Expectation v/s Reality

This article has been submitted by Nikhil Bhatt for the CLATGyan Blog Post Writing Competition. If you think it’s a good read, ‘Like’ the article (the button is at the bottom of this piece) or post a comment using the ‘Comments’ section below.

There were people who expected NLSIU and landed there and at the same time, there were people who expected an NLU (no matter which one) but couldn’t land there! Almost fifty-thousand test takers and only 1163 All India unreserved seats : this makes it quite clear that not everyone can reach there. But, does that make them superior to us? Does this signify that the people with a better rank are certainly better than us? Maybe or maybe not!

Every test we take is also a test of memory along with intelligence & not everyone can be Mike Ross after all! Sometimes there are people who do tremendously well in classes but cannot get through CLAT or any other entrance exam and at the same time, there are people who pick up their books at the last hour but end up doing well…

I was a dropper; my first attempt in 2015 gave me a rank that was sizeable. I wish my pocket money was as big as my rank! I was not at all studious; books and I were never on the same side. I would have never thought of taking a year off, yet I did! No matter how I may have been in studies, the only thing I was absolutely sure of was that I wanted to be a lawyer someday, which made my decision of taking a drop fairly easier and quick. I didn’t ask anyone about what I should do and I did what I felt I should!!

The journey started, cumbersome yet easy, because the thing which kept the fire inside me burning was the place where I wanted to reach. Don’t assume that I started studying day and night; yes, I might have done it for a week in the starting but then, there were months in between where I didn’t even touch my books, there were days when I skipped classes just because I wanted to sleep a few hours more and there were also days when I bunked classes just to hangout with friends. But all over, whatever I did, I also studied. Definitely I was never a top scorer because I never studied like one.

One expects a lot; some get it, some don’t. I expected to score 147 plus but I didn’t, I never explained to anyone why I couldn’t, because I don’t have any explanation. If you would ask me, “Did you study?”, I would say, “Definitely! I did.” If you would ask me, “Did you study enough?” I would say, “I don’t know! Everyone has a different criterion, a different limit. There are people who study for more than 10 hours a day but aren’t satisfied and then there are people like me, who barely study for 2 hours and feel the need to go out and relax!” If you would ask me, “Could you have done better?” I would again say, “I don’t know!!”

This “NOW” is the reality, this is what I have, and this is where I am. But do I consider myself any less than the ones in the top NLUs? The answer is “NO” .

Definitely, a college will play a major role but it doesn’t decide where you’ll be in the next 10 years. So ,to all the ones who didn’t get through CLAT, relax. A NLU won’t make you a good lawyer; a college can never be the only thing deciding your future! I know you might think that it’s easy for anyone who is going to an NLU to say this, even I would have been pissed hearing this time and again, but this is the blatant truth! After all, it is you who write your destiny!

P.S. – I secured 1057th rank in CLAT 2016 and will be joining NLU-Orissa soon.