Experiences of a Lawyer in Embryo – By Binit Agrawal (AIR 18 – CLAT 2016)

Why law? It’s a question I have faced umpteen numbers of times. My elder brother is a law graduate and inspired me to pursue law. However, it was only when I got an opportunity to study law as an optional subject (in Class XI and XII) that I realized the true beauty and power of law. When I read about how a 13-judge bench case saved the Indian democracy, how Justice PN Bhagwati increased access to courts manifold by introducing the concept of Public Interest Lititgation (PIL), how Kapila Hingorani used this tool to help release 40,000 undertrials across the country in the famous Hussainara Khatoon case, how MC Mehta became a champion of environmental protection and rights by using PIL and how our courts have used Right to Life to increase access to healthcare and education, I realize that, yes, in Law, there is the power to bring change and this power attracted me.

But it’s not just the goodness of law that made me choose it as a career. Its drawbacks, which I want to remove, strengthened my resolve. The biggest of them being its complexity – it is an integral part of every person’s life but not many know even an iota of it.

Every year, some 40,000 aspirants appear for CLAT to get into the NLUs but only a few do. And as someone who has been fortunate enough to get into one of these NLUs, I do have some experiences to share with you all.

GK (including Current Affairs) is the game changer. If you want to succeed in CLAT, then you have to be strong at GK and believe me, this is also the easiest part. To create interest, you can start by watching quiz shows on YouTube and taking part in quiz competitions. Furthermore, you should always supplement whatever you are reading with notes and visuals. Making properly organized notes for Current Affairs is extremely important. Apart from The Hindu which you must surely read daily, some other materials which I can vouch for are the CLATGyan Compendiums, the websites of gktoday and Jagran Josh, the monthly magazines of Pratiyogita Darpan and a suitable Static GK book from publishers like Lucent or Pearson.

Give as many mocks as possible. Mocks are the most important thing, the more mocks you give the better your chances are as they are immensely helpful. Firstly, you are getting to solve 200 questions; next, you are able to find your strong points which will help you to prioritize sections so as to get the most out of the 2 hours. Mocks boost your confidence level by helping you in taking better and more attempts (I attempted 199 questions this year) and they also help you find your present standing. You should try giving 100-120 mocks by the time you sit for CLAT. (Note from CG – Do this only if you can afford to do so. Pressurizing your parents without getting done with mock tests you’ve already subscribed for isn’t a nice thing to do.)

Analyze your day – One of my teachers always used to say, “The greatest problem with your generation is that you don’t take time out for analysis. Your day starts with the mobile and ends with it whereas it should start with a plan on what to do over the course of the day and end with what has been achieved over the course of the day.”

CLAT is no hermitage. You don’t need to stop using social media, playing games or watching movies. Just make sure entertainment doesn’t turn into procrastination and if you need to know how to ensure it doesn’t happen, then imagine the day of the result. It is your choice to be happy or upset on that day.

Use internet to your benefit – Internet is full of resources use them to learn more and more. Some really helpful resources are www.vocabulary.com, www.mnemonicdictionary.com, https://shashidthakur23.wordpress.com/, https://www.youtube.com/user/xamTricks, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV_35CUTVV-o3R-LIx6F0pg, http://www.readtheory.org/

That’s pretty much it. Just be regular and be confidant.