The cream of the crop

Only the best brains get into the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). It is said that its entrance test — CLAT, is one among the toughest to crack and the NLSIU aspirants start preparing well in advance for the entrance. 

The 20th annual convocation of NLSIU saw 68 students graduate and K V Krishnaprasad, a native of Kerala, topped the university with 13 gold medals.

The atmosphere at NLSIU makes one want to compete not with fellow students but with oneself, say most of the students.

‘Metrolife’ interacted with the toppers and their families, who were more than thrilled to talk about their success story. As the toppers’ names were called out one by one and they were given their certificates and gold medals, their fellow students cheered.

What was heartening was that most of the toppers were drawn towards teaching law and litigation as opposed to settling for cushy jobs in a corporate setup.  K V Krishnaprasad, who bagged 13 gold medals, is all set to fly to Oxford to complete his BCL.

He says, “I always wanted to teach law.” Surely, Krishnaprasad has gone beyond the text books and a vast amount of reading, especially from primary sources, helped him top his batch.

 “Nobody is born a lawyer. It depends on how you cultivate your skills in the right direction. It’s only hard work, focus and determination that have brought me thus far,” he says.

His parents — Geetha and Nandakumar — both professors, are confident that their son would do well.  “We’ve always given him the freedom to do whatever he wanted to and have only asked him to be true to whatever he opts for,” says Nandakumar.

Vrinda Bhandari, who stood second with seven gold medals, is also heading to Oxford for a year. She is engaged to be married soon but she says that she would like to study a wee bit more. “I always wanted to take up litigation. In my small way, I hope to deliver timely justice, especially to the poor,” says Vrinda.

 Her parents Ira and Ashok say they expected her to do well — but not this well. “I remember that I would ask to her chill out and take it easy but she was always focussed and all that hard work has paid off. She’s always been good at multitasking,” says Ashok.
Mallika Abidi bagged the third place and she confesses that she never sacrificed anything to get to the top slot.

“I always had my share of fun and devoted time equally for work and play. It is the right amount of balance that has worked,” says Mallika.

Her parents Bainu and Javed add, “We’ve always given her freedom and we never thought she would do so well. We’ve always advised her to compete only with herself.”

George, another student whose father is with the civil service, says, “I took law and didn’t want to do civil service like my father but now I am having second thoughts
and plan to pursue my civil service. I am keen on serving the people.”