is greatly
prominent creative expression of the NLS student body
restricted, whereby the societies dont get a chance to fiand contribute to student life at law school in a variety of
nancially budget for their own event, instead are allocated
ways.
a discretionary amount of money to conduct something
that usually results in underfunding and administration
Creating Something New
control over how the content of events will shape up.
Some events have pioneered the wider field in which they Christ University while generously funding its events, disexist. Take the NLS Debate, organised by the Literary and plays administrative interference, controls appointment
Debating Society (LnD). At its inception in 2002, there of student committees and uses administration tools like
was no culture of Parliamentary Debate in India. The first permissions and attendance to effectively control final
edition saw less than 15 teams participate. However the decision making in all matters pertaining to the event. A
persistent efforts of the vibrant debating community at conversation with any student of an average university in
NLS in getting other universities to take up the activity India will tell you the deep problems associated with unisaw the tournament explode in subsequent years to be- versity administration and the ability of students to indecome one of Indias most coveted titles that regularly sees pendently manage events.
close to 50 teams from some of Indias best debating institutions. Now there is a Parliamentary Debate Tour- Fortunately, the NLS administration does not subscribe
nament in every corner of the country but it was NLS-D to this mentality and allows its students to manage everythat set the standards for how a debate tournament is or- thing about the event, from budgeting and sponsorship to
ganised in the country and it holds a special place in the management of logistics like ensuring accommodation for

25
participants, transport to the venue and infrastructure at
event locations.
The management and coordination of these various
functions can contribute greatly in the process of creating smarter and competent students and complement
academic growth. Events like Spiritus are essential for
wholesome development. They teach you very real, very
essential life lessons that will probably help you more in
the world than classroom teaching, says Shraddha.

QUIRK
mentorship. But Ltech has managed to pull out of this
and successfully revive Consilience, showing promise of
a sustainable future for the event. Since its revival, three
consecutive successful editions of Consilience have happened and hopefully the event will continue to be seen as
a regular fixture on the NLS calendar just like Spiritus or
NLS-D are today, says Shivam.

Perhaps the biggest challenge however is dealing with the

various people that make the event happen: from dealing with participants from multiple continSarthak Gupta, Convener of the Law and
gents at NLSD and Spiritus, to managing
Events like Spiritus
Technology Committee (LTech) that
referee needs, to assuaging impatient
organised 2015 Edition of Consilience, are essential for wholefood stall proprietors and dealing with
which hosted a seminal conference on some development. They
the various infrastructure, hospitality
Net Neutrality just at the time the issue teach you very real, very
and transport heads that ensure the lowas burning hot in the mindspace of In- essential life lessons that
will probably help you gistics of an event run smoothly. People
dian Internet users believes that the skills
are complicated. While on one hand you
he learnt in organising Consilience will more in the world than
have a supportive administration and
classroom teaching
come in handy not just for the remainder
cooperative committee members, on the
of [his] life in Law School, but for the proother you have difficult people such as exfessional life [he] wishes to lead beyond it as well,
ternal vendors, even students within the student commuPart of the learning experience comes from the fact that nity who, as Shraddha aptly puts it simply like to watch
events throw up various inadvertent and unavoidable the world burn.
challenges. Strawberry Fields, for example, now faces imFinally, there are the challenges of logistics and managing
mense competition to get sponsorship, participation and
various crises that inevitably come about when multiple
audience due to competition from the the vibrant english
things are happening at the same time. These range from
music scene in the country. The show started when there
minor crises like a bus driver who decided to head home
were few listeners of rock music and even fewer avenues
in the middle of an event to major ones like a sponsor
for Indian bands to perform. That situation has changed
backing out at the last minute. Students rise up to these
significantly in the past 18 years. People can walk into any
challenges in running events in ingenious ways. In 2011,
pub or music festival to listen to semi-professional and
a major crisis unfolded when during Strawberry Fields,
professional bands, says Gautham Rao Polusany, Convea large fire started raging at the edge of the University
ner of Strawberry Fields 2013.
Field. It was located behind a scrub of bushes and so was
Strawberry Fields has a huge legacy and brand name to only visible when it had grown quite big. There was dry
fall back upon and will ultimately continue despite the scrub all around and there was a huge chance that the
competition. Other events like Consilience dont enjoy fire would spread, leading to not only the cancellation of
this guarantee. As of two years ago, Consilience was dead, the show but also danger to the people around. Instead
had not occurred for 2 years and the Law and Technology of panicking, all students who were present on the field
Committee was seen in campus as somewhat of a joke (a rushed to help douse the raging flames. Since there was no
popular joke going around Law School used to be- Go to fire-truck nearby, buckets were procured from the nearLtech when your laptop is spoilt, they will fix it for you). by boys hostel and the hose near the entrance of the field
Its subsequent revival was challenging due to the paucity was switched on. The next hour was an exercise in sinof passed-down wisdom that other more established com- gle-minded determination, with students from first year
mittees like EMC and LnD have. As Shivam Singla, Con- to fifth, of all shapes and sizes carrying heavy buckets of
vener of LTech in 2013-2014 puts it. When we initiated water over a distance of a quarter of a kilometer, pouring
its revival in Jasrajs year, none of us had any experience in it on the fire and rushing back again to refill the bucket.
organising a conference and to be frank, little exposure to Eventually students organised themselves in a chain of
the field. Consilience had not happened for two years - we sorts, reducing the distance a student had to walk with a
had few networks, spoiled relationships, and inadequate bucket and increasing speed and efficiency of water deliv-

QUIRK

26

ery to the fire site.

it quite aptly, You learn to appreciate passion better sitting

on the field listening to bands from around the country
A Lesson in Emotion
the whole day or sitting at the basketball court screaming
Events also have a lasting emotional impact on the people your throat hoarse in the third quarter of an NLS v. SOEL
involved in making them come to life. An organising team match, even though they have no tangible material incenmember has to plan in advance, with constant meetings tive. You are sitting there watching it because youre pasand frantic telephone calls to sponsors, to hectic late nights sionate. Passion for cheering on your college, seeing playensuring flexes are tied up and all registration has been fa- ers give it their all, coming from random places around
cilitated, Its hard, incessant work but it all becomes worth the country to play because they are passionate about the
it when it pays off in success. The incredible feeling on sport. In a time of cynicism, where the term CV-whoring
that final night when the headliner is playing, are things is being bandied about with increasing frequency, it is refreshing to be reminded that passion still exthat will stay with me long after I graduIn a time of cynicism, ists and the great value it can add to make
ate, reminisces Vishakh Ranjit, Convewhere the term CV-whor- ones Law School life better.
ner of Strawberry Fields 2014.

ing is being bandied about

For the incoming first years, volunteering with increasing frequency, Back on the Kabbadi Court, the next round
has begun and Shraddha is back in the op(or forced-volunteering as some put it) at
it is refreshing to be re- ponents half, playing the same game of cat
an event provides them the first glimpse minded that passion still
of the crazy law school life lying ahead of exists and the great value it and mouse, moving closer to the second
them. Transferring mattresses at 6AM in can add to make ones Law end line. The crowd cheers louder. Shraddha makes a quick motion and manages to
the morning, tying flexes at 2AM in the
School life better
touch one of the scarlet shirted girls. Dust
night, picking up participants and digniflies up the air as she moves towards her own
taries from the airport, all this while having classes, project
and exams on their could be the best possible preparation end zone. A few girls in scarlet have caught her arm and
for the years ahead. Additionally, events also constitute are attempting to pull her down. Relentless, she moves ever
one of the major platform for senior-junior bonding, with closer to the halfway line. The crowd chants get louder. The
multiple opportunities for first years to get to know and scarlet girls finally bring her down 1 foot away from the half
interact (positively, of course) with seniors they have not line. Dust flies up again. A whistle blows. The crowd erupts
met before. It may be emotionally traumatising in the louder than before. Shraddhas left hand is beyond the white
short term. But in the long term the first year has made halfway line. 5 points for Law School. That is one unassailable lead. The crowd chants become the loudest they have
friends for life.
been in the match. NLS is going to win the womens Kabaddi
And in addition to everything else, events no doubt pro- gold. Some of the crowd makes its way to the nearby Football
vide liveliness to campus and make one appreciate the wid- Field where the NLS Mens Football team is about to begin
er social life present outside the academic activities. Parth its quarter-final match. There is already a crowd there,Law
Singh, Joint Convener of Spiritus 2013, known for his frank School Law School.
and outspoken views among the student community, puts