During my time as a student at NLS, I found the system of continuous assessment, focus on research and writing, and wide ranging elective offerings, gave me the opportunity to extend my skills and knowledge in areas of my choice. Now, as a faculty member, I treasure the autonomy I have in the design and delivery of courses. This allows me to innovate and keep the syllabus up to date and relevant. Interdisciplinarity is a core aspect of the curriculum here, which equips students to develop well-rounded and critical perspectives on the subjects that they study.

Overall, the University offers a vibrant community life: Be it incredibly smart and driven students, an experienced and engaged faculty, or a hands-on staff, all these aspects come together to give NLSIU its distinctive character.

The best part here is the vibrant student community, which includes students from a variety of academic, social and professional backgrounds, resulting in an enriching peer learning experience. My peers at NLSIU have been one of my most important support systems during the pandemic, and their resilience and desire to succeed despite the extremely difficult circumstances is inspiring.

One of the key features of my MPP Programme is its relevance as the lessons learned can be applied to any or all real-world problems and deliver results. It provides opportunities for enhancing skills for policy design, analysis and evaluation through well designed assignments, client-led projects, field work and in-class discussions. The faculty constantly reminds us of the biggest and most challenging attribute of a public policy professional: speaking truth to power. They challenge us to take a systematic approach to understanding complex problems and find sustainable solutions.

The law school I entered in 1997 as an impressionable 17 year old from Calcutta was a place where ideas were bred by the dozen. Along with lessons in values, principles and ways of working, there were equally valuable lessons in friendship, responsibility, and leadership.

NLS drew out a better me and gave me a little for the road as well – an abiding sense of the fallibility of my viewpoints, an appreciation of the value of relationships, an ability to work with all kinds of people, and, most of all, a sense of responsibility for the greater good. It gave me a taste of what I was capable of whilst tempering it with an appreciation of what my peers were capable of!

The diversity of subjects, college mates and aspirations, the principles of law and justice, and the open canvas of Nagarbhavi 1997-2002, was a huge driver for how my life turned out. For several years, and even now occasionally, I pull a thread from the law school experience and reflect on its role in my life. Its community is my community, and my work with Agami wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t taken the Coromandel from Calcutta to Bangalore in 1997.