A Dream to Become a Lawyer

I have always cherished a dream to become a lawyer and the very idea to be able to raise a voice for the ones who choose to instil blind faith in people in this profession, compelled me to work towards this dream. The inquisitiveness in me since childhood prompted me to think and raise questions like “Does everybody get justice?” and “Who decides whether the ones offered justice, deserve it?”. Since my childhood, I was attracted towards the uniform my father use to wear to court, the kind of work he was doing for the mankind and ever since, I had been allured to the profession of advocates and wanted to become one myself.

Belonging to a family of lawyers, I use to be more focused towards the crime and injustice people face in their day to day life. Because of the same reasons somewhere or the other, I could never let go of various instances which rather a normal person going about his daily chores wouldn’t question. Many would talk about the injustice inflicted upon women by our patriarchal society, the plight of underprivileged, but days later would forget about it. One of the instances which I still remember is when I was 16 years old, my friend told me about his house help who use to come crying to their home as she was facing continuous domestic violence and she couldn’t get out of the marriage due fear of society and thinking about the plight of her child if she left the home. A few weeks later the women suicided and the judgement came in the favour of the husband stating that the girl was mentally unstable which led her to strangle herself. I was in total disbelief, and quite angry about how easily someone can get away. I couldn’t stop thinking about the helplessness that women would be feeling to be able to gather the courage to take a step like that. I truly cannot change the laws or the way courts work, but that moment I wished to work in a profession that enables me to be greater help to the ones who require it.

I worked towards setting small goals for myself to achieve the bigger ones. Having studied commerce in school, I built my academic foundation in law by pursuing Bcom LLB (Hons.) at Panjab University, India. My LLB degree helped me to gain professional skills, interpersonal skills, research skills, helped me in becoming efficient in teamwork and improved the ability to pay attention to details, skimming through long readings and picking up complex and critical information. I always took an initiative to participate and put forward my point of view in the interactive sessions that took place in the class on the various topics be it rape, culpable homicide, the psychology of murders, how the convicts are kept in jails etc. My law degree provided me with great opportunities to be able to explore and gain valuable experience in varied areas. I had the privilege of visiting the Ropar Jail, Punjab, India. During the jail visit, I observed the kind of work inmates were doing inside and the varied wages that they were earning in respect to their work. While interacting with the inmates and police staff I got aware about the living conditions, system of prepaid cards, heard inmates personal accounts and the problems they were facing. I also visited the Juvenile Justice Board in my hometown. Where I saw how the convicted Juveniles are kept and what all opportunities they get inside juveniles home. I also observed that the Government provides Juveniles with all access to sports and helps and supports with their education and with all the necessary facilities without prejudice of their Human Rights. Beyond classroom education, I represented my college in client counselling, took part in the Moot Courts several times as a participant as well as in the organising committee.

In addition to my educational experience, I actively pursued work experience in this field. I interned with different firms, organisations and advocates. I assisted them in research, preparing case notes, briefing for court appearances, interviewing clients drafting of Applications, Cases etc. After completing my Law degree I started interning with my father, Mr Jagdish Manchanda, one of the reputed and senior-most Lawyer in Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh. I joined his office in July 2019 and currently, I have been working with him and regularly visiting the court. This valuable experience has allowed me to see the realities of our judicial system and dispelled the myths. On the other hand it has also given me the chance to comprehend issues faced by the Indian Judicial System, from pendancy of cases dues delayed disposal of cases to overburdening judges with work which hamper their ability to work efficiently.

My experiences over the past few years have fuelled my aspiration to further pursue Master’s in Law. LLM from a prestigious university as yours with research-led teaching, would be a great way to advance a career in law and would help me acquire the expertise to work in a specific legal area. I believe getting an opportunity to study at your esteemed university, will equip me with a better skillset for myself, and the people I will be honoured to work with. It will provide me with the knowledge and experience and help me realise my potential better, to progress further into this challenging yet enriching career pathway. Anyone pursuing law knows how competitive and difficult it can be to gain relevant experience. Also, practical-based approach used for teaching is going to prepare me well for my future endeavours. I value diversity as a critical element of my future education. As United Kingdom has a large multicultural and diverse population, it will allow me to gain experience, and learn from people of diverse cultures. This will further help me build the skills and knowledge required in my profession.

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