Ab Aap NALSARite Hai

(Anubhuti Maithani is a second year student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad and a regular contributor to CLATGyan).

Dear batch of 2022,

I felt like a loser when I did not get through CLAT in 2015. But being an average student in school, I wasn’t expecting to get into tier-1 NLUs even in my wildest imagination either. However, law being my only passion, I decided to take a drop to try harder.

Fast forward to February 2016 – my second attempt at CLAT was less than 3 months away and I was starting to feel the blues. Mocks had started to feel longer, GK felt unending, and English vocabulary sounded more like Greek. I was ready to settle for Gandhinagar on my best day. However, February brought in a wave of inspiration and passion, and I found myself in NALSAR.

I am now a second-year student at NALSAR University of Law. Nope, still feels weird saying it.

Being in NALSAR, atleast through the first year, is like being on a ride on the roller coaster of emotions. I was happy, confused, nervous, excited, and all sorts of crazy. It was a completely different environment than what I was subjected to. You know how everyone thinks they’re the smart kid stuck in a place with dumb people? When you come to NALSAR, you’ll feel like the exact opposite. Everybody here is inspiring and surprises you with amazing feats. But what’s better is that they make you feel like you can be amazing too! Suddenly, you would want to work harder. You will apply for internships with people you’ve only seen on TV. You’ll travel across India and abroad for varied competitions. You would go crazy in NALSAR cultural fests and DJ Nights. And above all, you would become happy and overjoyed and filled with a sense of accomplishment, complete with a hunger for more.

Dear juniors, I know all that is running through your mind. “What is the food like? How are the hostels? What are the seniors like?” But trust me, even if someone answers all of these insatiable questions for you, you would still not understand in essence until you start living here. You won’t understand how endearing it feels when the lovers’ lane is adorned with beautiful flowers when it had rained the night before. You won’t understand how calming the Shamirpet Lake is. You won’t understand how much the stadium helps on those stressful nights of exam prep. And you won’t understand the sudden urges for Sai’s chai and Amma’s aloo bhajji *ahem*. You have to live NALSAR to understand NALSAR. You have to dance to the dhol in Lohri nights, you have to serve food to the college students and faculty at your fests, you have to completely lose your mind a day before project submissions, and you have to stay up with your seniors all night sitting on your hostel terrace to completely understand what we are trying to make you picture before you come to join us.

Until then, pack your bags and hold on tight. July 3^rd, we will see you there.