They have battled through lengthy assignments, they are going to take their examinations and are about to participate in one of the most important and memorable days of their life: graduation. But with graduation comes a list of questions for many. What’s next after college? What does the future hold?
Laughter is in the air as a group of students ply their campus’ chai kada . Orders for rounds of tea are placed while the students plonk themselves at available spaces. Most of them seek the shelter of trees.
I approach a group of young men who are sitting around a tree. The students are all final year undergraduate students of law at Kerala Law Academy. Amal Dharsan introduces me to his friends – Gokul Babu S., Aditya Rajeev and Keshav Raj Nair. A group of women walk by and Amal calls them over and introduces me to Pinku Mariam Jose, Neha Susan Varghese, Pooja Grace Lalu, Gadha Suresh and Saranya Gopal V.S.
With final year examinations fast approaching and graduation around the corner, I ask them how they feel and what their plans are?
All of them sober up and admit that ‘what next?’ is “scary” but that they have all more or less chalked out their next step in life. For example, Aditya from Kozhikode intends to heed his father’s advice about not practising law in his home town and instead start practising at the high court, while Amal plans to specialise in public international law. Gadha hopes to pursue a Masters in Intellectual Property Rights.
Amal points out that with seven new law colleges starting in the state, competition is going to be stiff. Says Pinku: “These days a master’s degree is a necessity if you want to climb up the ladder. Law school prepares you to take exams and fire back at Socratic-method of questioning but when you enter the world of legal practice, you realise that law school has not entirely prepared you for what you will do as an attorney.” She goes on to add, however, that she might train for a few years before going for her masters. “That way I will know which field of law to specialise in.”
For those who intend to start work upon graduating, Gokul says it all comes down to the amount of dedication you put in the initial years. “You need to work hard to make your mark,” he says.
Keshav, who hopes to intern in Delhi before moving abroad, adds saying: “If you start work under a good senior, you will be given opportunities to prove your worth early in life, else you will have to struggle in your early years and often with minimal pay. These days, there are more career options for lawyers to choose from such as legal advisers, commercial tax officers, judicial officers…which offer “security and pay.””
Unlike men, most parents tend to be less interested in their girl child entering the profession, say the women of the group. “Our parents are okay with us learning law but when it comes to practising in court they go, “Do you really have to?,” says Neha.
The women of the group feel there is still a glass ceiling that they need to break in this field. Unlike movies and soaps that portray women lawyers getting their voices heard “loud and clear” in court, there are very few such lawyers in the field, they say. “We were on court work the past few days and we didn’t see any women advocate holding trials. The advocates we did see in court were doing junior work like asking for extension of leave, for instance,” they say, adding that they hope to be like those fire brand lawyers portrayed on screen.“But then we wonder as to how people will stand a woman being aggressive in her questioning during cross examination?” they ponder.
The students chime that it’s not about added degrees or good marks that help one make a mark in the field. “Ultimately it depends on how passionate you are about your profession and how dedicated you are to pursue your dream,” say Saranya and Pooja.
(A monthly column on views from the campus)
