Fahrenheit 451

Title: Fahrenheit 451

Author: Ray Bradbury

In a dystopian future American society where books are banned, Guy Montag works as a fireman, whose job is to burn down the books when there is an alarm intimation that somebody possesses copies of outlawed books. In this dystopian culture, people do not read books, do not enjoy nature, do not spend time alone, and don't think individually or have meaningful conversations. Instead, they drive really fast, watch large quantities of television on wall-sized sets, and listen to the radio on "Seashell Radio" sets that are hooked to their ears. It is also a time of impending war on the society, and destruction.

Montag's views about his job is in for a change when he unintentionally strikes a conversation with his seventeen year old neighbour Clarisse McClellan, who pushes him to question his own idea of happiness, and whether books and their perceptions really warrant burning. A series of troubling events further make Guy Montag resolute about the goodness of books. His wife attempts suicide after constant TV watching. Clarisse dies in a car accident. And, when the alarm blares for the firemen to burn down the stocks of books with an old lady, Montag is assigned the duty. He reaches the old lady's house to find out that she has an old, secret collection of literature. The old lady asks Montag to burn her also along with her books, in a teary-eyed hopeless state. Montag exits the house without burning.

The rest of the story follows Montag as he rebels against the senseless laws, gets into a habit of reading secretively until the day his own wife betrays him and sounds the alarm of books at home. After an adventure of hide and seek with the police officers that come to arrest him, Guy Montag meets a group of people who read and memorize the literature in the hope that they can reprint them in circulation some day. A war plane drops bombs recklessly across the city, and it brings the city down to shambles. Guy Montag and his group set out to look for survivors, and build a civilization where there will be books again.

It is an extremely weird, dystopian novel. But I really liked it. The pace of the story, and the sequence hooks you to it. If you are wondering why were even books banned in the first place, a monologue by Guy Montag's boss in the fire department, somewhere in the middle of the book, gives you a background to the main story line.  

The book stresses on the monotony induced by constant TV, and how they dumb down our brains. Ray Bradbury's other short sci-fi stories also promote the ideas of enjoying nature, thinking deeply, reading books, connecting with people, and being the social beings that humans are even in the world of technology. Even though the book is set in a highly dystopian and fictional society, somewhere we feel that it is that much closer to reality that it would have been 20 years ago!

It was a good read. I really liked it!

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

Title: One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

Author: Scott Turow

Do you, or did you, ever feel, "I am a law student in my first year at the law, and there are many moments when I am simply a mess"? Pick up this amazing book of experience by a "1L" in the first year of HLS (Harvard Law School), and every line would be something that you would relate to at a very personal level. When I opened the book, and I saw the first line, my brain went: woah, this has happened to me! And, I quoted the book on twitter and put up how I relate to it. And, then I read the next line, and the next, and the next, till the very last line of the book, and there wasn't a dull moment as I went on a surprisingly funny and relatable ride of reliving through the anguish, nervousness, excitement and the free-falling fear of a first year at law school.

Written beautifully, and honestly, Scott Turow captures the small things that dominate through your law school experience as he joins as a married 26 year old in HLS: the nervousness of being called by the professor to answer a question, the gross inadequacy of confidence to answer even when you have a well-rounded knowledge and reading about the subject, the struggle of making notes, and the conflict between referring voluminous works of authorities and the summarized guide/help-book versions that seem doable one day before the examinations, the change every student undergoes as a person, and the shift of perspectives as we learn the law.

Some of our professors themselves have written books on the subject they teach, and I have personally had such experiences, and we tend to read from their own books for their subject because as the book aptly captures it:

“Two buddies of mine say that the dude’s whole course is in there.”

Till our schooldays, we were the topper of the class: our ego boosted. And, when we enter law school, we are humbled to realize that almost every single other person is probably better than us, has a different perspective, and though it is hard to struggle with the hit on our ego, it's best to learn and move ahead! An excerpt from the book beautifully captures the feeling.

"All your life you’ve been good in school. All your life it’s been something you could count on. You know that it’s a privilege to be here. You’ve studied hours on a case that is a half page long. You couldn’t understand most of what you read at first, but you have turned the passage inside out, drawn diagrams, written briefs. You could not be more prepared. And when you get to class that demigod who knows all the answers finds another student to say things you never could have. Clearer statements, more precise. And worse—far worse—notions, concepts, whole constellations of ideas that never turned inside your head."

Unlike other courses of study, law is difficult not only because of its volume and concepts, but because of its indefinite derived terms and maxims from French and Latin, and also the never ending set of jargons. On top of this, the judgments are the least easy to read. A lot of days, during my internships, I have personally struggled with the long-winding, meandering sentences that conjunct multiple concepts in a single line, even though I consider my English and comprehension skills pretty decent.

"In reading cases, I soon discovered that most judges and lawyers did not like to sound like ordinary people. Few said “I.” Most did not write in simple declarative sentences. They wanted their opinions to seem the work of the law, rather than of any individual. To make their writing less personal and more impressive, they resorted to all kinds of devices, “whences” and “heretofores,” roundabout phrasings, sentences of interminable length."

Examinations are a big deal in law school. Concepts thorough, you feel so? Try giving the paper. Your preparations are, more often than not, reduced to nothing. The exams not only test what you have learnt, but some papers of some professors are impossible to answer unless you have internalized the concept to an extent you are prepared to answer any such far fetched application in less than half an hour. Scott Turow captures its essence aptly as he describes how cheated he felt after his exams, where his elaborate daily preparation for classes had not been worthwhile, and the fine analysis of every case were not merely irrelevant to the exams, but had also proved to be beyond the grasp of his memory.

I loved the book to its every word. It's a must read for every law student. I enjoyed the book so much, and there was so much truth in it. I just shared a few excerpts here, and I had my friends already texting me after looking at the tweet quotes that they wanted to read it!

It is a wonderful, honest book, and Turow has absolutely and aptly captured the experiences of every law student. Thank you Turow for this amazing book!

Here's one more excerpt from the book that I really, really loved (and, it is so true, hahaha):

"Yes, there are achievements in the past. They’re nice to bandage up your wounded self-esteem.But “I graduated college magna cum laude” is not the proper answer when the professor has just posed a question and awaits your response with the 140 other persons in the class."-One L

— Sandhya Varadharajan (@sandhya_varadh) March 18, 2020

Calabresi's 2-by-2 Box: On Property and Liability

Damages in contracts, and how it is calculated, can be interestingly explained by Calabresi's 2-by-2 box. His 2-by-2 chart is based on the property, liability and inalienability. 

Initial Entitlement	Injunction / Property Rule	Damages / Liability Rule
Resident	Rule 1: Court issues an injunction against Polluter	Rule 2: Court finds a nuisance but permits pollution to continue if the Polluter chooses to pay damages
Polluter	Rule 3: Court finds the pollution not to be a nuisance and permits the Polluter to continue without paying damages	Rule 4: Court permits Polluter to continue unless Resident chooses to pay Polluter damages in order to enjoin further pollution

In the Common Law of Contract, there are 3 ways to calculate damages.

1. Expectation Damages meaning that the damages will be equal to that value "as good as if contract has been performed".

2. Reliance Damages meaning that the damages will be equal to that value "as good as if no contract was made". 

3. Restitution Damages meaning that the damages will be equal to that value where "breach party would be as good as if no contract was made".

How do we say that these three rules derive and fit under Calabresi's 2-by-2 box? Let's redraw the box with the titles specific to contractual damages.

Initial Entitlement	Injunction / Property Rule	Damages / Liability Rule
Plaintiff	Court issues an injunction against Defendant. This means that the damages will be equal to that value "as good as if contract has been performed". Expectation Damages.	Court finds a nuisance but permits it to continue if the Defendant chooses to pay damages. Here, the damages will be equal to that value "as good as if no contract was made". Reliance Damages.
Defendant	Court finds the it not to be a nuisance and permits the defendant to continue without paying damages. This is not possible. Court will not allow the Defendant to get away, and therefore this box is empty with respect to contractual damages.	Court permits Defendant to continue unless Plaintiff chooses to pay Defendant damages in order to enjoin further nuisance. Here, the damages will be equal to that value where "breach party would be as good as if no contract was made". Restitution Damages.

Contract Law is one of the most basic, and most interesting subject! Hope you had some fun with the 2-by-2 rule. And, I think, this rule and logic can be fit in a lot more situations apart from law!  Where the claimant/plaintiff needs the property back, it would be futile to claim reliance damages, and expectation damages may be better. Therefore, understanding the rule and logic behind the types of damages can be useful while claiming for them. Not every type fits the needs of the claimant.

Normative, Positive, Others: In The Analysis Of Law

Dear Friends (studying law),

The normative or what ought to be, and the positive or what is, are two schools of analysis and research that are parallel, and yet so often crisscross each other. As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. puts it: "the life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience".

Evaluating and finding a legal scholarship to be interesting can be based on many criteria of which normative clarity is one. The other criteria are persuasiveness of arguments in a argumentative scholarship, significance determined by the work’s relationship with the recent developments in the field of law, and the applicability of the work to present day situation as knowledge without applicability is meaningless.

Normative scholarships are just one type of model. The other interesting types are doctrinal, analytical and critical, realistic and interpretative models which may or may not be merged with normative premises.

One of the other factors that makes a legal scholarship very interesting is well formulated arguments. These not only can provide convincing ways to apply the initial premise, but also can lend plausibility to the normative premise.

No one factor is solely responsible for the determination of the importance, or the interesting nature of a work of scholarship. For example, Guido Calabresi’s ‘A Common Law For The Age Of Statutes’ is a very important landmark work in the field of legal scholarships but it lacks in the tone of persuasiveness.

Since, law was, is and will always be a “practice” rather than just a theoretical field, it makes a work highly interesting when it produced not only a normative hypothesis but also a descriptive or expressive argument facilitating it to have a practical base.

It is true that all interesting legal scholarship engages normative questions, but that definitely does not underplay the importance of other criteria that make a scholarship interesting, and serves the key purpose of value addition to both the subject and its practice. 

Written at a time of impending due of research paper submissions for this semester, 

Yours truly,

A fellow law student with an interest in legal research.

How Many Characters Should A Book Have?

Image from pexels

Have you ever read a book and thought- woah, woah so many characters! And, have you read a book and felt there are way to less characters? So, how many characters should a book have? There really is no answer. Here are two examples to understand.

Hatchet. Gary Paulsen weaves for you a story that is bounty with adventure, thrill, and leaves you mindblown and spellbound. A city boy named Brain goes in a plane with a pilot. He is the only passenger in the plane. His plane crashes, and the pilot dies in a heart attack. He learns to survive alone by making fire, catching fish, building a home in the forest. After his 53rd day alone in the forest, he makes a hole in the plane which had crashed and takes out the survival bag from it. The same day he sees a plane land and come his rescue. But by then, he learns to live alone and save his life. That's it. Yeah, that's a full blown adventure with just one single, small kid as the only and main character. 

Bleak House. It is an elaborate, family drama involving around twenty main and impacting characters, and more than forty supporting characters, who also have a key role in how the story moves. 

This is just an example. There are other books, with a set of characters that is not unusually low or high. But, even though there is no definite rule to find how many characters a book should have, here are two rules that I follow as a general concept, more out of common sense than anything else, to guide me: 

1. Every character in the book must have a role in the story or the plot.  If you want to know what is the difference between them, and what they mean, check out my earlier post on a Screenplay and Story Ideas. 

2. Every character you introduce must have an ending. It is easy for writers to get lost in the story so much that they forget about certain characters that they introduced in the beginning. A simple way to look at this is run the book in your mind like a play. Every character who enters the stage needs an exit. They cannot be left standing without a purpose in the story. 

Depending on the timeline, tone, story, plot and scope of the novel, the number of characters that can satisfy these conditions vary. And, no number is too less or too much, as long as they have a purpose, and they have an ending in the story. 

Now, what if your whole purpose is to leave the character without an ending? That's creativity, too! No doubt. If your whole plan is to purposefully to leave a character hanging to let your readers take on it, that clearly doesn't violate the rule because that exactly is the purpose and the exit of the character. 

You can write a gigantic epic, or you can write a short story, but the same two rules apply with respect to characters for any form of storytelling. So, next time you read a book, why don't you observe if these rules play out! Are there any other visible patterns? Or, does some brilliant book break this pattern? It's all about creativity, and it's best when they keep evolving!

And, hey, have you ever read or heard the stories of the Indian epic Mahabharata? Finding out the number of characters, their role in the story, their entry and exit would be an interesting exercise! 

Regulation Of Seed Sale Price In Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has a population of approximately 6.8 crores. Of the total population of Tamil Nadu, around 51.60% live in the villages. With more than half the inhabitants of the state living in a rural setup, it is logically inferred to any prudent mind how important the sphere of agricultural balance and prosperity is, knowing well that agriculture is the primary rural occupation, and is the backbone foundation of economic development in the rural areas.

When it has such stature and importance in the running of the lives of all, it is only natural that there is a genuine and considerable legislative effort to protect the occupation, and those primarily involved in it, from any gross and unconscionable injustice that would severely affect the flow of the occupation and hinder development.

In India, various laws exists to protect the rights and interests of the farmers, who are the primary subjects involved with agriculture. Some of the Acts and Rules include the following: Seed Act, Seed Rules & Amendments, Seed (Control) Order, New Policy on Seed Development Plants, Fruits and Seeds Order, Plant Quarantine Order, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, the Protection of Plant Varieties Rules, National Seed Policy, Seed Bill Regulatory measures specific to transgenic seeds, etc. These are primarily National legislations applicable to the whole of India, which intend to regulate and protect various aspects of this field such as quality, production, sale of agricultural products and necessities. It is pertinent to note that each state has their own commissions/rules/procedures, adhering and under these national frameworks, to suit the requirements and demands of their land.

Through careful, diligent and active steps, India has managed to become self-sufficient and has achieved the goal of food security. But, the state of farmers in India and their condition of poverty has neither improved nor shown any sign of progress. A shocking study published in The Tribune (updated as on 2017) reveals that every third farmer in India belongs to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. It is high time for us to stop a moment and reflect why and how, when the national food security has been achieved, the primary role players in the scene- the farmers- are left to be in still in the condemned state of extreme poverty. 

Therefore, it is to be kept in mind that the aim of the legislations are double-fold:

1. to work towards achieving a goal in the line of progressive national interest,

2. to work in the interest of the betterment and development of the primary stakeholders, the farmers (specifically small and marginal farmers). 

Seeing there is a clear lack of legislations to regulate the prices set by the private sector industries in the sphere of seed production and sale, there is very little scope for remedy through a judicial seeking. Therefore, to remedy the gross loopholes of the present situation, the best possible route would be to approach the Government for sensible regulations of the same. 

The Seeds Bill, 2004 which seeks to replace the Seeds Act, 1956, and to provide for regulating the quality of seeds for sale, import and export and to facilitate production and supply of seeds of quality and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, has still not been passed. 

PSCA has recommended setting up a statutory body for fixation of price of seed by incorporating appropriate provisions under Clauses 5, 11, 15, 22 and 25 of the Bill. 

Therefore, a plausible solution to this growing problem would be:

1. To set a dynamic upper limit for the costs for the private sector seeds considering their gains from the patenting of hybrid varieties and appropriation of gains;

2. To not allow arbitrary setting of prices that are unconscionably greater than the prudent market prices;

3. To make provisions for a said legal authority to analyse technical developments by the private sector companies to the seeds, and supervise the price regime. It is to be noted that the what is advocated is not a complete and iron-hand control of the prices of the private sector that will work as disincentive to healthy competition, but only a prudent regulation with more than decent scope for their profits;

4. To enhance the powers of the Seed Inspector to be able to check and report grossly high prices;

5. To regulate the royalty fee in the cases of proprietary technologies and GM seeds, taking into consideration costs for R&D, etc.

These would not only work towards national interest of food production and security, but also the greater interest of the farmers who are the primary stakeholders. 

Thus, the balanced aims of the upcoming policies between these two will ensure a steady progress in not only in agricultural development, but also economic development and better human standards of living.

Forensics In Arthashastra

My previous post on Forensic Science and Medico-Legal Jurisprudence, and how it reflects the practices of ancient times, was read and appended with a request to also give an example! So, here's a an example from the research I did in my college when I had the subject of Forensic Science.

Kautilya wrote the Arthashastra originally in Sanskrit. Later, it was translated to English by R. Shamasastry. Rudrapatna Shamasastry was a Sanskrit scholar and librarian at the Oriental Research Institute Mysore. He discovered and published the Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy. Thus, now we shall look at the provisions that Kautilya had provided, in the English translation for better understanding. 

The seventh chapter in the fourth book of the treatise of Arthashastra deals with the concept of Criminal Investigation. Arthashastra specifies in great detail the modus operandi of criminals and criminal intentions or motives. It states very clearly and simply the various inferences that has to be drawn from the minutest clues left behind by perpetrators. Even, discretionary details that may vary highly from case to case has been rigidly dealt with by Kautilya in his treatise. For example, whether a death due to hanging was homicidal or suicidal, and whether the injuries were self inflicted or otherwise, were mentioned by Kautilya in the Arthashastra. He did not leave anything to the discretion of the examining officer to seal justice for the victim. 

The first ten verses from this chapter of Arthashastra which deals with post mortem examination has been discussed below. Every point contains the original verse from the Arthashastra, the literal translation as provided by R. Shamasastry (in quotes and italics), and a small text from other supplementary readings from various sources that can help us understand the verse better.

1. “In cases of sudden death, the corpse shall be smeared over with oil and examined.”

It has been put down by Kautilya that it is required by the magistrate to conduct a post-mortem on any case of sudden or unnatural death after smearing the body with oil for the purpose of bringing out bruises, swellings and other injuries if any. 

2. “Any person whose corpse is tainted with mucus and urine, with organs inflated with wind, with hands and legs swollen, with eyes open, and with neck marked with ligatures may be regarded as having been killed by suffocation and suppression of breathing.”

The essential symptoms of death due to asphyxiation or suppression of breathing as put down by Kautilya are swollen hands, feet or abdomen, sunken eyes and inflated navel. These pointers help in identification of a special case of unnatural death due to restraint in breathing.

3. “Any person with contracted arms and thighs may be regarded as having been killed by hanging. Any dead person with swollen hands, legs and belly, with sunken eyes and inflated navel may be regarded as having been killed by hanging.”

The symptoms of death by hanging has been identified as urine and faeces being thrown out, the skin of the abdomen being inflated with wind, swollen hands and feet, eyes being open or sunken, marks visible on the throat, apart from contacted arms and thighs.

4. “Any dead person with stiffened rectum and eyes, with tongue bitten between the teeth, and with belly swollen, may be considered as having been killed by drowning.”

The symptoms are generally protruding eyes or anus, bitten tongue and swollen abdomen for death by drowning due to the osmotic pressure of water and turgidity of bodily cells due to osmosis.

5. “Any dead person, wetted with blood and with limb, wounded and broken, may be regarded as having been killed with sticks or ropes.”

Symptoms for death succumbed when beaten with sticks or ropes are fractured body parts, muscles in spasm, and body being covered in blood. 

6. “Any dead person with fractures and broken limbs, may be regarded as having been thrown down.”

The signs of death due to being hurled down from a height can be summed up as shattering of the bones of limbs and bursting of passage canals such as pharynx and oesophagus. 

7. “Any dead person with dark coloured hands, legs, teeth, and nails, with loose skin, hairs fallen, flesh reduced, and with face bedaubed with foam and saliva, may be regarded as having been poisoned.”

During the time of this treatise and the time that followed, apart from the above mentioned signs, the other signs that were considered as an essential pointer towards death by poisoning was drooling, excessive tearing, low blood pressure or hypotension, and loss of muscle control and muscle twitching. Even factors such as loss of eyesight or retinal malfunction was considered important evidences in post mortem forensics. 

8. “Any dead person of similar description with marks of a bleeding bite, may be considered as having been bitten by serpents and other poisonous creatures.”

The above mentioned symptoms along with signs that were considered for poisoning was duly looked for in cases of death by insect or snake bites also. 

9. “Any dead person, with body spread and dress thrown out after excessive vomiting and purging may be considered as having been killed by the administration of the juice of the madana plant.”

After the dealings of post mortem, Arthashastra also enlightens on the tests to be carried out to confirm or cross check the results obtained from the post mortem of the victim.

A portion of the translated version of Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry reads:

“Death due to any one of the above causes is, sometimes under the fear of punishment, made to appear as having been brought about by voluntary hanging, by causing marks of ligature round the neck.

In death due to poison, the undigested portion of meat may be examined in milk. Or the same extracted from the belly and thrown on fire may, if it makes ‘chitchita’ sound and assumes the rainbow colour, be declared as poisoned.

Or when the belly (hridayam) remains unburnt, although the rest of the body is reduced to ashes, the dead man's servants may be examined as to any violent and cruel treatments they may have received at the hands of the dead. Similarly such of the dead man's relatives as a person of miserable life, a woman with affections placed elsewhere or a relative defending some woman that has been deprived of her inheritance by the dead man may also be examined.

The same kind of examination shall be conducted concerning the hanging of the body of an already dead man.”

Therefore, there existed such methodical techniques through which the outcome of the post mortem test results could be verified with scientific and practical proof. There are many more such texts that talk about surgery, medicines, and other things- so, the scientific knowledge of the ancient times is still reflected in present day practices, though it may not be in the same form. 

Hope you enjoyed reading it!

Beat The Heat: How To Stay Hydrated

To stay hydrated is important all around the year, and all through the day. Here are some things you can do to ensure that. 

1. Always carry a water bottle wherever you go. Make sure you have water filled in the bottle. 

2. Eat fruits, especially juicy, watery ones. Have a lot of cucumber/tomatoes/watermelon, and the likes.

3. Drink fruit juice. 

4. Have lemonades- you get your share of boost in immunity, you stay hydrated and it is very tasty.

5. Have buttermilk(chaas/mor), if you like it. It's tasty, easier to have a lot, and basically a lot, lot, lot of water. 

Also, have other items that help maintain such hydration, such as radish, strawberries, papaya, spinach, lettuce, curd, and others. Don't forget the magic of tender coconuts! Even having soups with your meals can make it tasty, and also add water content in your body. Avoid foods that have too much salt or sugar in them. A little bit of both helps, but an excess just makes you more thirsty and feel a little dehydrated.  

The key is to have a conscious, continuous intake of water and water-based foods. Drink a lot of water before you go to bed, so that you don't wake up feeling dehydrated in the morning- 7 or 8 hours without water is a lot (not to mention some of us sleep way more than that)!

This summer, beat the heat, and stay hydrated!

Forensic Science and Medico-Legal Jurisprudence: A Reflection Since Ancient Times

The use of forensic techniques has been existent throughout history to solve crimes, initiating from the early existence of man. Forensic Science was intact in its simplest forms and kept on expanding throughout the prehistoric era. Prehistoric forensics is also considered as the building blocks of modern forensic techniques. 

Alfred Swaine Taylor’s Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence (1865) expounds the concept of Medical jurisprudence, and also forensic medicine, legal medicine or state medicine, as the science which teaches application of every branch of medical knowledge to the purpose of the law.

The term ‘forensics’ is derived from the Latin word forensis. Forensis essentially means ‘of the forum’, which in ancient sense referred to where civic and legal matters were up for discussion. Though the terms ‘medical jurisprudence’ and ‘forensic medicine’ have been used interchangeably by many at many different places, there is a thin line of differentiation that segregates one subject from the other. 

Medical Jurisprudence essentially refers to all those questions that affect the social right of individuals and brings the one who administers medical advice, the medical practitioner, in contact with law when there is a violation of right that the victim suffers. In simple terms, medical jurisprudence is the legal aspect of medical practice. Whereas, forensic medicine is the application of legal aspect of medical practice to given situations or circumstances. This thin line of difference is usually muddled up, when actually these terms are supposed to be used technically and in a highly discreet manner. 

Another important branch that comes under the wing of forensics and medical jurisprudence is toxicology. Toxicology is the study of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of poisons, and methods of detecting them. 

Combining the understanding of these basic terms, the application of such technical knowledge can be seen through the ancient Indian medico-legal treatises and works that break down the essentials of these advanced sciences to the minute level.

Ancient India was one of the golden ages of scholarly developments. Various treatises, literature, textbooks and other scholarly forms of original work were written and published during this time period. These intellectual pieces of writing covered a spectrum of issues and topics that was required to aid and guide the people or the government. Also, this was the period where the concept of state formation, and thus a unified regulation, came up and hence, elaborate details on sensitive but highly relevant issues such as crime and justice, were penned down. 

On a similar tone, issues on forensic medicine or examination of sudden death was also elaborately dealt with in the ancient texts. After reviewing the articles and various primary and secondary sources provided by scholars of different time periods since then, we come to acknowledge the fact that ancient India in its time was much ahead in forensic sciences as compared to other countries of that era.

The legal reception of forensic identification science varies from one legal system to another, and one culture to another. The processes and systems that exist today in India in the fields of medical jurisprudence, forensic medicine and toxicology, are derived strongly from the various scholarly texts of its rich and abundant historical literature and culture. It reflects the highly civilized and extremely educated characteristics of the ancient society of India. It reflects that India has always been a progressive nation giving great importance to scientific procedures, logical and legal soundness. Thus, by studying and analysing such primary sources of invaluable knowledge from indian predecessors, the science of forensics must grow and improve to fulfill the prima facie aim of imparting justice, overcoming hurdles such as corruption, to the sufferer.

NOTE: Image is that of Charaka Samhita. 

Work Experience In MLA Office

Avadi is a state assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, India, newly formed after constituency delimitation by the Election Commission of India in 2008. It consists of a portion of Poonamallee taluk and includes Avadi. It is included in the Thiruvallur parliamentary constituency. Avadi is constituency No. 6 of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.

In my short-term pro bono internship with the Avadi MLA Office, I was drafted to do help in filing, typing and system-based work. During the internship period, I gained basic knowledge about booths, booth officers and the polling systems as governed by the bye-laws in Tamil Nadu in line with the national norms of conducting free and fair elections.

The MLA Office of Mr. MaFoi K. Pandiyarajan, Minister of Tamil Language & Culture, and the MLA of Avadi Constituency, is highly efficient. It can be boldly stated that it is one of the very few MLA offices that is up and running to cater to the needs of the people from its constituency. The MLA office that works from 9 am to 6 pm everyday attends to the various grievances of the people of its Constituency, and promptly caters to their requirements by providing viable and immediate solutions. This is the only Constituency that has come up with the progressive idea of a “MyAvadi” app. The app works on the basis of the Constituency Information System (CIS) software. The map-location based app and software allows the people to exactly pinpoint the area of problem or nuisance to facilitate immediate and accurate attention to solving the problem. The online interface has been quite successful and seamless. Such developmental measures and progressive ideas for the betterment and the development of the Constituency is what that truly makes this office stand apart. The impact of the good work is clearly visible in Avadi, as the area is one of the most rapidly developing ones in the neighbourhood.

The pro bono sessions under the Office of Mr. MaFoi K. Pandiyarajan, MLA Avadi Constituency, Minister of Tamil Language and Culture, was enlightening as I had an opportunity to understand the process of filing systems and could read the first hand letters that dealt with the grievances of the people of Avadi Constituency. Within the scope of 20 hours of service, I was introduced to basic concepts of electoral services and it’s prime importance in upholding the democratic setup ensuring free and fair trials.

With the completion of this pro bono work I took home with myself an invaluable experience.

I Opened A Book by Julia Donaldson

Here's a poem by Julia Donaldson that has always been one of my favourites!

I opened a book and in I strode
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.

I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.

Hope you enjoyed it too!

The Theory Of Everything

Movie: The Theory Of Everything

Directed by: James Marsh

Written by: Anthony McCarten

Music by: Jóhann Jóhannsson

Running time: 123 minutes

The life of Cambridge PhD student Stephen Hawking goes happy and smooth through his University days as he effortlessly excels and stumps his colleagues, and falls in love with an arts student Jane Wilde, until his muscles start failing. After attending a lecture about black holes, Stephen is pushed to think that black holes must have existed at the beginning of the Universe, and this leads him to his thesis on the beginning of the Universe and time itself for his PhD. 

One fatal day, walking across the University campus, Stephen's legs fail, and he falls flat on his face, hitting his head. Stephen is diagnosed with motor neuron disease that shall eventually, and slowly, take away from him all voluntary muscle control, and a life expectancy of two years. Shattered, Stephen puts his all into working on his thesis. But life takes a turn as Jane marries him irrespective of his progressively deteriorating condition. The film is about how the man who was given two years to live defied all expectations, and shattered all boundaries, both personally and professionally. 

Eddie Redmayne is brilliant as Stephen Hawking, slumped in his chair, making you reconsider if it really is just acting. The film is beautiful, though in some parts it lacks the effect it seeks to produce. It is an extremely good film with some great acting. It focuses more on how Stephen's personal life and care pushed him to a life more hopeful, and how it helped him excel professionally. With nothing really science-based in the movie, it in fact humorously portrays how Jane understood what her astrophysicist husband was courting all the time. 

I really enjoyed the movie. It is true that some sequences disappoint, as you expect it to make a better impact on you, but overall the movie is really nice and enjoyable!

The Power Of Coalition

Image from Indian Express

India is a vast country accommodating an abundance of sociologically variant groups, co-existing in glaring inequalities. It is an indisputable fact that one of the key factors to bring a change towards the positive direction, in terms of lifting the seeming parlance of equality into something that actually exists, is the nature of the government, playing an important role in steering the country towards development. And, it resonates clearly that a coalition is much more effective in creating a change that is harmonious to development. 

Why is it right to think that a coalition government possesses the potential to reconstruct the steep pyramid of inequality into a platform of equality accessible to all? There are a numerous reasons to the same, but considering the scope of this essay, two concerns that very important for India shall be analysed. 

The first concern where the coalition government walks over a single party government is the field of economic development. The economy of India can be characterized as a developing mixed-economy. The 1990s in India is rightly termed as the ‘Era of Coalitions’. The ex-RBI Governor Dr. Venugopal Reddy, in a speech to the audience from Hudson Institute, Washington, USA, said that the highest growth in India from 1990 to 2014 was clearly during coalition governments. The consensus-based decisions that happen in a coalition government greatly help in the Indian context. A coalition produces better economic results than a single party with a strong majority. When the economic status of the country progresses, it is an empirically proven point that gender equality is promoted and the gender gap is reduced, with the right policies in place. Thus, the country inches closer to, not one, but two prominent ideals- economic development and gender equality. 

The second concern addressed by a coalition, better than a single party, is that of social stratification. The fact that a coalition government is an amalgam of multiple parties with widely varying ideologies is often considered a defect. It is seen as a hurdle to progress because of the long-drawn process of framing policies, incorporating all their ideologies. But, it is important to note that the same may be seen as one of the greatest strengths of this form of government. The varying ideologies bring out balanced policies, and ensure that they do not act as a boost to just one or few sections of the society. By framing policies that are less discriminatory and more accommodating, it is only a natural consequence that the gaps of social stratification will begin to close slowly but steadily. 

All systems have their own merits and defects. So, how do we decide which system is better? One method is looking into the matrix of risks versus benefits. When benefits outweigh risks, it is upto us to step up to the challenge of deciding to create a positive change. For a country like India, equality is still a far away goal, and a coalition government might be the first little right step towards it.

I wrote this essay for an event, but eventually did not send it through. Arguments for and against a coalition government is clearly possible, and this essay was written from the standpoint of the topic we were given: The Power of Coalition.

What Is A Blockchain?

Ever heard of the fancy word blockchain used a lot nowadays? Maybe, you glanced it on the morning newspaper headlines about bitcoins. Or, maybe you just saw the word on an article with a confusing content. After looking at that word multiple times, and not really taking any effort at all to understand what it is, I finally decided to look it up so that I can at the least understand what the article I was reading was talking about. Let's take a basic look at what the word means. 

"A blockchain is a distributed database that acts as a peer-to-peer ledger system."

Okay, if you are like me, you won't know what that line means. Ledger system? Peer-to-peer? Distributed database? What in the world, really?!

So, to put it in a simpler, more understandable form, and to express how I understand it in its most basic way: A blockchain is essentially a list of records, called blocks, that keeps adding on further and further with increasing data, that are linked through cryptography. Each block contains a sort of mark of time and detail of transaction, and this cryptographic hash of the previous block is linked to the next block. Also, this cryptographic chain of blocks, by its complex design, is resistant to modification of the data.

The next question after this basic understanding is: SO? To answer this question, let's look at how the CEO of Ubiquity, a blockchain startup, expressed it, in one of the articles.

"The blockchain allows any individual or party to independently verify that a transaction or record existed in a certain form at a certain time." 

So, a blockchain works similar to torrents or what is called as a peer-to-peer system, where thousands of computers around the world are connected and running the same software, working with the same data, and tracking the data all the way back to its origins. The storage of these transactions ensures that a block or' node' that basically holds some of the transaction and time data, should be replaced by other blocks. The data stored on this block is not only stored on this server, it has network-wide backups, so the overall architecture makes sure to avoid a single point of failure.

That is the most basic information that I gathered today, without confusing myself too much. And, this was enough to comprehend all those articles, without feeling like neglecting a word that may have a major impact on the meaning of the article. And, a huge disclaimer is that blockchain is not probably as simple as this! But, it is just a little better than just knowing the word. 

Hope you got a basic understanding, if you didn't. And, if you know more, then please do add it in the comments! 

And, if my basic understanding needs correction, I'd be happy to learn! Let me know through the comments below! 

The Concept Of An Extended Workplace Under India's POSH Act

The POSH Act, in short for Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013, introduces the concept of ‘extended workplace’ covering under its ambit any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment including transportation provided by the employer for undertaking such a journey. Hence, any form of harassment at a company-sponsored event whether within or outside of the normal working hours would also fall under the scope of the POSH Act.

It is now well accepted that a workplace is any place where working relationships between employer and employee(s) exist, going beyond the physical boundaries of the primary workplace or office building. 

A workplace is defined as- 

“any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment, including transportation provided by the employer for undertaking such a journey.”

As per this definition, a workplace covers both the organised and unorganised sectors. It also includes all workplaces whether owned by Indian or foreign company having a place of work in India. 

Workplace is any place where “working relationships” exist and, in addition to your office, it also constitutes workplace of an external client, premises of other organisations, hotels, restaurants, and other venues during official functions/events, workstation of other employees, lifts in the building, Restrooms/toilets, corridors, canteens/cafeteria/entertainment zone, official tours/field visits etc.

As per the Act, workplace includes: 

- Government organizations, including Government company, corporations and cooperative societies;
- Private sector organisations, venture, society, trust, NGO or service providers etc. providing services which are commercial, vocational, educational, sports, professional, entertainment, industrial, health related or financial activities, including production, supply, sale, distribution or service;
- Hospitals/Nursing Homes;
- Sports Institutes/Facilities;
- Places visited by the employee (including while on travel) including transportation provided by employer;
- A dwelling place or house. 

The Act defines the Unorganised Sector as any enterprise owned by an individual or self-employed workers engaged in the production or sale of goods or providing services of any kind, or any enterprise which employs less than 10 workers. All women working or visiting workplaces

In Gaurav Jain v. Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust and Ors. the court clearly upheld the scope of the act to include protection to women when on an outstation visit with respect to or in relation to work. 

In Jaya Kodate v. Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, the Bombay High Court pointed out that the definition of 'workplace' is inclusive and deliberately kept wide by the Parliament to ensure that any area where women may be subjected to sexual harassment is not left unattended or unprovoked for.

Though such effective, and clear remedies are available in the laws, it is important for us to be aware of our rights, and the remedies we can seek in case of a mishap. The rate of cases successfully obtaining remedies under the POSH Act has also been proved highly effective. 

Learning the rights and duties under the law is important for all, as these rights and duties are endowed only upon us. As the legal maxim says: ignorance of law is no excuse, and we have a duty to know our rights and obligations.  

Cinema: Copyright Holders, Infringement, and Tests

It is undeniable that a film is the combined effort of many, many people, and also a creative reservoir tanked together. Many people with many roles and aspects are integral for an idea to materialize on the big screen. 

Section 2(d) of the Copyrights Act, 1957, defines author:

"author" means:

(1) In relation to a literary or dramatic work, the author of the work;

(2) In relation to a music work, the composer;

(3) In relation to artistic work other than a photograph, the artist;

(4) In relation to photograph, the person taking the photograph, the artist;

(5) In relation to a cinematograph film or sound recording, the producer; and

(6) In relation to any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work which is computer- generated, the

person who causes the work to be created.

According to Section 17 of the Copyrights Act, 1957 the first owner of copyright is defined as under: 

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the author of a work shall be the owner of copyright therein. Section 17 statutorily recognizes the author of the work to be the first owner of the copyright. The author is defined under the Act for various works, which come under the law of copyright. 

So, it is fairly clear from the provisions that a producer is the copyright holder of a cinema. But, how can infringement of a copyright be contested or proved? Is it necessary to have scene-to-scene copying? Or, is substantial copying sufficient to prove infringement? If yes, what exactly is "substantial"? 

In the case of R G. Anand v. M/s. Delux Films, the following was held by the Supreme Court that lays down authoritative clarity on the test/necessary factors while considering an infringement. 

Summing up what the Supreme Court held in the case- the details necessary to successfully prove the infringement of the copyright of a film are as follows:

- same form, manner, arrangement and expression of the same idea
- substantial copying, where substantial means "literal imitation of the copyrighted work with some variations here and there"
- viewer, after having read or seen both the works, is clearly of the opinion and gets an unmistakable
impression that the subsequent work appears to be a copy of the original
- there should not be broad and substantial dissimilarities between the two works apart from the
similarities
- clear and cogent evidence

The SC also held in R.G. Anand case- 

"The effect of the dissimilarities pointed out above clearly go to show that they far outweigh the effect of the similarities mentioned in para 9 of the plaint set out above. Moreover, even if we examine the similarities mentioned by the plaintiff they are trifling and trivial and touch insignificant points and do not appear to be of a substantial nature. The mere fact that the name of the Madrasi father was Subramaniam in both the film and the play, is hardly of any significance because the name of a particular person cannot be the subject matter of copyright because these are common names." 

In the above case, the Court found that there was no copyright infringement. So, to conclude, a mere claim is not entertained as a copyright infringement. But, however, a film's portrayal and execution of an idea is protected by copyrights. 

Copyrights, and IPR in general, is a very interesting field. Soon, in a subsequent post, we can explore why revisiting old notions about intellectual property is necessary in the present era of memes, remixes and other revision-creativity that is equally creative, and needs to have an effective protective mechanism.

Know Your English

Title: Know Your English
Author: S. Upendran

When I was younger, I wrote so many stories, but always was confused about titles I must give. So, I used to pick up Know Your English by S. Upendran, and flip it through till I got inspired for a suitable, idiomatic title. Well, that's pretty much how Much Of A Muchness happened.

Based on the popular weekly column in The Hindu since 1982, there are 4 volumes in the series, giving us hundreds of idioms, their stories of how they came to be, and also their usage.

The series is extremely popular as a weekly column in The Hindu, and my friends and I always went straight to the column to check out the idiom for the week whenever we got the paper in school.

It is a cool compilation, ordered alphabetically, and expressed and explained in simple, clear and concise language. While the blurb of the book says that is would be useful for "teachers, students and those who are keen on honing their speaking and writing skills", it is also for those like me who can use it for such off-beat purposes.

So, next time you want to throw in a cool, appropriate idiom, remember to flip through this wonderful book!

And, What Haven't I Played?

Reminiscent pieces of writing are simply hilarious, and very rewarding. It shows you how much you have grown. It shows you how much has changed, and it shows you how much more will change in the coming years. 

26 December, 2014

"Looking back, I sincerely wonder about how many different games and modes of workout I have tried since Class One. In Class One, I seem to have gone to some dance class called “Swingers” in Pondy Bazaar. The fact about it is everybody remembers everything about it except me. I remember almost nothing. My dad claims to have taken me sincerely to every class, waited till it got over and have brought me back home. My mom remembers it all too. Why! Even my grand-dad says he has come with me many times to the class in ‘Challa Mall’. So, there is nothing much to say about my dances back then because I simply don’t remember anything. But then, it grows more interesting as I continue further. 

For some reason, which I have no clue about, I stopped going to the dance class- Swingers- and instead started playing a proper game- Table Tennis. That went along for quite some time. I played in a YMCA branch near my house(and was pretty good at it too). I was known for chattering non-stop with my TT friends. There used to be this coach who used to make us run around the ground ten times, skip a hundred times and give us those kinds of exercise. That is where the fun part comes! I never used to do it properly, and try all means of dodging.

But then, after sometime, I got bored of TT and the place became pretty crowded, and I didn’t get much of a chance to play. So, I quit playing TT. After that, I tried playing badminton for sometime in the same place, but didn’t stick with it. Well, at that time I even went for a chess class, but that wouldn’t hook me up, either.

All this while, my brother stuck on to one game- Tennis. He too was playing in YMCA. My dad then put my brother in a better place to continue his Tennis. That place was wonderful! When my brother joined, I told my dad that I seriously wanted to play Tennis. And ta-da! I was already going to my first class! I actually loved that place. I still do. The main coach was an old man whom we fondly referred to as “Tennis Thatha” while speaking to ourselves. He used to come everyday and coach us. We went four days in a week. I played Tennis there for three years(longest ever), from Class 6 to Class 8. 

I would have continued it there, but then we realised that the place was too far and that we couldn’t continue further because there were other classes. Both of us- my brother and I- dropped Tennis and decided to join some game in school. My brother had to choose between Basketball and Football. He chose football. I had two options too- Basketball and TT. I didn’t want to go for Basketball, so I chose TT again. I have been playing TT for two years now. I like the game very much. I went for the Clusters tournament representing my school last year, and my team came fourth place. But, now, I will have to stop playing TT also, because it takes up 2 hours every three days in a week.  

I cannot leave out the fact that I always complained about my school not having cricket or football coaching for girls. I remember how, back in Class 7, my classmates and I used to run for the cricket bats before the boys could get at it, so that we can train ourselves to play well and form a girls cricket team. We believed that one day we would be the eleven of the school’s A-Team in girls. We used to think of approaching the heads and asking for a girls’ team to be formed. One of my classmates used to say: “Hey, first we should be good at it. Suppose they allow the team to be formed, and we don’t know anything!” Yes, we used to practice for that. We sometimes went to the extent of challenging the boys! But I’m happy that now my school has coaching for girls in football. It came only this year when Class 6 girls went and represented.

And, amidst all this every year I go for the swimming course in Woodlands in the morning, since Class 4. It started with me being afraid of the water, and my dad not wanting me to be so. I improved year by year because of the awesome master I had. It is amusing to recall how terrified I used to be, and how I used to cook up all kinds of aches(especially stomach ache) so that I needn’t go to the class. The only thing that would make me overcome my fear is the cheese sandwich that my dad promises to buy if I swim well. Now, I am not afraid, and I can swim pretty decently.

But the question now is: what do I do if I quit TT?

I will have to do something. Something that is good, and doesn’t take up much time." 

Weirdly, I took back to dancing again, with Contemporary and Zumba. And, I also decided to get back to TT when I joined college. It is nice to note that I carried on a few pieces of doubtful questions, and have answers for them today!

Rule of Lenity

Rule of Lenity is a judicial doctrine requiring that those ambiguities in a criminal statute relating to prohibition and penalties be resolved in favor of the defendant if it is not contrary to legislative intent.

Justice Ginsburg invoked the rule of lenity. The rule of lenity was especially appropriate here given the draconian sentence in the respective statute relevant in this case. Justice Ginsburg thus adopted the narrow reading of “tangible object,” interpreting it to reach only objects similar to those at the heart of the Enron debacle that spurred the statute’s passage — those used to “record or preserve information.”

I think the rule of lenity should apply to the case if recourse to traditional tools of statutory construction leaves any doubt about the meaning of “tangible object”, as it would be appropriate to invoke the rule of lenity.

The landmark discussion by Justice Ginsburg, led to the rise of nine broad criteria: 

"(1) the nature and seriousness of the offense;

(2) the pervasiveness of wrongdoing within the corporation;

(3) a history of similar conduct;

(4) timely and voluntary disclosure of wrongdoing and willingness to cooperate;

(5) a compliance program;

(6) remedial actions;

(7) collateral consequences, including harm to shareholders, pension holders, and non-culpable employees;

(8) adequacy of prosecution of individuals; and

(9) adequacy of civil or regulatory enforcement actions."

This aspect of legislative history narrows down the reasonably susceptible interpretations. This provides that it is appropriate to invoke the rule of lenity. Thus, it impacts the outcome of the case. If you think about it, rule of lenity is connected to the same basis as the whole basis of the burden of proof described in my earlier post. 

To conclude: a judge needs to be fair and just, and that includes not to waver from the letter of law whatever the popular public sentiment is- whether such sentiment is towards the alleged victim or the accused. Increasingly, as the public finds more media to voice their opinion and sentiments, the judges have to stick to their roles. After all true justice in the sense of law is only possible when they do justice to their role.

Internships

We are back at that time of the semester when everyone is frantically applying to a hundred places for a place in the summer internship slots. And, on a such a momentous frame of time, I present to you an honest report that I wrote after my first day of my first internship ever. 

*

Day One of my month-long internship with the Tamil Nadu Human Rights Commission started off yesterday. I was asked to report to their office at 10.30 AM. Being a punctual girl, I was there right on time to be greeted by a lady staff. She inquired about me and then when she learnt that I was a student, she asked me to wait until “sir” came.

Slowly people trickled into the office room and smiled at me, and I smiled back at them too, expecting one of them to be the “sir”. No such luck. All of them smiled pleasantly and told me that “sir” would instruct me on everything that I had to do. It was eleven and most of the staff had come by then.

Finally, at eleven-thirty, an elderly man walked in and everyone greeted him. The lady staff who first spoke to me signalled that he was the one I was supposed to report to. I, an eager first-time intern, immediately stood up and gave him a bright smile, and informed him I had come for the internship. He smiled and just waved me to sit back in my chair again. And then, for another hour he went on with his job as I sat there just observing the people work.

The office room is a small space with six work desks and a few extra chairs. There are piles and bundles of case files piled up everywhere. There is a computer in one of the work desks that stores details of the cases in an excel sheet. There are also two telephones in the room for calls from the public.

At twelve thirty, “Sir” finally asked me to pull up the chair near his desk, and I got to know his name. He started briefing me about the Human Rights Commission. I am just summarising what I learnt from him yesterday.

The SHRC was divided into three wings- the administrative wing, the legal wing and the investigation wing. These three wings operated in sync. The Commission is headed by the Chairperson who is a retired High Court Judge. Also, it has two members- one of whom is a High Court Judge and the other is an IAS officer.

The State Human Rights Commission is for lodging any sort of complaint on the working of any government official. The complaint should be such that it is on something that is within the scope of their duties as an employee of the government. These cases that are filed on the officials are then sent to the Investigation wing of the HRC from the legal wing. After analysis, a report is sent back to the legal wing. Then a date is set for the trial and the petitioner and the defendant are allowed to present their case, they are questioned, witnesses are examined and cross examined, and finally orders are passed. The judges do not have the power to give out a punishment for the official found guilty as they are protected by the state powers. So, instead the order authorizes the HRC to send out a recommendation to the official which is filed on his name. Such recommendations for being found guilty of an offense can cut out incentives such as promotions and retirement benefits for the government official.

Sir gave me a bare act of the 2006 amended version of The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 with State Human Rights Commission, Tamil Nadu (Procedure) Regulations, 1997. I was pretty proud to read the bare act as I could now, after one whole semester at law school with Legal Methods as a subject, could identify parts of a statute such as the short title, long title, definition clauses, provisos and non-obstante clauses. It felt like something that I learnt was being put to use.

Sir then detailed me on how I should make an entry of the cases and their statuses (Pending/Closed) into the case book classified year-wise and case number-wise. I did this job for sometime. And then, I was asked to attend the phone calls and take down the name, district, case no. and the petition date from the caller. This was a lot of fun and I liked doing it. For every case, the entry must also be made in the excel sheet. I did this job also for sometime. The jobs that they made me do were kind of repetitive but that is all the job there is.

They also told me that I could go through some of the case files when I was making the entry if I was interested. I did try to do that but since all of the cases that I dealt with yesterday were in Tamil, and in quite unintelligible handwritings, I gave up after sometime.

There are also three trial courts in the campus and I would be able to see some of the proceedings in the future.

Overall, Day One went good.

*

Reading this now, I realised that none of my other internships were this chilled out. They were all hectic, and mostly with extended working hours, sometimes even on a Sunday.

But hey, they're all good, good memories, and I've met some of the most brilliant people thanks to the stints of internship.  And, looking forward to more!

On Balance: An Autobiography

Title: On Balance: An Autobiography

Author: Leila Seth

Leila Seth, in her autobiography On Balance: An Autobiography, starts with the story of how she took up legal studies because of the fact that it could be conveniently combined with taking care of her son and husband. She then delves into her life in field of litigation talking about the difficulty she faced as a woman barrister in Calcutta in trying to find a senior, of her lighter moments as the sole woman judge on the otherwise all-male bench of the Delhi High Court, and her general courtroom experiences. She also portrays her views regarding corruption, discrimination and delay in the legal system. Some judgments dealing with education and with inter-personal and constitutional law have been highlighted by Leila Seth. She also, in great detail, narrates and reminisces her experiences as a member of the 15th Law Commission of India. The spirit of the book deals with taking India forward in its judicial journey. 

The title of her book, “On balance”, fits Leila Seth, as depicted by herself in the book. It was her balanced and sensitive approach of life around her that helped her become the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court, and then the first woman chief justice of a high court, paving the way for other women chief justices. She was judicious on the bench, but however retained the humanity in her. Her devotion to gender justice was evident in her book dealing with every law governing women, regardless of religion.

Injustice, death and discord are given their due but dignified place in the book. Having twice declined the offer of becoming a judge of the Patna High Court, because Patna held no career opportunities for her husband Prem Seth, this dedicated professional has also proven that you can be a committed homemaker simultaneously. What separates this book from others is that Justice Seth understands straight away how difficult it is to balance the demands of a high-pressure career in law, and the constant sacrifices that Indian wives and mothers anticipate, keeping it real.

The law was, and remains still, a male bastion. She, with great humour and vivid memories, describes an incident where a group of people entered the High Court to "sight-see" the woman judge! Justice Seth describes early tribulations faced by her as a rare woman lawyer. 

“I was used to arguing and doing the best for my client and case and then ‘letting the damn judge decide’. I soon realised that I was now that damn judge; and that the tremendous responsibility stopped with me.” 

“On Balance- An Autobiography” was a beautiful read. It teaches us many life lessons penned in the most impacting and real way. For all of us, this inspiring book is definitely in the must read category!